Truth 26
Status Reports Aren't Code for Cover Your Butt

A manager at one of my clients was a master at playing the cover-your-butt game. Whenever there was a problem in his organization, he always seemed to have some reason or excuse for why someone else was responsible for resolution. His status reports reflected his behavior. His colleagues, management, and even his employees would get ambushed in status reports with respect to the resolution of issues. If something went wrong with delivery of a key project, he took comfort in saying, "Well, I told you we weren't going to make our delivery date in my status report." He viewed his status reports as a get-out-of-jail-free card for taking responsibility for problems in his organization. Not cool.

Let me put this as plainly as I can: Status reports are a vehicle for communicating where you are, what can happen in the future, and where you need help with problems. They are not a vehicle that permits you to defer responsibility for managing your organization when things get rough. True, you want to delegate responsibility and accountability and enlist others to help you solve problems. But at the end of the day, you, as the manager, are still accountable for results, and you need to accept ultimate responsibility for performance. In situations where a problem is outside your scope of responsibility, like a policy issue that needs to be decided by your management, they may own the decision, but you are responsible for making sure that the decision gets made on a timely basis.

When writing a status report, keep some basic things in mind to help you avoid playing cover-your-butt:

• Stick to the facts. Keep your status reports factual and unemotional when dealing with problems or issues. If an unresolved issue means that a key milestone won't be met, say so. Just don't exaggerate and claim that the sky is falling every time something doesn't go your way.
• Hold others accountable, but don't go to extreme measures to embarrass. As a manager, it is your responsibility to hold other team members accountable for results. Just be careful not to use a status report to ambush or publicly attack a colleague. If your colleague isn't delivering results, keep to the facts, and don't draw undue attention to his or her nondelivery. Saying something like "John is killing our project" makes the attack personal and will not help teamwork in the future.

Keep your status reports factual and unemotional when dealing with problems or issues. Don't use them to ambush or publicly attack a colleague.

• Tell others what you need from them. Don't just document a problem; be explicit in telling a specific person what you need from him or her to resolve the issue. Also be cautious about using terms like "management" when making a request. You know who you need help from; be specific.
• Don't dump problems on others' doorsteps. When you have a problem you need help with, make sure you're also doing things you need to do to help resolve the problem. Too many times I've seen time wasted on resolving problems because a manager escalated an issue without first doing enough due diligence on the problem. Do your part first, and then escalate or assign it to someone else once you've exhausted your own resources.
• It's still your responsibility to drive resolution. Just because you bring a problem to light doesn't mean you've absolved yourself from future action. You're still ultimately responsible for resolution, so don't wash your hands of a problem just because you shot up a warning flare.

Status reports are great for helping you communicate where your organization is, what the future holds, and where you need help with problems. Use them as a tool to help you get your point across and get things done. Don't use them as a loophole for nonperformance.