Project Summary Template: What to Include, and 5 One-Page Examples

Every example was made with MakeOnepagers. Each one opens as a template you can edit for free: every word, chart and color.

What is a project summary?

A project summary is a short overview of a project for people who aren't running it day to day: a sponsor, a client, a steering group or senior leaders. It answers four questions in the order they get asked. Are we on track? What did it cost so far? What's in the way? What do you need from me?

A project summary changes with the stage of the project:

• At the start, it's the case for the project: the goal, the scope, the budget and the dates. That's close to a project proposal.
• While it runs, it's a status summary: progress against the plan, spend against the budget, risks and decisions needed.
• At the end, it's a closing summary: what was delivered, what it cost and what the team learned. That's a summary report.

The template below works for all three. Only the middle sections change.

What to include in a project summary

1. Project name, owner and date. "Server Replacement Project, owner Daniel Reyes, report for September."
2. The headline in one or two sentences. On time or not, on budget or not, and why. "On budget and one week behind. Barcode scanners arrived late, so testing moved by a week."
3. Progress. Percent of the work done against the percent planned for this date, or status by workstream.
4. Budget. Spent, budget and what's left, in one small table.
5. Timeline. The four or five dates that matter, with the next one marked.
6. Risks and issues. Each with what you're doing about it and an owner.
7. Next steps and decisions needed. What happens before the next summary, and anything the reader has to approve.

If the reader stops after part 2, they should still know whether to worry. That's the test.

A one-page project summary template

Copy the rows into a doc, or open any example below and replace the figures. Keep the same layout every period so the reader learns where to look.

5 project summary examples

1. Executive summary of a project report

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A sample monthly project summary for a sponsor: how much is done against the plan, what happened this month, what comes next and the three risks being managed.

What to copy:

• Done against planned, in one number. "58% of the work done, planned for this date: 55%" answers the sponsor's first question before they ask it.
• Done this period next to planned for next period. Three lines each. The reader sees the project moving, not only where it stands.
• Risks with what you're doing about them. "Old licenses expire in November, renewed for 3 months, done" shows the risk is already handled.

Edit for free: executive summary of a project report template.

2. Weekly project status summary

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A sample weekly project summary: one sentence on where it stands, four workstreams with a status each, the timeline and the budget.

What to copy:

• Week 18 of 30 in the subtitle. The reader knows how far into the project they are before reading anything else.
• Bad news, cause and impact in one line. "Scanners arrived late, so testing moved from 2 to 9 November. Go-live on 7 December still holds."
• A status for every workstream. On track, at risk or late, each with what happened this week, so the problem is easy to find.

Edit for free: project status summary template.

3. Steering group project summary

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A sample project summary for a steering group: four headline numbers, each workstream's status, the next four dates and the two decisions the group has to make.

What to copy:

• "Decisions needed: 2" in the headline row. The group sees there's something to decide before the meeting starts.
• Risks as a grid. Impact against likelihood puts the one red risk, the unsigned contract, where nobody can miss it.
• Each decision with a date or a price. "Approve a contract tester, $6k for 3 weeks" can be answered yes or no in the room.

Edit for free: project status report template.

4. Launch readiness summary

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A sample project summary before a go-live: what is left to do, how much is built, the odds of hitting the date and the one decision needed.

What to copy:

• Confidence as a number. "74% of March windows clear both" is more honest than "on track", and it tells leaders how much to plan around.
• What the date rests on. Four things that all have to be ready, drawn as pillars, so nobody argues about which one matters.
• The decision, the date and the owner at the bottom. "Commit the March window, by 8 February, launch review board."

Edit for free: launch readiness summary template.

5. Project plan summary for the year

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A sample project summary at the start of a year: what ships each quarter, where last year ended, the risks and the four numbers the year will be judged on.

What to copy:

• What ships, and when, as one grid. Four workstreams across four quarters. The whole plan is visible at once.
• Where last year ended. "6 depots live, up 4" sets the starting line, so progress later has something to be measured against.
• One line on what must not slip. "Miss the telemetry rewrite in Q1 and all three lanes move together."

Edit for free: project plan summary template. For more one-page project examples, see our project one-pager guide.

How to write a project summary in 5 steps

1. Write the headline last, then put it first. Fill in progress, budget and risks, then sum them up in two sentences at the top.
2. Compare every number with the plan. "$662K spent" means little. "$662K of $850K, with 40% of the time left" means a lot.
3. Name the cause of any delay. A slip with a reason ("scanners arrived late") is a fact. A slip without one is a worry.
4. Give every risk an owner and an action. If nobody owns it, it's a hope, not a plan.
5. End with what you need. One decision, approval or answer, with a date. If you need nothing, say so.

If your numbers are already in a plan, a spreadsheet or last month's report, MakeOnepagers reads the file and builds the one-page summary from what's in it, which you then edit.

Project summary mistakes

• Starting with the background. The sponsor knows what the project is. Lead with whether it's on track.
• Green for everything. A summary where nothing is ever amber stops being believed. Show the problem while it's small.
• Progress without the plan. "58% done" needs "55% planned" beside it to mean anything.
• A new layout every month. Keep the same sections in the same places, so the reader compares this month with last month at a glance.
• More than one page. Detail goes in the project plan. The summary points to it.