Presentation on chapter 8.

1. Business Communication
Adapted from NETA PowerPoint for Essentials of Business Communication by
Lisa Jamieson
Writing Informal Reports

2. Informal Reports
• Short (~10 pages)
• Usually internal
• Solves problems,
provides services, sells
products
Image source

3. Problem Statements
Identifies problem
addressed by
report
Problem statement:
Manually filing financial documents
results in missing documents,
unverifiable transactions, and high
storage costs. This negatively
impacts the finance personnel in
our organization and reduces total
profits.

4. Purpose Statements
Defines the
report’s scope
Statement of purpose:
To recommend a new electronic
filing system for our financial
documents. The report will
evaluate three popular electronic
filing systems: Rubex, M-Files,
and Vienna Advantage. It will
compare their cost, ease of use,
and features.

5. Gathering Data
• Company records
• Observation
• Surveys
• Interviews
• Secondary research
Image source

6. Image source

7. Image source

8. Informal Report: Overview

9. Heading Hierarchies
• Clear and
consistent
hierarchy of
heading levels
• 1-2 heading
levels
• Approx. 1
heading/page
Image source

10. Level 1
Level 2
Level 3
Level 4
Level 5
Image source

11. Descriptive but Concise Headings
Outcomes
Negative Outcomes Related to Bullying and
Other Problematic Behaviours in Youth
Detention Centers in Canada
Negative Outcomes of Bullying in Detention
Centers
Too vague
Too wordy
Just right

12. Parallel Headings
Implementing a Better Framework
Budget Reforms
What Licenses Are Needed?
How to Handle the Transition
Analyzing the Current System
Develop the New Institutional Structure
Implementing a Better Framework
Reform Budgets
Establish Licenses
Handling the Transition
Analyze the Current System
Develop the New Institutional Structure

13. Summary
• Learned how to craft problem and purpose
statements
• Explored typical informal report organization and
formats
• Learned how to create effective headings

14. References
Guffrey, M. E., Loewy, D., & Almonte, R. (2019). Essentials of business communication
(9th Canadian Edition). Nelson.
Gregg Learning. (2019, January 21). Guidelines for writing short business reports [Video].
YouTube. https://youtu.be/TW-1aan4nFs
Jamieson, L. (2019). Chapter 8: Communicating in the digital-age workplace [PowerPoint
slides]. Nelson.

15. Image Sources
APA levels of heading [Illustration]. [n.d.] Bibliography.com. https://www.bibliography.
com/apa/apa-format-and-citations/
Bullying in juvenile detention centres. [n.d.] EasyBib. https://www.easybib.com/guides/
citation-guides/apa-format/
[Data funneled into computer] [Illustration]. [n.d.] Salesforce. https://www.salesforce.
com/ca/blog/2017/11/best-way-gather-data-buyer-intent.html
[Digital marketing PowerPoint deck] [Illustration]. [n.d.] Pinterest.
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/658229301764966136/
Five key findings on unstructured play and mental health [Infographic]. [n.d.] Canadian
Public Health Association. https://cpha.ca/sites/default/files/uploads/resources/play/
play_5reasons_infographic_e.pdf
A memo report. [n.d.] SampleTemplates. https://www.sampletemplates.com/business-
templates/memos/memo-sample.html