Any leader needs the ability to write clear, concise and effective reports; depending upon your role, these can vary from one-page summaries of events to comprehensive strategic documents. A report can be defined as “a document in which a given problem or situation is examined for the purpose of conveying information, reporting findings, putting forward ideas and sometimes making recommendations”,
In writing any report, three golden rules apply:
- Accuracy.
- Brevity.
- Clarity.
In particular, as you are committing something to paper, you need to be factually accurate so that you can stand by it if challenged.
The basic 3Ps approach to writing a report will help you to prepare and present a useful document.
Preparation
- Be very clear on what you have been asked to do. If there are terms of reference, study them carefully and get clarification if necessary.
- Identify what is already known on the subject and where the gaps le-where you can add value.
- Develop your research plan on that basis.
- Complete all your research before you even contemplate writing the document – have the full picture first.
Planning
Think long and hard about how you will structure and present the information. This sounds very obvious, but many people start to write and then structure as they go along; this often leads to a disjointed report. When planning how to structure the document, consider:
- Who are the primary, and possibly secondary, audiences for the report?
- What do they already know about the subject? There is no point structuring the report in a way that much of it simply tells the reader what they know already.
- How best to get your points across?
In planning the report, make sure that you structure it in line with the terms of reference. For example, if the report requests proposals, then there should be a strong link from the findings of the research to each and every one of your proposals.
Many people provide information, or worse still, baseless personal opinions in reports when they were not requested.
Presentation
The presentation of reports depend on their purpose, scope and length but usually follow this general flow:
- Title.
- Summary (particularly if a long report).
- Introduction (terms of reference and methodology explained).
- Main body (structured depending upon what is required).
- Conclusions.
- Recommendations (if requested).
Before presenting the report, you must ensure that it contains no spelling or grammatical errors or other inaccuracies and that any tables and charts included are of high quality. This may seem like a point that does not require a mention but, unfortunately, the reality is that many work-related reports and internal documents do not reflect well on the person who prepared them.
