From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Preparing to Write Business Reports
Preparing to Write Business Reports
Preparing to write business reports on the topic at hand, the report will have a different
Understanding Report Basics format or formality, different recommendations and in
Reports are useful documents employed within most some cases different data. To analyze the audience, the
business organizations. They serve as mediums to under- author must ask himself questions such as “What do my
stand and comprehend the problems faced in a business readers need to know about this topic?” as well as break-
in an attempt to solve them. Business reports take on ing his or her major problem into subproblems.
many forms from memos to letters to half-page trip re- Preparing a Work Plan
ports. They all serve the purpose of answering questions With the statement of purpose laid out and the audi-
and solving problems. Reports can be analytical or infor- ence predicted, the author can now formulate his work
mational depending on the purpose they fulfill. Informa- plan. The work plan will feature the time allocated to
tional reports present data without analysis while analyt- each section of the report. It gives a complete picture of
ical reports provide conclusions and examinations. the project. It should also include a work schedule in or-
Direct Reports der to remain constant with the workload. Gathering In-
A direct report is one where the solutions or recom- formation from Secondary Sources
mendations are placed at the beginning of the report. A report without data is like a cake without batter.
This format is useful when the recipient is familiar with You can’t complete one without the other. Data comes
the subject and is more concerned with seeing the solu- in two forms: primary and secondary. Secondary sources
tions. These formats are beneficial for executives seeking are defined as printed documents which explain events
to scan through multiple documents quickly. which took place in the past during a real-time experi-
Indirect Reports ence. Simply said, secondary sources are primary sources
Unlike direct reports, indirect reports are not as con- written down. They can be in the form of books, mag-
cerned with the final results. They first mention all the azines, periodicals etc. When looking for a secondary
data and interpretations from the author, and then pro- source, developing a search strategy can save a lot of
ceed to mention the conclusions. These reports are excel- time. For example, when searching through a library cat-
lent for persuasive use or to express bad news. alogue, indicating the author’s name or the name of the
3x3 Writing Process editor can provide more precise search results.
The three by three writing process is simply an out- Comprehending the Evolving Nature of Communica-
line for the final report. It helps the author to develop tion Technology
his report methodically. It usually begins with determin- The internet has taken the world by surprise over the
ing the problem and purpose, the audience and the work past 15 years. The information found within it is endless,
plan. Once this is solved, the writer can agree on which and it gives anybody access to all the details they need
kind of data he or she will use, as well as his or her inter- for whatever they want to accomplish. Needless to say,
pretations of the data. the World Wide Web is an excellent database; however, it
Problem and Purpose does have some downturns. Most of the information on
The most efficient way to start a report is to outline the internet is unfiltered, meaning that it comes from a
its purpose in one clear sentence. This is known as the person who may be stating something without knowing
problem statement, and the report will seek to resolve it. much about it. People are often tempted to use the inter-
A question can also do the trick. The problem statement net as their number one resource, but this is not always
helps to keep the project on target. It should include ac- the best idea. In order to get the best of the internet,
tion words such as choose, investigate, justify etc. Next one should definitely use a search engine such as Google
is the scope, which sets the elements that need to be ex- or Yahoo. These offer quick web pages that answer any
amined. The scope acts as the boundary for the report. possible question. Blogs which are virtual communities
The problem statement must also be significant to the help bring people with the same interests together. This
author or recipient. If the report is not significant then is useful for some enterprises who want all their employ-
there is no use in creating it. Furthermore, if there are ees on the same level with the same knowledge. Search
too many limitations, then the report will lose its useful- tools found on blogs and search engines help people nav-
ness. All these factors play a role in establishing an excel- igate through the endless information found on the web.
lent statement of purpose. Anticipating the Audience Illustrating Data
The reader of the report has much influence on the In order to present large amount of data or numbers
contents found within it. Depending on his or her bias collected in an easily understandable way, charts and
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Preparing to Write Business Reports
graphs are essential. Graphics help simplify complex nu- academic world, documentation is treated very serious-
merical data and allows the reader to visualize the infor- ly. Every source has to be cited and quotations marks
mation. Different types of graphs are used to represent need to be used for quotes. Plagiarism is considered an
different ideas, depending on what should be empha- extremely serious offense. In the business realm howev-
sized. Decide what and how many graphs to use by evalu- er, documentation is a less serious issue, where team pro-
ating the audience targeted. Too many graphs will over- ject are abundant and individual author is not important.
whelm the reader. All the information presented should When searching for information, it is important to take
be accurate and error-free. All graphics should be near notes. Note taking can be done manually or electronical-
the place where they are mentioned in the report. Be ly. Be sure not to confuse quotations with your own para-
sure to explain what the graphics represent. Tables phrasing and summaries.
