REPORT WRITING (FINAL TERM)

Business and Technical Reports

Structure and Layout of Reports
Planning and Preparation
Elements of Style
Use of Illustrations
Technical Description
Writing the Report
Specimen Reports

Other Business Communications

Technical Proposal
Memorandum
Notices, Agenda and Minutes

Job-Related Communication
Application for Jobs
Employment Interview

REPORT WRITING is a formal style of writing elaborately on a

topic. The tone of a report and report writing format is always
formal. The important section to focus on is the target audience.
For example – report writing about a school event, report writing
about a business case, etc.

How to Write a Report: A Guide

A report is a nonfiction account that presents

and/or summarizes the facts about a particular event, topic, or
issue. The idea is that people who are unfamiliar with the subject
can find everything they need to know from a good report.
Reports make it easy to catch someone up to speed on a subject,
but actually writing a report is anything but easy. So to help you
understand what to do, below we present a little report of our own,
all about report writing.

What kind of information is shared in reports? Although all facts

are welcome, reports, in particular, tend to feature these types of
content:

 Details of an event or situation

 The consequences or ongoing effect of an event or situation

 Evaluation of statistical data or analytics

 Interpretations from the information in the report

 Predictions or recommendations based on the information in

the report

 How the information relates to other events or reports

Reports are closely related to essay writing, although there are

some clear distinctions. While both rely on facts, essays add the
personal opinions and arguments of the authors. Reports typically
stick only to the facts, although they may include some of the
author’s interpretation of these facts, most likely in the
conclusion.

Moreover, reports are heavily organized, commonly with tables of

contents and copious headings and subheadings. This makes it
easier for readers to scan reports for the information they’re
looking for. Essays, on the other hand, are meant to be read start
to finish, not browsed for specific insights.

TYPES OF REPORTS

There are a few different types of reports, depending on the

purpose and to whom you present your report. Here’s a quick list
of the common types of reports:

 Academic report: Tests a student’s comprehension of the

subject matter, such as book reports, reports on historical
events, and biographies

 Business reports: Identifies information useful in business

strategy, such as marketing reports, internal memos,
analysis, and feasibility reports

 Scientific reports: Shares research findings, such as

research papers and case studies, typically in science
journals

NOTE: Reports can be further divided into categories based on

how they are written. For example, a report could be formal or
informal, short or long, and internal or external.

In business, a vertical report shares information with people on

different levels of the hierarchy (i.e., people who work above you
and below you), while a lateral report is for people on the
author’s same level, but in different departments.

There are as many types of reports as there are writing styles, but
in this guide, we focus on academic reports, which tend to be
formal and informational.

WHAT IS THE STRUCTURE OF A REPORT?

The structure of a report depends on the type of report and the

requirements of the assignment. While reports can use their own
unique structure, most follow this basic template:

 Executive summary: Just like an abstract in an academic

paper, an executive summary is a standalone section that
summarizes the findings in your report so readers know what
to expect. These are mostly for official reports and less so
for school reports.

 Introduction: Setting up the body of the report,

your introduction explains the overall topic that you’re about
to discuss, with your thesis statement and any need-to-know
background information before you get into your own
findings.

 Body: The body of the report explains all your major

discoveries, broken up into headings and subheadings. The
body makes up the majority of the entire report; whereas the
introduction and conclusion are just a few paragraphs each,
the body can go on for pages.
  Conclusion: The conclusion is where you bring together all
the information in your report and come to a definitive
interpretation or judgment. This is usually where the author
inputs their own personal opinions or inferences.

WHAT SHOULD BE INCLUDED IN A REPORT?

There are no firm requirements for what’s included in a report.

Every school, company, laboratory, task manager, and teacher
can make their own format, depending on their unique needs. In
general, though, be on the lookout for these particular
requirements—they tend to crop up a lot:

 Title page: Official reports often use a title page to keep

things organized; if a person has to read multiple reports,
title pages make them easier to keep track of.

 Table of contents: Just like in books, the table of contents

helps readers go directly to the section they’re interested in,
allowing for faster browsing.

 Page numbering: A common courtesy if you’re writing a

longer report, page numbering makes sure the pages are in
order in the case of mix-ups or misprints.

 Headings and subheadings: Reports are typically broken

up into sections, divided by headings and subheadings, to
facilitate browsing and scanning.
  Citations: If you’re citing information from another source,
the citations guidelines tell you the recommended format.

 Works cited page: A bibliography at the end of the report

lists credits and the legal information for the other sources
you got information from.

HOW TO WRITE A REPORT IN 7 STEPS

1 Choose a topic based on the assignment

Before you start writing, you need to pick the topic of your report.
Often, the topic is assigned for you, as with most business
reports, or predetermined by the nature of your work, as with
scientific reports. If that’s the case, you can ignore this step and
move on.

If you’re in charge of choosing your own topic, as with a lot of

academic reports, then this is one of the most important steps in
the whole writing process. Try to pick a topic that fits these two
criteria:

 There’s adequate information: Choose a topic that’s not

too general but not too specific, with enough information to
fill your report without padding, but not too much that you
can’t cover everything.
  It’s something you’re interested in: Although this isn’t a
strict requirement, it does help the quality of a report if you’re
engaged by the subject matter.

