Stoplight Charts: Ideal for At-a-Glance Project Reporting

Create Stoplight charts using Milestones Professional

In a report which has extensive data, how can action items be quickly highlighted and addressed?  Stoplight charts are a wonderful way to show status of projects at-a-glance.  Without even looking at the project details, a manager can glance at the project’s overall stoplight color and tell how it is doing:

Stoplights: What can they indicate?

Stoplights are typically green, yellow and red and can have many meanings.  Here is a sampling:

Dashboard Chart

Here’s a stoplight chart example showing how simple red-yellow-green stoplights can be used to quickly show how each part of a project is doing.

Other Types of Indicators

In addition to simple stoplights, many other indicators can be used for at-a-glance status.  This page and the following pages offer examples .

The Indicators Sampler schedule below illustrates some of the ways indicators can be used with a schedule.  In this example:

  • The % Complete column shades the pie based on the % complete entered in the column.
  • The Indicators by Range column shows a unique symbol for  each specified number range.
  • The Status Indicator column either shades with a color or displays a symbol based on the text in the Status column.  For On Schedule, it is shaded green.  Future is shaded blue.  Critical is shaded red.  If complete is entered, a black check-mark is shown.

Project Funding Dashboard Chart

The Remaining Cost column on this schedule is set up to automatically color when the costs to date exceed the baseline cost (red) and when the costs to date equal the baseline cost (yellow).

6-Month Earned Value Report

In this stoplight chart example, a % Complete column is shown along with a “Task Done” column. On the far right, a “Cost Status” column shows how each task is doing based on cost.

The “Task Done” column looks at the % complete column and determines if the task is 100% done. If so, a Y is added to the indicator. If not, an N is added.

The “Cost Status” column is a Calculation/Indicator column. It subtracts the Planned Value (PV) from the Budget. If Planned Value is less than Budget, a green symbol with a > symbol is shown. If Planned Value is greater than Budget, a red symbol with a < symbol is shown. If Budget = Planned Value, then a yellow symbol with an = symbol is shown.

Status Line Example

The Ahead/Behind column on this stoplight schedule example shows a green triangle if a project is ahead of schedule, a red arrow if the project is behind schedule and a yellow star if the project is right on schedule.

Stoplight Sampler

Milestones Professional’s Stoplight SmartColumn offers two basic methods for displaying stoplight symbols, text and colors based on user-entered numbers 1 to 4, or 1 to 10.

Standard Stoplights: Built-in stoplights appear based on user-enter numbers (1 = green, 2 = yellow, 3 = red, 4 = blue). G, Y, R, and B can appear with the stoplights. Optionally, display color-fills instead of the stoplights.

Custom Stoplights: Assign numbers 1 through 10 to any symbol, color and optional text. Optionally, display color-fills instead of the stoplights.

Project Cost Report

This stoplight chart example shows a simple Calculation/Indicator column which is created by subtracting Cost from Baseline Cost. The results of this subtraction are shown in the column along with an indicator, Red (Over budget), Green (Under Budget), Yellow (Right on Budget).

Stoplight Sampler #2

Milestones Professional’s Stoplight SmartColumn offers two basic methods for displaying stoplight symbols, text and colors based on user-entered numbers 1 to 4, or 1 to 10.

Standard Stoplights: Built-in stoplights appear based on user-enter numbers (1 = green, 2 = yellow, 3 = red, 4 = blue). G, Y, R, and B can appear with the stoplights. Optionally, display color-fills instead of the stoplights.

Custom Stoplights: Assign numbers 1 through 10 to any symbol, color and optional text. Optionally, display color-fills instead of the stoplights.