Tables are constructed by drawing both vertical columns Paraphrasing is when you rewrite a text passage in
and horizontal rows and is the most frequently used your own words. All paraphrase need to be cited. When
graphics in reports. Tables can display a large quantity paraphrasing, the original text should be read several
of data without taking too much space. However, they time, and then rewritten. I t is important not to just re-
are not suitable for comparing them. A clear title at the place some words with synonyms, as that would be con-
top of the table and headings for each columns and rows sidered plagiarism.
should be clearly displayed. Quotes are passages taken from an original piece ex-
Bar charts actly as they were and repeated by another person. Quo-
Bar charts are useful for comparing data, as the in- tations marks are essential when quoting. Quotes are
formation is represented by bars of different lengths, de- used when they can strengthen the accuracy of an argu-
pending on their value. Change over time and differences ment, especially if it’s from experts. They are also used
between two sets of data can be easily seen with a bar often because they present precise information. Gather-
chart. All bars need to be of equal width and the x-axis ing information from primary sources
and y-axis clearly identified. Primary data are first-handed sources about the in-
Line charts formation studied. They are important because they are
Line charts represents change over time. The x-axis is direct evidence from people about the topic researched.
the time while the y-axis is the dependent variable. Line Surveys, interview and observation are ways to acquire
charts can compare more than one variable. Use dots to primary sources
mark the intersection between the y-value and the year Surveys
and then connect all the dots to form a line. Surveys are questionnaires used to collect informa-
Pie charts tion form a sample of people. Surveys are efficient be-
Pie charts are best used for visualising the proportion cause they can reach a broad audience when mailed.
of components in whole. The percentage of each section However, the response rate is low and people can lie on
can be clearly represented and compared to each other. surveys thus, falsifying the findings. In order to avoid
There should be no more than six sections, as too many these problems, a sample size as large as possible must
sections will overwhelm the audience. Use colors to be selected. A cover letter used to explain why it is nec-
clearly define each component. essary to complete the survey and incentive such as gifts
Flow charts can help convince people to write the survey. Also, each
Flow charts show the steps of a process and helps question must be essential to the study. Avoid questions
visualize them. Ovals, rectangles and diamonds are the that can be interpreted differently by different people.
main symbols to use when making a flow chart. Interviews
Organizational charts Interviews are face-to-face conversation between an
Organizational charts show a company’s internal interviewer and an interviewee. The interviewer asks
structure and the relation between each rank questions to the interviewee about a specific topic, where
Photographs, maps and illustrations the latter is generally and expert on. The best way to
To make a piece of information more credible, pho- make sure the information obtained is going to be rel-
tographs can be used, as they are visual proofs. Maps evant is to select the person with the most knowledge
are useful for visualizing geographical data. Illustrations about your topic for the interview. Before the interview,
helps show how an object is like and is easier to under- research the person you are going to meet and prepare
stand than a chunk of text. Documenting data the questions you are going to ask. When conducting the
Documenting data is the process of using another interview, maintain a friendly and professional attitude.
person’s work to supplement your own ideas. Documen- Try to use open-ended questions in order to get as much
tation is used to reinforce the credibility of information information as possible. Observation and Experimenta-
and ideas in a report. Anything that is another person’s tion
idea, words or opinion should be cited. The same goes Observation is the act of recording our surroundings.
for graphics and statistics found by somebody else. In the When observing, it is important to know what and why
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Preparing to Write Business Reports
you are doing this and how is it going to help your re-
search. Note-taking is essential when doing observation
References
in order to record every necessary detail. Experimenta-
tion is done when a cause and effect relationship is sus- External links
pected between two variables.
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