2 Conduct research

With business and scientific reports, the research is usually your

own or provided by the company—although there’s still plenty of
digging for external sources in both.

For academic papers, you’re largely on your own for research,

unless you’re required to use class materials. That’s one of the
reasons why choosing the right topic is so crucial; you won’t go
far if the topic you picked doesn’t have enough available
research.

The key is to search only for reputable sources: official

documents, other reports, research papers, case studies, books
from respected authors, etc. Feel free to use research cited in
other similar reports. You can often find a lot of information online
through search engines, but a quick trip to the library can also
help in a pinch.

3 Write a thesis statement

The thesis statement is the sentence that states the main idea of
a writing assignment and helps control the ideas within the paper.
It is not merely a topic. It often reflects an opinion or judgment
that a writer has made about a reading or personal experience.

Before you go any further, write a thesis statement to help you

conceptualize the main theme of your report. Just like the topic
sentence of a paragraph, the thesis statement summarizes the
main point of your writing, in this case, the report.

Once you’ve collected enough research, you should notice some

trends and patterns in the information. If these patterns all infer or
lead up to a bigger, overarching point, that’s your thesis
statement.

For example, if you were writing a report on the wages of fast-

food employees, your thesis might be something like, “Although
wages used to be commensurate with living expenses, after years
of stagnation they are no longer adequate.” From there, the rest
of your report will elaborate on that thesis, with ample evidence
and supporting arguments.

It’s good to include your thesis statement in both the executive

summary and introduction of your report, but you still want to
figure it out early so you know which direction to go when you
work on your outline next.

4 Prepare an outline

Writing an outline is recommended for all kinds of writing, but it’s

especially useful for reports given their emphasis on organization.
Because reports are often separated by headings and
subheadings, a solid outline makes sure you stay on track while
writing without missing anything.

Really, you should start thinking about your outline during the
research phase, when you start to notice patterns and trends. If
you’re stuck, try making a list of all the key points, details, and
evidence you want to mention. See if you can fit them into general
and specific categories, which you can turn into headings and
subheadings respectively.

5 Write a rough draft

Actually, writing the rough draft, or first draft, is usually the most
time-consuming step. Here’s where you take all the information
from your research and put it into words. To avoid getting
overwhelmed, simply follow your outline step by step to make
sure you don’t accidentally leave out anything.

Don’t be afraid to make mistakes; that’s the number one rule for
writing a rough draft. Expecting your first draft to be perfect adds
a lot of pressure. Instead, write in a natural and relaxed way, and
worry about the specific details like word choice and correcting
mistakes later. That’s what the last two steps are for, anyway.

6 Revise and edit your report

Once your rough draft is finished, it’s time to go back and start
fixing the mistakes you ignored the first time around. (Before you
dive right back in, though, it helps to sleep on it to start editing
fresh, or at least take a small break to unwind from writing the
rough draft.)

We recommend first rereading your report for any major issues,

such as cutting or moving around entire sentences and
paragraphs. Sometimes you’ll find your data doesn’t line up, or
that you misinterpreted a key piece of evidence. This is the right
time to fix the “big picture” mistakes and rewrite any longer
sections as needed.

7 Proofread and check for mistakes

Last, it pays to go over your report one final time, just to optimize
your wording and check for grammatical or spelling mistakes. In
the previous step you checked for “big picture” mistakes, but here
you’re looking for specific, even nitpicky problems.

GETTING STARTED: PRIOR PREPARATION AND PLANNING

The structure of a report is very important to lead the reader
through your thinking to a course of action and/or decision. It’s
worth taking a bit of time to plan it out beforehand.

Step 1: Know your brief

You will usually receive a clear brief for a report, including
what you are studying and for whom the report should be
prepared.
First of all, consider your brief very carefully and make sure that
you are clear who the report is for (if you're a student then not just
your tutor, but who it is supposed to be written for), and why you
are writing it, as well as what you want the reader to do at the end
of reading: make a decision or agree a recommendation, perhaps.

Step 2: Keep your brief in mind at all times

During your planning and writing, make sure that you keep
your brief in mind: who are you writing for, and why are you
writing?
All your thinking needs to be focused on that, which may require
you to be ruthless in your reading and thinking. Anything
irrelevant should be discarded.
Make sure that you keep track of your references, especially for
academic work. Although referencing is perhaps less important in
the workplace, it’s also important that you can substantiate any
assertions that you make so it’s helpful to keep track of your
sources of information.

The Structure of a Report

Like the precise content, requirements for structure vary, so do
check what’s set out in any guidance.

However, as a rough guide, you should plan to include at the very

least an executive summary, introduction, the main body of your
report, and a section containing your conclusions and any
recommendations.
Executive Summary
The executive summary or abstract, for a scientific report, is a
brief summary of the contents. It’s worth writing this last, when
you know the key points to draw out. It should be no more than
half a page to a page in length.
Remember the executive summary is designed to give busy
'executives' a quick summary of the contents of the report.

