what is rag status

RAG status is an acronym that stands for Red, Amber, and Green, and is based on a traffic light system. It is commonly used in project management and contract management to denote the status of a project or a contract in a way that relates specifically to business objectives and priorities. The colors red, amber, and green represent different types of management action required and are a shorthand for talking about projects going well or those in trouble. Red indicates that the project is likely to deliver late and over budget, amber indicates that the project has missed some of its goals but the end date and budget havent been affected significantly, and green indicates that the project is on track. The RAG status reporting system is a simple and effective approach that makes it easy for projects at risk to be identified and for action to be taken on time. It is used to communicate project status visually and is often included in weekly status reports, monthly status reports, and risk reports. The RAG status methodology requires agreement about what defines each alert level and the actions that should be taken based on it, and adding a RAG narrative to each status can help to justify responses, build trust around the methodology, and standardize internal processes when actions need to be taken.