When managing a project, staying informed about its progress is very important in ensuring that you share the right information with everyone involved. Tracking your projects is a great way to keep comprehensive data on every stage of your projects and identify any potential setbacks and complete milestones. In essence, by tracking your projects you can compare the actual to your planned progress and identify any issues that may prevent the project from staying within your budget and schedule. By using a project tracker template, you can be able to do this more efficiently.
To better understand what a project tracker template is, in this guide, we will take you through everything you need to know including, the components of a project tracker, whom, and how one can use this template. We will also provide you with tips on how to properly use this template to effectively track your projects.
Components of a Project Tracker Template
Whether you are just trying to stay on top of your to-do list or are managing a large-scale project, knowing the different components of a project tracker is the first step to creating one that will help you organize, delegate, and complete tasks more efficiently.
Here is a detailed breakdown of the different components and how to effectively complete each section when using a template:
Tasks
The first component that you should define in your project tracker is the task you would like to track. This is particularly important in cases where you are managing different tasks at the same time.
To complete this section when using a template, make sure to use clear action-oriented names for example, “Create user dashboard” instead of writing just “Dashboard.” Make sure that the names you use are concise but descriptive and are consistently used throughout the project.
Status
The next component that should be included in your project tracker is the status of your projects. Tracking the status of your projects helps provide a clear picture of your project’s progress. It also helps to identify potential bottlenecks or delays.
When providing the status progress of your projects, consider using standard options such as Not Started, In Progress, On Hold, or Completed. Also, make sure to update the status regularly as the progress changes and include notes if or when status changes are caused by external factors.
Related: 14 Free Project Status Report Templates
Category
Categorizing the different tasks that make up your project helps in, generating reports and understanding the distribution of work across different project areas. To properly filter different tasks, consider using main and sub-categories if necessary. Also, consider using predetermined category options from your project’s taxonomy.
Completion percentage
The completion percentage of your projects provides a more granular view of its progress than the status. It also helps in calculating the overall project completion. When providing the completion percentages of your projects, it is important to be as realistic as possible and update the percentages regularly based on actual progress. Also, consider using standard increments such as 25%, 50%, 75% or 100%.
Assigned to
For effective project tracking, it is important to know the different groups, individuals, or teams working on different tasks. It also helps in workload management and allocation of resources. When assigning tasks to groups or individuals, enter the name of the group or individual. If there are multiple people assigned to complete the same task, consider designating one person as the primary owner of the task.
Task description
Properly describing your tasks helps prevent any misunderstandings, reduces the need for clarifications, and helps everyone involved understand what is expected of them during the project’s life cycle. To complete this section, make sure that your task description provides a clear and detailed explanation of what needs to be done. Include any requirements or acceptance criteria or instructions to be followed.
Planned start and finish dates
Indicating the start and finish dates for your projects or tasks is important as it helps in the scheduling, resource allocation, and identification of potential timeline conflicts. Before including the start and finish dates consider including any buffer time to counter unexpected delays. Also, ensure that the timelines align with your project’s milestones and deadlines.
Related: Free Project Timeline Templates (Excel | Word)
Actual start and finish dates
Tracking the actual dates that the different tasks have been completed is important in improving future estimates and providing insight into your team’s velocity and the different project patterns. When indicating the actual start and finish dates you can also narrow down your tracking to the actual hours and days. This will help you understand and improve your estimation accuracy and the project’s cost.
Users and use cases
Project tracker templates are commonly used by project managers and teams to organize and track projects. They can also be used by individual contributors who need to monitor project progress, deadlines and allocate resources.
These templates can be used in different settings including tracking and monitoring:
- Marketing campaign milestones
- Construction project phases
- Research initiatives
- General business projects
These templates are particularly valuable for stakeholders who are looking for real-time visibility into project status, resource utilization, and potential bottlenecks.
Download a Free Editable Template
These project tracker templates while simple in design include everything you need to come up with an effective project tracker for all your projects including, task lists, timelines, and resource allocation to help you properly organize your project workflows. These templates can also be customized for different project requirements and include basic setup documentation.
Project Tracker Template 01
Project Tracker Template 02
Project Tracker Template 03
Project Tracker Template 04
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