Status in Project Management – Definition and Meaning
Status refers to the current condition or state of a project, task, work package, risk, or any other relevant project management element at a given point in time. It is used to track and document the progress, processing stage, or lifecycle phase of an item—typically by assigning predefined categories such as ‘New’, ‘Planned’, ‘In Progress’, ‘On Hold’, ‘Completed’, or ‘Closed’ to indicate its current state.
Example, best practice, and further information
A project task, for example, may have the status ‘In Progress’ while work is actively being carried out. A proven best practice is the timely and accurate updating of the status of tasks and other project elements by the responsible individuals. This is fundamental for status tracking and reporting in project management (see PMBOK Guide) and is often visualized in agile methods by moving cards on Kanban boards. Maintaining up-to-date status enhances transparency on work progress and enables rapid responses to bottlenecks or issues.