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How To Write A Report
By Alan Leach
Let's face it, most of us at one time or another will be called upon to write a report. While in most cases it will be work related, schools and universities also use report writing in many courses, highlighting the importance of this skill. Learning how to write a report takes time and may seem difficult to the uninitiated but as with all writing formats, there are steps you can take to make the process easier.
A report can be seen as basically an answer to a question, and is usually given by someone in the organization higher up than you. It is your task to answer this question logically, clearly and in detail. One of the most important things to remember when learning how to write a report is just because you might be asked to write a report by your boss, don't attempt to show off your knowledge with flowery language or incomprehensible jargon. Keep it simple.
The structure of a report is generally the same no matter what purpose the report was written for. The main sections in order are usually, executive summary, procedure, findings, conclusions, recommendations and finally bibliography. When learning how to write a report though, bear in mind that the executive summary should be written last, and should contain no new material, but should simply summarize the rest of the report so that a busy executive can read the main points of the report quickly.
The key point to remember when learning how to write a report is that the report should be logical. This means each section should follow naturally from the one preceding it, and should lead naturally into the next one. The findings section of the report is where you write the facts. You have done your investigation into the issue and here you write logically and clearly what you have discovered. It is also necessary when you write a report about a complex issue to break each section down into further sub-sections.
The next part of learning how to write a report is the conclusions section. You should write each finding and give your personal opinion. In the findings you might write for example that 30 work days were lost last year due to computer viruses. You might write in your conclusion that this is costing the company a large sum of money.
The recommendations section is in many ways the most important section and this point is worth remembering when learning how to write a report. Here you write what can be done to solve the problem. While your personal opinion is important, your recommendations should be logical and practical. For the issue of computer viruses for example, your recommendation might be something as simple as buying better anti-virus software.
As touched on already, how you write is just as important as what you write when learning how to write a report. Remember we do not write the same way that we speak, both in terms of grammar and vocabulary. Write in a formal style, and avoid idioms and humour!
Before handing in the report, the last thing to remember when learning how to write a report is to check your work carefully. Spelling and grammar check software cannot be relied upon to eliminate all errors. You will need to read through it yourself. While this is sometimes difficult to do in any great detail as you may have a deadline looming, an error-ridden report lacks professionalism and may call into question the competence of the author herself, thus invalidating many of your conclusions and recommendations.
A report is often a long and gruelling process, and one that many do not enjoy, but while it remains a common means of communication within companies, it pays to know how to write a report properly.
See Also:
more info on how to write a report
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