AjaxStatus is a global indicator to provide feedback about the ongoing ajax request. This page has two AjaxStatus components, one with facet driven declarative approach and the other one using callbacks.
Documentation

<p:ajaxStatus style="display:block;margin-bottom:2em;height:24px;">
<f:facet name="default">
<h:outputText value="Status: StandBy" />
</f:facet>
<f:facet name="start">
<p:graphicImage name="/demo/images/ajaxloadingbar.gif" />
</f:facet>
<f:facet name="complete">
<h:outputText value="Status: Completed" />
</f:facet>
</p:ajaxStatus>
<p:ajaxStatus onstart="PF('statusDialog').show()" onsuccess="PF('statusDialog').hide()" />
<p:dialog widgetVar="statusDialog" modal="true" draggable="false" closable="false" resizable="false" showHeader="false">
<p:graphicImage name="/demo/images/ajaxloadingbar.gif" />
</p:dialog>
<h:form>
<p:commandButton value="Send" icon="pi pi-refresh" />
</h:form>