Technical and Professional Writing
Engl 402 Fall 2017
R&D Project Progress Report, E-mail Format
Due: 3 p.m. Monday, October 23, to Blackboard.
Progress reports inform their audience about the status of a project. They are usually submitted regularly throughout a project and inform readers on how the work to be accomplished is progressing—whether satisfactorily or not.
The audience for this report is the instructor in his role of supervisor/manager. Each member of the team must write a Progress Report.
Your report must include:
- Introduction—statement of the purpose, context, and overview of important information to help readers understand the information that follows.
- Work Completed—specify the time period, divide the project into major tasks and report appropriate details of work completed.
- This section must include a discussion of what your team has accomplished since the start of the project, and
- what you specifically have accomplished.
- Work Scheduled—explain the work that will occur on each major task in the next time period.
- This must include a discussion of the tasks you expect to complete.
- Problems— explain problems encountered with work completed and problems anticipated as work continues; describe plans for handling problem areas.
- Conclusion—summarize and evaluate the project to date, provide any final information or recommendations, AND include a brief evaluation of your team members' contributions.
- Appropriate formatting and language for an e-mail.
Below is an e-mail you may use to respond to, in order to provide context:
To: You
From: Elijah Coleman, Management
Date: 10-20-17
Subject: Project Progress Update Needed ASAP
<your name>,
I am writing in regard to the status of your project. It has been a week since your team started, and you should be halfway through, according to the recent updates you have sent. What I need is an e-mail in a formal format on the status of your project--what have you completed so far, what still needs to be done, if there are any issues I need to know about now (big or small, I need to know them), and a summary I can pull from or copy directly to others. I may also have to send some of the information you provide about the completed or scheduled work to other parties, like our clients, so be specific.
In order to get a clear picture of your project, I need each member of your team to write an e-mail. This requirement is due in part to the legal office's recent request that all employees are documenting project status, and a member of the legal office may also review your e-mails; be sure everyone on your team observes appropriate ethical and legal policies.
I will need your e-mails no later than 3 p.m. on Monday, October 23. If you need clarification or have questions, e-mail me. Otherwise I look forward to seeing where your team is at.
Best regards,
Elijah Coleman
Management