Page 5 - Mini-Module 11

Sometimes, reports are very formal and take a good deal of time to write. If,
for example, you have been conducting an investigation into a department
problem for the last six months, you are likely to write a very detailed and
formal report. This does not mean it has to be long. At the other extreme,
reports may be quite informal and similar to a memo.
You may write reports on a regular basis, such as a monthly report on the
department's work. In some cases, the structure for these will have become
established: you always do them in the same way. Other reports may be
'one off’ documents and you have to plan these from scratch.

Whatever type of report you have to write, there are some common
principles which must be applied. Keep these in mind despite the fact that
you may be using different formats and styles to those suggested here.
Generally, we will refer to the more structured type of report because this
offers a solid basis on which you can construct less formal reports. It is also
very coherent and shows how to 'tell a story'. If you learn to think in this
way, your documents should get the message across and provide the right
amount of information.
We will ask you some questions about your own report writing. You may
find it useful to have a report which you have recently written at hand. If
you do not have one, try and get one from someone else, perhaps your
Sponsor. You can still learn to improve your skills by analysing someone
else's report writing.

What is your present standard of report writing? Unfortunately, you are
probably not the right person to answer that question! If you can obtain the
help of someone who normally receives your reports, or a colleague who is
prepared to read one, you should ask her to complete the questionnaire
How Good Is My Report Writing on page 6? Failing that, complete the
questionnaire yourself to obtain some preliminary impressions of your skill
in presenting information coherently.
There are fifteen items. Some of these may be inapplicable depending on
the type of report. If it is one which makes recommendations, then all the
questions are relevant. If it is simply a factual report, presenting, say,
statistical data, only questions 1‐9 may be relevant.

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