Report writing

Report Writing Skills

Presented by: Svetlana Belic Malinic

Report

writing?

Training objectives:

• To identify what constitutes a good piece

of writing

• To understand the writing process

• To define your own writing strengths and

weaknesses

• To improve your writing skills through

various strategies

Introduction

Why writing?

Message

A note sent to teacher

Dear Mrs. Jones,

I wish to clarify that I am not an exotic dancer.

I work at Home Depot and I told my daughter

how hectic it was last week before the blizzard

hit. I told her we sold out every single shovel we

had, and that several people were fighting over

the last one. Her picture is supposed to depict

me, selling the last snow shovel we had.

Types of communication

Non-verbal

Oral

Written

Visual

Speech vs. writing (p.3)

SPEECH WRITING

Eye to eye contact No physical contact

Voice, tone, pitch,

intonation No sounds

Body language No body language

Chapter 1

Good writing?

Survey

What is the biggest

obstacle to producing

clear written

communication at work?

Options

• Low standards and expectations

• Poor templates

• Managers do not support clear writing

• General writing skills

• Bad models

• Inadequate resources

• Insufficient time for writing

General

writing skills

Bad models Managers do

not support

clear writing

Insufficient

time for

writing

Poor

templates Low

standards

and

expectations

Inadequate

resources

What is the biggest obstacle to producing clear written communication at work?

Good writing:

• Writing style

• Audience

• Format

• Content

• Structure

• Grammar and

punctuation

• Syntax

• Mood

Writing style

A good style in report writing

involves constructing sentences and

paragraphs in such a way that the

message you wish to convey is

conveyed accurately and quickly

to the reader. “

“

Report writing

• clarity

• conciseness

• directness

Did you know?

Simply…

• tell them what you are going

to say

• then say it

• then tell them what you said

KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE

Audience

• general

• educated, but non-specialist

• specialist, professional

Adapting styles (p. 6)

Look at these examples of how the same

information is delivered to different

audiences. Then try to assign them to the

types of audience above. What are the

elements of the sentences that help you

identify which audience it is aimed at?

Woman without her man is nothing.

Punctuation

Woman without her man is nothing.

Punctuation

Woman without her man, is nothing.

Woman: without her, man is nothing.

Spelling

Syntax

• I am sorry to inform you that the

implementation of this project has been

postponed given that all the funds have

been used.

• The implementation of this project will be

supported as soon as the funds are

available.

How are you writing today?

Chapter 2

Writing process

Before…

• set your objective

• assess your readership

• decide what information you will need

• prepare your skeletal framework

• test and revise your skeletal framework

After…

• proofread for spelling and grammar

mistakes (yourself or someone else)

• discuss with your colleague or supervisor

if the objective is met

• obtain clearance for distribution

• distribute

Writing process

Pre-writing Drafting Revising Editing Publishing

1 Pre-writing

• Targeting: Remember your readers.

• Outlining: Remember your purpose and

objective(s).

• Structuring: Refer to your skeletal

framework. Change if not fitting.

2 Drafting

3 Revising

• Assess whether the sub-structure of the main body

is really the most suitable one to present your facts.

• Examine the layout and general appearance.

• Determine whether the tone and balance are

correct.

• Check the accuracy of figures and calculations.

• Check the use of English, punctuation and spelling.

4 Editing

• Assimilate: What is the report trying to achieve? How

has the writer attempted to achieve this?

• Question: Are all the facts, arguments, conclusions

and recommendations accurate, complete, convincing

and justified? Be prepared to face some very detailed

questioning.

• Evaluate: How significant are the findings?

• Check: Will the writer need to provide any further

evidence?

4 Editing

• Amend: Will the report need to be re-structured?

• Edit: What changes will need to be made to the content

or presentation? Are the most important findings,

conclusions and recommendations given due

prominence? Are less important findings confined to the

main body, an appendix, or perhaps omitted?

• Finalise: Is the report now written to the standard the

recipients require, or, in an organisation with many

levels of management, to the standard other senior

levels require?

5 Publishing

Chapter 3

Improving

Which is better?

A. There is a common misconception when it comes to writing that a person must write in a verbose manner to come across as intelligent.

B. People often make a mistake in thinking that writing long-winded sentences with big words makes them appear smart.

C. You don't need to write a lot or use big words to sound smart.

LESS IS MORE

Use plain English

• The ready availability of project reports

associated with delinquent cases has

become prevalent since the development

of Project Cycle Management.

Use plain English

• Project reports associated with

delinquent cases have become readily

available since the development of

Project Cycle Management.

Avoid overwriting

• Project manager is not concerned with

the follow-up of any of the items with the

exception of delinquent cases.

• Project manager follows up delinquent

cases only.

Avoid redundant words

• Past history suggests that our future

prospects are bright.

• History suggests that our prospects are

bright.

Be politically correct

• A good manager will gain the respect of his staff.

• A good manager will gain the respect of staff.

• A secretary should be loyal to her boss.

• Secretaries should be loyal to their bosses.

Avoid foreign words

• President has not returned to his alma

mater since the day he graduated.

• He is not a dishonest politician because

his advice is bona fide.

• His role vis-à-vis the recent negotiations

was that of a peace-maker.

Negative to positive

• We do not believe the feedback is adequate.

• We believe the feedback is inadequate.

• We must cancel this project.

• Given the project outcomes, we believe that the project should be reassessed to meet the rationale.

Place emphasis

• With a little clarification, the implementing

partner would have solved the difficulties

more readily.

• With a little clarification, the implementing

partner would more readily have solved

the difficulties.

Passive into active

• The report was prepared by the project

team in order to promote its sustainability.

• The project team prepared the report in

order to promote its sustainability.

7Cs

1. Clarity

2. Completeness

3. Conciseness

4. Correctness

5. Concreteness

6. Consideration

7. Courtesy

Case study 1

Teamwork

Case study 2

Individual

Thank you!

Svetlana.Belic.Malinic

@consultant.com