Page 9 - Mini-Module 11

Report Preparation

As with meetings, preparation is the key to effective report writing.
You will have done your background work, read appropriate
documents, assembled information and reached some tentative
conclusions about any proposals you might wish to make. Before you
actually write the report you need to consider several points. These
relate to the purpose, the information you need to give, the way you
interpret it, and the conclusions you will draw.

1. Purpose
Decide on the purpose of your report. Is it:
● To describe a situation?
● To recommend changes?
● To give facts?
● To record progress?
This will determine the way in which the report is presented.

2. Information
Decide on the information you need, acquire it and then put it
together. Include only the information which is relevant to the report's
purpose. Some
people are not very selective when they gather information. They
collect anything which is remotely connected with the subject in
question and then try to deal with it later. At worst, it breaks their
hearts to discard anything, so they put everything in the report's
appendices. This is not the best way to go about things. Decide in
advance precisely what information you need and include that. Even
then, you will still find information which is not directly relevant. You
should put it aside. You do not want anything which might confuse
people. Remember that you are not trying to write ‘War and Peace’.

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