The AIRSC Report is a bare minimum tool that is necessary for a project manager to start project execution.

The AIRSC Report is not a standard project management term; I developed this report to meet specific client reporting requirements. However, these concepts are foundational to modern project management tools, including BrightWork.

In this article, I will share a template for improving project execution, monitoring, and controlling – the AIRSC report. We will also provide templates for all those scenarios in separate articles.

The Five Key Project Stages

A project lifecycle typically follows five stages: initiation, planning, execution, monitoring and controlling, and closing.

1.       Project Initiation

Project Initiation marks the formal start of a project. During this stage, the project’s purpose, objectives, and feasibility are defined.

Key stakeholders are identified, and initial resources are allocated. The initiation phase sets the foundation for the project by establishing clear goals and securing approvals necessary to proceed.

2.     Project Planning

Project Planning establishes the total scope of the project, defines or refines the requirements, and develops the course of action to deliver the results.

Despite the importance of project planning, most of the project manager’s time is spent on executing, monitoring, and controlling the project.

Depending on the project’s size and complexity, project teams typically spend 50-70% of their time in these areas of the project.

3.     Project Execution

Project Execution focuses on completing the work defined in the project management plan to meet the project objectives.

Those objectives are delivered by coordinating resources, managing stakeholder expectations, and integrating activities from various workstreams.

4.     Project Monitoring and Controlling

Project Monitoring involves collecting project performance data and converting that data into information. This information is used in creating project status reports, along with recommended actions for the project team.

Project Controlling is when stakeholders take action. Recommended actions may be corrective, preventive, or defect repairs.

• Corrective action realigns current performance with the project plan to prevent these issues from occurring again.
• Preventive action ensures future performance remains aligned with the plan, proactively avoiding future issues.
• Defect repair refers to the repair of a faulty product or product component.

5.     Project Closure

Project Closure finalizes all project activities and formally completes the project. This stage includes handing over deliverables to the client or stakeholders, releasing project resources, and documenting lessons learned.

Closing ensures all objectives have been met, contractual obligations fulfilled, and provides an opportunity to review project successes and areas for improvement.

The project or organization’s change request process governs these recommended actions.

AIRSC Report vs. RAID Log Framework

A RAID Log Framework (Risks, Assumptions, Issues, and Dependencies) is a project management tool used to track those four categories throughout the project lifecycle.

The AIRSC report expands on this concept by including Status Reports and Change Requests. Many organizations start with a standard RAID log, and a RAID log template can help centralize project obstacles.

What is the AIRSC Report?

The AIRSC report serves as a comprehensive project tracker, combining elements like an issue and risk tracker into a single project management log.

Some project teams also track project assumptions, decisions, and dependencies, along with this report.

For teams needing a purpose-built tracker, consider BrightWork 365, which brings issue, risk, and change logs into a unified project management environment.

 Contents of the AIRSC Report

The AIRSC report includes:

• Action Item Tracker
• Issues Tracker
• Risks Tracker
• Status Reports Tracker
• Change Request Tracker.

 

Teams can use a separate tracker for decisions and dependencies as needed. You can use our BrightWork 365 project management templates to manage these components.

Action Item Tracker

An action item is a follow-up activity often resulting from a meeting where the project team discusses activities, issues, or dependencies.

The action is not core to accomplishing the meeting objectives, for example, an issue or activity can have a follow-up activity.

An Action Item Tracker helps the project team to organize these follow-up activities.

Issue Tracker

The Issue Tracker helps the project manager to effectively track and manage issues, ensuring that they are investigated and resolved.

Throughout the project, the project manager will face unexpected problems, gaps, inconsistencies, or conflicts that must be addressed so they do not impact the project’s triple constraints (scope, time, cost) or performance.

The Issue Tracker is a project document where all the issues are recorded and tracked.

Risk Tracker (or Risk Register or Risk Log)

All projects are risky since they are unique undertakings with varying degrees of complexity that aim to deliver benefits. A risk is an uncertain event that, if it occurs, has a positive or negative impact on the project’s triple constraints (scope, time, and cost).

Risk can be at two levels – an individual constraint level or the overall project level. The Risk Tracker captures details of identified risks at both levels.

Once risks are identified, the tracker gets updated with results from qualitative and quantitative analysis. Later response strategies are updated on the same tracker.

Status Report Tracker

A weekly project status report is a common project management activity. Many teams use a standardized project status report template to ensure consistency.

A typical Status report contains:

• RAG (Red, Amber, Green) assessment covering delivery confidence
• % complete
• Overall Executive Summary Status
• Weekly Highlights and Weekly Lowlights.
• Next Actions.

Some teams write a project report that summarizes milestones, actions, issues, risks, and budgets, along with explanatory comments.

The Status Report Tracker contains all weekly status reports to show how the project is performing over time.

Change Request Log (Change Request Tracker)

A change is a modification to any formally controlled deliverable, project management plan component, or project document.

A change request is a formal proposal to modify a document, deliverable, or baseline.

The change request log is a vital tool within the overall project change management discipline. It provides a comprehensive list of changes submitted during the project and their current status.

How BrightWork Supports Effective Project Execution

The AIRSC report combines essential tracking tools into a single comprehensive tracker to help project managers maintain control, anticipate challenges, and communicate progress consistently throughout the project lifecycle.

While the AIRSC report is not a formal industry term, its foundational principles reflect standard practices widely supported in project management tools, including BrightWork.

BrightWork 365 unifies issue, risk, change, and status reporting. It improves visibility and simplifies stakeholder communication. Its customizable templates and real-time dashboards support project teams in managing execution phases more effectively

To experience how BrightWork can help transform your project execution process, request a live demo now.