Status reports come in all sorts of styles depending on who is the audience. Basically the status report is meant to give an update of the condition of the project.
The information presented can be high level such as “on track” or “at risk”. The status report is also a good way to report what is completed and what is coming up in the near future. The status report is a record for the project manager to show to stakeholders the progress of deliverables and what is outstanding.
Most experienced project managers will say 80% to 90% of their job is communication. The status report helps achieve this communication because of the information that is conveyed.
Usually a status report will be prepared and presented on a weekly basis but, depending on the project event such as a go-live, the status report might be completed daily. Without a frequent status report, stakeholder and team members will be wondering what is happening and will start asking repetitive questions. You as the project manager will be inundated with requests for the same info and will find yourself bogged down and unable to do your other work. To avoid this problem, creating a status report and broadcasting it to everyone will be of great benefit to you and the project.