What is a Report? and how to write it?

1. Report Writing
By : Sadhana Banerji
Assistant Professor (NDIM)

2. Meaning of Report
Reports are important in modern communications.
Thousands of reports—formal or informal, special or
routine—are written every day.
• A report is a formal communication written for a
specific purpose. A business report is an orderly
presentation of facts about specific activity.
• A foreman reports to the manager the progress of the
work, a manager report to the general manager, and
the Board of Directors report to the shareholders.
All information comes from reporting. Reports play an
important role in modern business.

3. Drafting a Report:
• Before a writer undertakes to prepare a report, s/he
must consider the following points:
(i) Preliminary analysis.
(ii) The type of report requested i.e., whether formal or
informal, statutory or non-statutory, periodic report or
progress report, examination report or
recommendation report or statistical report.
(iii) The length of time allowed to prepare the report.
(iv) The purpose of the report.
(v) The facts to be furnished.
(vi) The person for whom the report is meant.

4. Key Points
Business reports are an invaluable way to share information and aid
decision-making in many organizations.
A good report is concise, authoritative, and makes well-researched
recommendations.
Your precise requirements will vary according to the subject matter and
the nature of your business.
But in general, a business report should include:
1. Title Page
2. Executive Summary
3. Introduction
4. Methodology
5. Main Body
6. Conclusion
7. Recommendations
8. Appendix

5. Let's use the example of a marketing manager,
Rosheen.
She's been asked by her marketing director to
write a report on the sales performance of one of
their company's products, a cold remedy called
Airspace. And to make recommendations
concerning its future.

6. Report Writing
1.TITLE PAGE
Include the report name, your name (as the author) and the date. Also
briefly state the purpose of the report. If your report is long (more than
about 10 pages, for example), your title section could also include a table
of contents.
Example: Rosheen puts a clear title at the top of the page, so there's no doubt what
the report's about, and a couple of lines about why it's important. She also dates it.
She adds her own name in the centre of the page as the author.

7. 2. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
• Keep this to a maximum of one page, so it can be read at a glance.
• Outline the issue, then list the most important information or results.
• Finally, detail your recommendations for the actions that need to be taken.
• Many people will only read this one page, so make sure that it can stand alone.
• Use bullet points and numbered lists to highlight and summarize the most important
points.
Tip:
It's best to write the executive summary last, when you've finalized the bulk of the
report's content, to make sure that you don't miss out any important information.
Example: Rosheen organizes her executive summary into three parts. This makes it easy for
her boss to quickly grasp the main thrust of the report, based on this one page.
• The first part is the scope of the report – what Airspace is, the aspects of its
performance she has been asked to investigate, and why. She also indicates the
timescale of her research.
• The second part is a summary of her findings. The Airspace product hasn't been
performing well, so she includes headline numbers to show its recent sales figures.
• The third part is a set of recommendations to improve performance. These include
repositioning Airspace in the market, and introducing new product variants.

8. 3. INTRODUCTION
Tell your readers why they need to read this
report, and give a very brief overview of what
you're going to cover in the main body of the
text.
Example:
Rosheen outlines the importance of the Airspace product to her
organization. It's a historically important brand, and still a solid
revenue driver. So its sales performance matters. She also indicates
that she'll back her claims with evidence and offer possible answers
to the problem.

9. 4. METHODOLOGY
Describe your research. For example, did you employ web
analytics, focus groups and interviews, or outside resources
like consulting or research firms? Include the details of your
research process and explain why you used the sources that
you did.
Example:
• Rosheen includes a brief description of how she conducted her research.
• She notes her use of internal documents and sales figures, and of external
trade press articles on Airspace's competitors and their activity.
• She also shows that she's conducted focus groups with Airspace's regular
customers, and conducted surveys on social media.

10. 5. Main Body
This is the "heart" of your report, where you present your
research and make your case. Put the most important
information first, and use data visualization to get your
message across with clarity and impact.
Example: Rosheen begins the main body of her report with a graphic
indicating Airspace's declining market share and other financial data on its
performance.
She follows up with qualitative responses from focus groups and online
surveys, and includes data on what the competition has been doing in
Airspace's market sector.

11. 6. CONCLUSION
Analyze the results of your research and bring
everything together. Many people will read
this section, so keep it short and simple.
Example: Rosheen gives a commentary on the various factors
affecting Airspace's sales performance, analyzing them and placing
them in order of importance.
She then suggests a range of potential solutions but outlines her
final recommendations in a separate section, as explained below.

12. 7. RECOMMENDATIONS
List the actions that you think your organization
should take to solve the problem that you're
addressing. Ideally, use bullets or numbered
points for this list.
Make your opinion clear. You've done the
research, so tell people what needs to happen
next. If you suggest major changes, then draw up
a strategy to implement these larger changes on
a step-by-step basis.
Example: Rosheen proposes a strategy for introducing an
entirely new product range and phasing out the old one. She offers
rough costings and timescales for the project.

13. 8. APPENDICES
Information that is not essential to explain your findings, but that
supports your analysis (especially repetitive or lengthy information),
validates your conclusions or pursues a related point should be
placed in an appendix (plural appendices).
Even though few people will read the appendix in full, this is the
information that supports your arguments, so it must be included.
It includes figures/tables/charts/graphs of results, statistics,
questionnaires, transcripts of interviews, pictures, lengthy
derivations of equations, maps, drawings, letters, specification or
data sheets, computer program information.
Example: Rosheen lists her sources with full citations, including the
dates she accessed the data and conducted her research interviews.