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How to Write Effective Reports
- 1. Report writing D V Deshpande Professor at VAMNICOM, Pune dvdesh@gmail.com (M) +91 9919225539
- 2. What kind of reports we are familiar with? Memorandum/ Memo Note Circular Medical report? Weather report? Daily sales report? Study report? Investigation report? From a neutral party- why CBI / Judicial enquiry is instituted? Tour report?- “Back to Office Report”- BTOR Report on the meeting- “Minutes of the Meeting”- “MOM” Annual Report/ Quarterly report Performance Report/ Confidential Report Any other?
- 3. What is a report? “A report is a statement of the result of an investigation or of any matter on which definitive information is required” Oxford English Dictionary Another definition- An account given of a particular matter, especially in the form of an official document, after thorough investigation or consideration by an appointed person or body
- 4. Why writing is important? Leave aside report writing Creates a permanent document – or proof- if preserved Written document is worth more than spoken words “I am ready to give in writing” All decisions are taken on written documents (oral decisions are not given that weightage)
- 5. We will focus on formal business report & report writing
- 6. Challenges of writing Writing needs much more effort! Articulation of thoughts Writing effort Hand writing? Typing? Whether technology is helping or disempowering? Side effect- we find it easy to write in English than in our own mother tongue Now a days writing is becoming a increasingly rare skill!! “r” “u” with me?
- 7. Let us discuss how to write report Is the physical report and digital report different?
- 8. Planning to write a study report What is the reason for writing this report? Some study ?/ Tour/ case Government has made a committee & your boss is a member – it lands on you!!? What is the purpose of the business report? To assist in decision making- What decision is to be made and The role the report plays in this decision Consider the purpose in this way: As a result of this report, ... For example- “Dairy farmers will learn techniques to get better price for milk” or “Govt will plan dairy project in X district”, etc.
- 9. Who are the readers of this report Main target group- e.g.- your MD or NDDB Secondary audience- all staff of NCDFI / all stakeholders of dairy business- IF it is put in public domain Now a days sometimes the report is placed in public domain and public’s (all stakeholders’) opinions and suggestions are sought… Maintain “reader centricity”
- 10. What are the report’s main messages ? What are the main messages (Findings / recommendations) you need to convey What data/information needed ?
- 11. How will the report be structured?- A typical structure of the report LOGICAL FLOW A covering letter or memorandum Cover page Inside cover with some more details Acknowledgements Preface/ Foreword List of abbreviations Executive summary
- 12. How will the report be structured? Contd… Contents List of tables List of Figures List of Boxes Main text - Chapters (some times with sub chapters) with page numbers Conclusions/ recommendations Annexures/ Appendices References
- 13. Covering letter/memorandum The letter is attached to a report to officially introduce the report to the recipient System of “letter of transmittal” It is Formal letter- If the recipient is external For insiders (colleagues) – it is memorandum/memo It should include: Acknowledge the help/ support/ guidance indicate any action if required- ask for confirming the receipt
- 15. Title Page/ Cover Page Should be brief but descriptive of the report Should include Title Submitted to Name of the authors & their organisation Logo Date of completion/submission of the report Should not be cluttered
- 16. How is this report cover?
- 17. How is this report cover? But before concluding go to next page
- 19. Executive Summary It is after the title page It should make sense on its own Meant for “executives with no time for full report”! Helps the reader quickly grasp the report’s purpose, conclusions & recommendations The executive summary should be no longer than – ideally one page but 2-3 pages ok Executive summary differs from an “abstract” in that it provides the key recommendations and conclusions, rather than a summary of the document
- 20. Table of Contents It is a list of all the headings and sub-headings in the report Whether sub headings & sub-sub headings should be included? The contents should not be too long/ detailed
- 22. • Show NABARD Annual Report contents table- It shows more details- Chapters sub-chapters NABARD At a glance Photographs of Board members & top officials List of abbreviations List of tables List of Figures List of boxes List of Show cases HOW MANY DETAILS ARE THE THERE IS NO ONE RIGHT/ WRONG – You have to decide
- 23. Introduction The introduction should: Briefly describe the context Identify the general subject matter Describe the issue or problem to be reported State the specific questions the report answers Outline the scope of the report (extent of investigation) Preview the report structure State the limitations of the report & any assumptions made
- 24. Foreword, Preface and Prologue A foreword is written by someone other than the author (some “opinion maker” - important person/ specialist) and tells the readers why they should read the book Typically written in books rather than reports A preface is written by the author and tells readers the context / reason for writing the book and what is covered in it A Prologue is opening to a story that establishes the setting and gives background to the book/ literary work
- 25. Findings and discussion- The main chapters The discussion is the main part of your report and should present and discuss your findings should follow a logical and systematic flow Organize it as per “TORs” (Terms of Reference) if any If the report is recommending the best solution to a problem, show clear analysis of all options & why you recommend a particular option
- 26. Structure of the paragraphs Under each heading / subheading, create paragraphs which are logically arranged Paragraphs should be ordered in a logical sequence beginning with the most important point first Typically a paragraph has 100- 200 words Paragraph structure Topic sentence (states main idea of paragraph) Explanation sentence (explains or expands on the topic sentence) Support sentences (give evidence for the idea in the topic sentence and include statistics, examples, and citations) Concluding sentence (optional final sentence)
- 27. Some tips for good writing Write small sentences and small paragrahs with clear message After writing first review yourself and then give to some one else to read- does it make sense to him/ her? Test - Can a 10 year old or an 80 year old understand it? “A good paper / report needs 7 revisions!!”- an experienced old time researcher Always give title to table and figures and give reference in the text
- 28. Typical problems of our writing Verbose- use of too many words Beating around the bush & not coming to the point? Use of Indian words / local words which may not be known to the target audience Use of abbreviations which are not standard – and not defining them in the report Unable to use features in the MS Office- e.g. foot notes Quotations from other sources not acknowledged & not given reference properly Problems with font size (standard 12 size) / spacing (standard 1.5)
- 29. An example of clumsy sentence- can you make it simple? “One of the most attractive things about India is the fact that it has such a wide variety of vastly different scenery” Now read this: “One of the most attractive things about India is the variety of its scenery” Is it better? Or no?
- 30. Some facilities / tips for writing reports Speech to text – is it useful? Have you tried? Spell check- typo errors Formatting Spacing- 1.5 spacing generally acceptable Font size – 12 is standard Use of Colour combination Be careful with colour graphs Margins Page numbering Borders , etc
- 31. Conclusion You can improve your report writing as well as writing skill !!
- 32. Any questions? THANK YOU! Dr D V Deshpande dvdesh@gmail.com (M)9919225539 32