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Configuring Status Reporting

Status reporting is set up on the Status Report tab of each initiative classification, or, in the Simple Model, on the program, its reporting groups, and each project type. Setting it up decides which initiatives request status reports and which submit them, the templates the reports use, and whether reports need approval. This article covers that setup, and the permissions that control who can request and submit reports. For how a reporting cycle works, see Status Reporting.

This article covers both the Advanced and Simple Models, and needs administrator access in the Advanced Model, or program administrator access in the Simple Model.

How status reporting is set up

Status reporting works between two levels of the hierarchy:

  • The requesting level — usually a program or portfolio. Its initiatives get Manage Status Updates under Tools, and can request reports from the initiatives beneath them. The approval workflow, where there is one, is chosen here.
  • The submitting level — usually projects. Its initiatives get Status Update under Tools, and can complete the reports requested from them. The templates the reports use are built here.

In the Advanced Model, a classification can be both, so its initiatives submit reports to the level above, and request them from the level below.

Turning on status reporting

Advanced Model

To turn on status reporting for an initiative classification:

  1. Navigate to Administration > Classifications.
  2. Click Edit next to the initiative classification.
  3. Click the Status Report tab. The tab can only be used once the classification has been created.
  4. To let these initiatives request reports, turn on Request Reports.
  5. Optionally, choose the Approval Workflow the reports go through — see Approving status reports.
  6. To let these initiatives submit reports, turn on Submit Reports.
  7. Create at least one template — see Building a report template. With Submit Reports on, the classification can't be saved without one.
  8. Click Save.

For the classification's other tabs, see Configuring Initiative Classifications (Advanced Model).

Simple Model

In the Simple Model, the program and its reporting groups request reports, and projects submit them. To let the program request reports:

  1. Navigate to your program.
  2. Open Configuration > General.
  3. Under Status Reports, turn on Enable Request Status Reports.
  4. Optionally, choose the Approval Workflow.
  5. Click Save.

A reporting group can request reports too, from the projects in it. Open it under Configuration > Reporting Groups, turn on Enable Request Status Reports, and choose any Approval Workflow. See Configuring a Program.

To let projects submit reports:

  1. Navigate to Configuration > Program Items > Projects.
  2. Click the edit icon next to the project type.
  3. Click the Status Report tab.
  4. Turn on Submit Reports.
  5. Create at least one template — see Building a report template.
  6. Click Save.

For the project type's other tabs, see Configuring Project Classifications (Simple Model).

Building a report template

A template sets out what a status report contains: its fields and items, and how they're laid out. Templates are built on the Status Report tab of the classification or project type that submits the reports, once Submit Reports is on. A classification can have several templates — the requester chooses one for each report period — and one is its default.

Creating a template

To create a template:

  1. On the Status Report tab, click the create (+) button beside Use Template. Where there are no templates yet, click Create instead. The New Status Report Template side sheet opens.
  2. Enter a Template Name. Each template's name must be unique.
  3. To make it the template chosen first when reports are requested, check Set as default template.
  4. Save the template. It's selected under Use Template, with an empty layout below.
  5. Add its fields — see Adding fields.
  6. Arrange them — see Arranging fields.
  7. Click Save.

Changes to a template aren't kept until you click Save; a message beside the button shows there are unsaved changes. Save before switching to another template under Use Template.

Adding fields

To add a field to the template:

  1. Choose the field from Field.
  2. Click Add. The field is added to the end of the layout.

Most fields can be added once; once placed, they're greyed out in Field. Headings, Featured RAID and Featured Tasks tables, and benefits and costs charts can be added as many times as needed. The fields are:

  • Heading and Subheading — titles that break the report into sections.
  • The initiative's fields — its ID, name, owner, current stage, description, and start and end dates.
  • Status indicators — Overall Status, Schedule Status, Financial Status, Risk Status, and Issue Status, where they're turned on for the classification.
  • Custom fields — any custom field mapped to the classification. A Select Box's reference data is offered as separate read-only fields, each named Custom: followed by the reference data's name. These can be added only where the Select Box is already on the template, and removing the Select Box also removes them. See Custom Fields (Advanced Model).
  • Featured RAID and Featured Tasks — tables of RAID items and tasks, chosen by the submitter. Offered where RAID items or the schedule are turned on.
  • Benefits and Costs — charts of the initiative's benefits for one benefit classification, or its costs for one cost category. Offered where benefits or costs are turned on.

Arranging fields

The layout shows each field as it will appear on the report. Its width is split into three columns.

  • Move a field — drag it to a new place in the layout.
  • Resize a field — drag the handle at its right edge to make it a third, two-thirds, or the full width. Which widths are offered depends on the field. Text areas, such as the description, also have a handle at the bottom, to make them taller.
  • Make a custom field required — check Required on the field, so the report can't be published until it's filled in. A field set as required on the custom field itself is always required.
  • Write a heading — type its text into the heading. The submitter can't change it.
  • Remove a field — click its delete button. Nothing is deleted from the initiative.

Setting up Featured RAID and Featured Tasks

A Featured RAID or Featured Tasks table starts with no columns. Open its settings to choose:

  • Columns — the details shown for each item, such as each risk's rating and mitigation. Reference data from a Select Box can be chosen as a column too.
  • Filters — which items the submitter can choose from. For example, filter a Featured Tasks table to milestones, so only milestones can be reported.

Setting up Benefits and Costs

Click the settings icon at the top right of a Benefits or Costs chart to choose which series it shows — such as the plan, forecast, and actuals for benefits, or the budget, forecast, and actuals for costs. These charts can't be changed in the report.

Managing templates

  • Rename a template, or make it the default — choose it under Use Template, and click the edit button.
  • Start a template from an existing one — choose it under Use Template, and click the duplicate button.
  • Delete a template — open it with the edit button, and click Delete Template.

At least one template must exist while Submit Reports is on, and one must be the default.

Approving status reports

To have each report approved before it's complete, choose a Status Report Approval workflow as the Approval Workflow where reports are requested — on the requesting classification's Status Report tab, or, in the Simple Model, the program's Configuration > General page or the reporting group. Each published report then goes to the workflow's approvers, who approve it or reject it with feedback. Without a workflow, published reports are complete straight away. See Approval Workflow Types.

Permissions

Two permissions in each team role control status reporting — see Team Roles:

  • Submit Status Report — Full to complete and publish status reports; None to have no access to them. Usually given to project managers and initiative owners.
  • Manage Status Updates — Full to create and manage report periods, send reminders, and withdraw requests; Read to view report periods and their reports; None to have no access. Usually given to program managers and approvers.

Approving a report depends on being an approver in its workflow, not on these permissions.

For requesting and completing reports, see Requesting Status Reports and Submitting Status Reports.