This free Work Performance Reports template is the document that turns work performance information into something a stakeholder can read and decide on. In the PMBOK® Guide 8th Edition it is the output of Monitor and Control Project Performance (Governance domain), and it becomes an input to three other processes: Evaluate and Implement Changes, Manage Communications and Monitor Risks. If your report is never read by any of those three, it is not a work performance report — it is paperwork.

What is inside this Work Performance Reports template

One Microsoft Word file (.docx, 39 KB), with nine ready-to-fill sections and eight tables:

• 1. Executive Summary — status of the period, key achievements, and anything that needs a decision now.
• 2. Key Performance Indicators — a KPI table with target, actual, status and trend.
• 3. Activities Completed — activity, deliverable, completion date, comments.
• 4. Activities In Progress — % complete, expected completion, issues and blockers.
• 5. Activities for Next Period — activity, responsible, target date, dependencies.
• 6. Risks and Issues — ID, description, type, severity, owner, mitigation.
• 7. Value Delivered — the benefits the period actually produced.
• 8. Sustainability Metrics — resource efficiency, waste reduction, social impact.
• 9. Additional Information — escalations and decisions needed from leadership.

Sections 7 and 8 are what make this a PMBOK 8 report and not a generic status update. Focus on value and Sustainability are two of the six principles of the PMBOK Guide 8th Edition, and a report that only shows percentages completed says nothing about either.

Who this template is for

Project managers, PMO analysts and team leads who have to report on a recurring cycle — weekly, biweekly or monthly — to a sponsor, a steering committee or a client. It works for predictive, agile and hybrid projects: the KPI table accepts earned value metrics (CPI, SPI) just as easily as velocity or lead time. No prior PMBOK 8 study is required to fill it in.

How to use it in three steps

1. Fix the cycle before the first report. Decide the reporting period and the audience, and write both in the header. A report with no fixed cadence stops being comparable from one period to the next.
2. Fill sections 2 to 6 with data, not adjectives. Each KPI needs a target and an actual. Each risk needs an owner and a date. Replace the sample rows with your own and delete what does not apply.
3. Close with sections 7 and 9. State the value delivered in the period, and end with the decisions you need from leadership. That last section is what turns a report into a meeting agenda.

See it filled in

Two complete examples show the same structure applied to real projects — useful when you want to see the level of detail expected before writing your own:

• Work Performance Reports — Software Development example (ProjectAdm, sprint-level EVM across 28 sprints)
• Work Performance Reports — Website Launch example (Project Phoenix, monthly reporting through launch)
• Work Performance Reports in PMBOK 8 — complete guide — what the output is, how it differs from work performance data and information, and how to distribute it

The file opens in Microsoft Word, Google Docs and LibreOffice Writer. It is free, and you can adapt it for your organization without restriction. Browse the rest of the collection at free PMBOK 8 templates.