Reporting Project Status

My preference for reporting project status is RYG.

Red = project is behind (timing, cost, resources). Team needs help.

Yellow = project is behind, but the team has a solid plan in place to bring project back on track and go green soon.

Green = project is on schedule (timing, cost, resources), maybe minor slippage that the team can correct quickly.

Important is for management not to shoot the messenger (the one that brings the red status to their attention). If the team turns the project RED, management must act and make a decision what to do about it.

Secondly there should be no fear in the organization, so that the team can score the project accurately. Management does not like surprises, however fear prevents the actual project status to be communicated.

Thirdly the team is usually proud of the work they are doing. Reporting RED would mean to them that the team is not performing (usually beyond their control).

I have seen instances where projects were green during all project phases. The product launched and it turned out to be failure (customer complaints, warranty, overtime, high scrap, expensive product and process changes after launch). The company lost about $10,000,000 and in the end stopped making the product.