Technical and Professional Writing
Engl 402 Spring 2018
R&D Project Progress Report, E-mail Format
Due: 3 p.m. Monday, March 19, 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: 3-14-18
Subject: Project Progress Update Needed ASAP
<your name>,
I am writing in regard to the status of your project. It has been than two weeks 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