The Science of Short: Writing Status Reports That People Actually Remember

Status reports are indispensable tools for communicating progress, aligning teams, and informing stakeholders. However, a critical question arises: Are these reports too lengthy for their intended audience? Understanding human information retention capabilities can shed light on this issue and guide the creation of more effective reports.

Human Information Retention: Insights from Cognitive Science

Research indicates that humans tend to forget information rapidly after initial learning. Within an hour, approximately 50% of new information is forgotten; this increases to 70% within 24 hours and up to 90% after a week. This phenomenon, known as the "forgetting curve," highlights the challenge of retaining large amounts of information over time.

The brain's capacity to process and store information is influenced by factors such as emotional state, personal interest, and external distractions. These elements play a significant role in how we learn and remember.

Short-Term Memory Limitations

Short-term memory, also known as working memory, has a limited capacity. George A. Miller's seminal 1956 paper, "The Magical Number Seven, Plus or Minus Two," suggests that the average person can hold about seven (give or take two) discrete items in their short-term memory at once. This means that when presented with a list of items, most individuals can recall between five and nine of them without additional reinforcement.

However, more recent research proposes that this capacity might be even more limited. A study by Cowan (2001) argues that the true capacity of working memory is closer to four chunks of information. This suggests that our ability to process and retain information in the short term is more constrained than previously thought.

Long-Term Memory Capacity

While short-term memory has clear limitations, long-term memory operates differently. Estimates suggest that the human brain can store approximately 2.5 million gigabytes of information. This vast capacity indicates that, theoretically, we can retain a nearly limitless amount of information over our lifetimes. However, the challenge lies not in storage but in retrieval—accessing the right information at the right time.

The Impact of Lengthy Project Status Reports

Given these cognitive limitations, excessively detailed project status reports may overwhelm readers, leading to decreased retention and engagement. Long reports can result in key information being overlooked or forgotten, diminishing the report's effectiveness.

Best Practices for Crafting Concise and Effective Reports

To enhance information retention and ensure that project status reports fulfill their purpose, consider the following strategies:

• Having more than 4 topics in a report will reduce information retention. Time, cost, scope and a single issue would make 4 topics. While you might be tempted to include more, it probably won’t be remembered.
• If 90% of the information is going to be forgotten, what’s the 10% that you want to be sure is retained? This needs to be your title, or your intro and you need to think carefully about the words you use. Minimise length to maximise impact.
• The order matters. Things earlier in the report are more likely to be remembered than things later in the report. Don’t hide the key messages or issues on page 2.

Why write 10 things in your status report if only 4 are going to be retained? This isn’t about “covering your arse”, this is about communicating. Keep it short.