Requesting Status Reports

Status reports are requested from Tools > Manage Status Updates on the requesting initiative's side menu, usually a program or portfolio. From there, create a report period to ask the initiatives beneath for a report — once, or automatically on a schedule — then follow the reports' progress, send reminders, review them, and close the period. For how a reporting cycle works, see Status Reporting.

This article covers both the Advanced and Simple Models. Requesting reports needs Request Reports turned on for the initiative's classification, or the program, and the Manage Status Updates permission — Full to create and change report periods, or Read to view them. See Configuring Status Reporting.

The Manage Status Updates page

The page lists everything in one place, grouped by report group: each group's report periods, and each period's reports. For each, it shows details such as the period's Due Date, Period Status — Open, Closed, or Archived — and # of Submissions, and each report's Report Status, Submitted On, and Approved On. For what each report status means, see Status Reporting.

Only open periods are shown at first. Turn on Show Closed Report Periods to see earlier periods, and their reports.

Report groups

Every report period belongs to a report group. A report group gathers related periods together — such as a monthly portfolio report — and can create new periods automatically, on a schedule, for the initiatives that match its criteria.

• Requesting reports when you need them — create each report period yourself, in any report group. See Creating a report period.
• Requesting reports on a schedule — set up a report group with a schedule, and a new report period is created for you each week, fortnight, or month. See Scheduling report periods.

Report periods created before report groups were introduced are in a group named Status Report Group, without a schedule.

Creating a report period

Reports can be requested from initiatives beneath this one that have Submit Reports turned on. Each initiative can have one open report period at a time. To create a report period:

1. On the Manage Status Updates page, click New, and choose New Period. The Create New Report Period side sheet opens, at Report Period Properties.
2. Enter the Report Period Name.
3. Choose the Report Group the period belongs to.
4. Set the Due Date. It's seven days from today unless you change it.
5. Continue to Select Initiatives.
6. Check the initiatives to request reports from. Where the report group has a schedule, the initiatives matching its criteria are already checked — expand See active report group criteria to see why.
7. Continue to Assign Report Templates.
8. Choose the template each initiative's report uses.
9. Click Create Report Period. The period is created, and each initiative's owner is told their report is ready — see How owners are notified.

Once the due date passes, reports that haven't been published move to Overdue. They can still be published until the period is closed.

Scheduling report periods

A report group with a schedule creates report periods automatically, so reports are requested on a regular cycle without anyone creating each period. To create a report group:

1. On the Manage Status Updates page, click New, and choose New Group. The side sheet opens, at Report Group Properties.
2. Enter the Report Group Name.
3. Turn on Schedule Periods. The schedule settings appear.
4. Choose the Frequency: Weekly, Every 2 Weeks, or Monthly.
5. Choose the day each period is created: the Day of Week, or for monthly periods, the Day of Month. Choose Last day for the end of each month.
6. Set the Time of Day each period is created. It's in the time zone set under Site Settings.
7. Set the Start Date — when the first period is created. Next Report Period shows when it will be.
8. Continue to Define Request Criteria.
9. Choose which initiatives each period includes. Classification is always one of the criteria; click + Add Criteria to add others, such as Current Stage, a status, or a custom field, each with Is one of or Is not one of and its values. A group can have up to seven.
10. Choose whether initiatives must match All or Any of the criteria.
11. Continue to Assign Report Templates.
12. Choose the template for each classification in the criteria.
13. Click Create Report Group. The group is created, and its first period is created on the start date.

To create a group without a schedule — to gather report periods you create yourself — leave Schedule Periods off at step 3, and click Create Report Group.

The criteria are checked each time a period is created, so each period includes the initiatives that match at that time — such as every project in the Execute stage.

To change a report group, click Edit Report Group. Changes to its criteria or templates only apply to periods created afterwards. Turning off Schedule Periods stops new periods being created, without changing those already created. Report groups can't be archived or deleted.

How owners are notified

• When a report is requested — whether the period is created by hand or on a schedule, or the initiative is added to a period later, its owner is emailed a New Status Report Request, with the report period, due date, and requester, and a link to the report. The request also appears in their To Do List, and as a push notification on the Amplify mobile app. No email is sent where notifications are turned off for the initiative.
• When a reminder is sent — the owner is emailed a Status Report Reminder. See Following up on reports.
• When a request is withdrawn — the owner isn't notified. The report is removed from their initiative's Status Update page and their To Do List, and the withdrawal is recorded on the initiative's Timeline. Let them know yourself, where needed.

Following up on reports

• Sending reminders — click Send Reminders on a report period. The owner of every report that's in progress, overdue, or rejected is emailed a reminder.
• Viewing a report — click View Report on a published report to open it, and, where there's an approval workflow, approve or reject it.

Changing a report period

To add initiatives to a report period, or withdraw requests from it:

1. Click Edit Report Period on the period. The Edit Report Period side sheet opens.
2. Continue to Select Initiatives.
3. Check the initiatives to add, and uncheck those to withdraw.
4. Continue to Assign Report Templates, and choose a template for each initiative you've added.
5. Save your changes. A message shows how many requests will be sent, and how many withdrawn.
6. Confirm. The requests are sent and withdrawn — see How owners are notified.

Requests can be withdrawn while a report is Not Submitted, Overdue, Rejected, or Pending Approval. Approved reports can't be withdrawn. The period's report group can be changed here too, without changing its initiatives or templates.

Closing a report period

Close a period once its reporting is finished. To close a report period:

1. Click Edit Report Period on the period.
2. Click Close Period. A confirmation message opens.
3. Confirm. The period is closed, and becomes read-only.

A closed period can then be archived, with Archive Period, to tidy the page. An archived period can be restored with Restore Period, or permanently deleted with Delete Period. Each asks you to confirm.

For completing reports, see Submitting Status Reports. For setting up status reporting, see Configuring Status Reporting.