Intended for:
Anyone who ever has to write a business report. These common sense tips serve as a reminder of what is involved in effective report writing.
Training course contents:
A set of tips providing some guidance report writing can be downloaded for free from the link at the bottom of this page, or you can follow the notes below…
20 Report Writing Tips
1. Determine the purpose of the report
2. Determine the scope of the report – what needs to be covered and what does not
3. Agree the purpose and scope of the report with the person (people) who commissioned it)
4. Determine who your readers will be and write your report to them with them in mind
5. Proceed in an orderly and structured approach – it may seem obvious but it would be silly to write your conclusion if you have not even started your research
6. Plan your report before you write it
7. The report must be long enough to achieve its purpose but no longer
8. Reference detailed information that is not essential to the report or add it to an appendix
9. Make sure that your report flows logically with an introduction, body and conclusion
10. Follow a conventional structure as shown. With short reports you could leave out the sections marked *
- Title/title page
- Circulation list
- Summary*
- Table of Contents*
- Introduction
- Body of Report (main section)
- Conclusions
- Recommendations
- Appendices*
- Bibliography*
- Glossary*
- Index*
11. Lay out your report in a visually appealing way
12. Space your report so that there is plenty of white space
13. Number sections, paragraphs and pages in accordance with normal conventions in your organisation
14. Never write in the first person
15. Check your report at least twice before you send it
16. Pay attention to the meaning of the report
17. Pay attention to your spelling
18. Pay attention to punctuation
19. Pay attention to grammar as well as the sense of the report
20. Don’t rely on your grammar and spell checker
Objectives:
To provide assistance to anybody who needs to write a business report so that the reports they write meet identified needs. This tip sheet on report writing would be a good additional document when using the Trainer Bubble training course materials for the following topics…
Report Writing – Training Course Materials
Project Management – Training Course Materials
