What Are Project Manager Time Reports?

Project manager time reports are a type of report created by managers for a specific project in digital or paper form. They list the amount of time whole teams or individual team members devote to their tasks within a larger project or as required by the project.

Project manager time reports help team leads or managers keep an eye on team members’ or employees' performance, ensure they stick to the projected timeline, and get an insight into each individual task’s budgetary requirements. 

What Does a Project Manager Time Report Consist Of?

Project manager time reports are one of the most important types of project manager reports. They consist of:

  • Detailed information about each team member’s work time;
  • Information on how much time each team member spends on a specific task within the project;
  • Information on how much time the entire team spends on the project.

Why Are Project Manager Time Reports Useful?

Project manager time reports, either created manually or using time tracking software, can have numerous benefits for teams, and they can help them successfully start and finish projects. Some of the benefits are:

  • Improving team organization and task allocation and scheduling.
  • Giving upper management and clients an overall picture of the project’s timeline.
  • Allowing upper management and employers to assess the performance of managers, teams, and individual team members.
  • Ensuring team members stick to the project timeline.
  • Helping managers improve their time management skills

Other Types of Project Manager Reports

There are many different types of project manager reports apart from time reports. The most common types include but are not limited to:

Availability Report 

The availability report is first on the list because it’s typically done before the project officially starts. It incorporates the following aspects that relate to the company’s specific operational availability:

  • The availability of the team members assigned to the project.
  • The availability of the resources or materials needed to start and finish the project.
  • The required equipment for the project’s successful completion.

Risk Assessment Report

The goal of risk assessment reports is to predict and prevent the future and current risks associated with a certain project. They are a useful tool, as they allow project managers to thoroughly prepare teams or individual team members to overcome current challenges and avoid future ones.

Project Baseline Report

Project baseline reports serve as a detailed estimate of the time requirements needed to accomplish individual tasks within a larger project and complement time reports. 

By comparing estimated time requirements to actual time reports, managers can better understand the differences between the projected times for accomplishing tasks and actual times needed to accomplish them. 

These differences can help managers create better estimates for future projects and make necessary changes to current time schedules if necessary.

Summary Report

A summary report is a summary of all the data collected from other types of reports. The content of a summary report varies based on the project's requirements, the company involved, the project managers overseeing the project, and the team members working on the project. 

In most cases, summary reports incorporate data pertaining to the project’s budget, time schedules, risks associated with the project, and performance assessment of teams and individual team members as it relates to the particular needs of the project.

The main purpose of summary reports is to provide an overview of the project’s current status and potential future risks to managers, board members, shareholders, or the company’s leadership.