Introduction
The introduction sets out what you plan to say and provides a
brief summary of the problem under discussion. It should also
touch briefly on your conclusions.

Report Main Body

The main body of the report should be carefully structured in a
way that leads the reader through the issue.
You should split it into sections using numbered sub-headings
relating to themes or areas for consideration. For each theme,
you should aim to set out clearly and concisely the main issue
under discussion and any areas of difficulty or disagreement. It
may also include experimental results. All the information that you
present should be related back to the brief and the precise subject
under discussion.
If it’s not relevant, leave it out.

Conclusions and Recommendations

The conclusion sets out what inferences you draw from the
information, including any experimental results. It may include
recommendations, or these may be included in a separate
section.
Recommendations suggest how you think the situation could be
improved, and should be specific, achievable and measurable. If
your recommendations have financial implications, you should set
these out clearly, with estimated costs if possible.

A WORD ON WRITING STYLE

When writing a report, your aim should be to be absolutely
clear. Above all, it should be easy to read and understand,
even to someone with little knowledge of the subject area.
You should therefore aim for crisp, precise text, using plain
English, and shorter words rather than longer, with short
sentences.
You should also avoid jargon. If you have to use specialist
language, you should explain each word as you use it. If you find
that you’ve had to explain more than about five words, you’re
probably using too much jargon, and need to replace some of it
with simpler words.
Consider your audience. If the report is designed to be written
for a particular person, check whether you should be writing it to
‘you’ or perhaps in the third person to a job role: ‘The Chief
Executive may like to consider…’, or ‘The minister is
recommended to agree…’, for example.
WHAT ARE BUSINESS AND TECHNICAL REPORTS?

A report is a document that presents information in an organized

format for a specific audience and purpose.
Although summaries of reports may be delivered orally, complete
reports are almost always in the form of written documents.

In "Contemporary Business Reports," Kuiper and Clippinger

define business reports as "organized, objective presentations of
observations, experiences, or facts used in the decision-making
process."

Sharma and Mohan, in their book "Business Correspondence and

Report Writing," define a technical report as "a written statement
of the facts of a situation, project, process or test; how these facts
were ascertained; their significance; the conclusions that have
been drawn from them; and [in some cases] the
recommendations that are being made."

Types of reports include memos, minutes, lab reports, book

reports, progress reports, justification reports, compliance reports,
annual reports, and policies and procedures.

Purpose of Business and Technical Reports

In "Business Communication: A Framework for Success," H. Dan

O'Hair, James S. O'Rourke, and Mary John O'Hair, explain the
four primary purposes of business reports.

"Reports can fulfill four different, and sometimes related,

functions. They can be used as controls to ensure that all
departments are functioning properly, to give information, to
provide an analysis, and to persuade others to act."

Characteristics of Effective Reports

In "Contemporary Business Reports," Shirley Kuiper and Dorinda

Clippinger provide insight into effective business communications.

"Effective reports are understood by the reader as the writer

intended, and they influence the reader to act as the writer
desired. The writer's objectives are most likely to be achieved if
they correspond with the needs and objectives of the reader. An
effective report is empathetic, accurate, complete, concise,
and clear. Above all, an effective report presents information
ethically."
Connecting With Your Audience

Warren Buffet, in the Foreword to "A Plain English Handbook",

shares his advice on how to best communicate in business
reports.

"One unoriginal but useful tip: Write with a specific person in

mind. When writing Berkshire Hathaway's annual report, I pretend
that I'm talking to my sisters. I have no trouble picturing them:
though highly intelligent they are not experts in accounting or
finance. They will understand plain English, but jargon may puzzle
them. My goal is simply to give them the information I would wish
them to supply me if our positions were reversed. To succeed, I
don't need to be Shakespeare; I must, though, have a sincere
desire to inform."

Business Reports Can Be Long or Short

As described by John M. Lannon in "Technical Communication,"

along with the length of reports, the purpose and scope of reports
differ.

"In the professional world, decision-makers rely on two broad

types of reports: Some reports focus primarily
on information ('what we're doing now,' 'what we did last month,'
'what our customer survey found,' 'what went on at the
department meeting'). But beyond merely providing information,
many reports also include analysis ('what this information means
for us,' 'what courses of action should be considered,' 'what we
recommend, and why')."
"For every long (formal) report, countless short (informal) reports
lead to informed decisions on matters as diverse as the most
comfortable office chairs to buy to the best recruit to hire for
management training. Unlike long reports, most short reports
require no extended planning, are quickly prepared, contain little
or no background information, and have no front or end matter
(title page, table of contents, glossary, etc). But despite
their conciseness, short reports do provide the information and
analysis that readers need."
A TECHNICAL REPORT is described as a written scientific
document that conveys information about technical research in an
objective and fact-based manner.
A technical report example is a written document made by a
researcher which contains the details about a project's results.
After creating the technical report, the researcher submits it to the
project's sponsor.

STRUCTURE OF REPORTS

Reports are a common academic genre at university. Although

the exact nature will vary according to the discipline you are
studying, the general structure is broadly similar for all disciplines.

The typical structure of a report, as shown on this page, is often

referred to as IMRAD, which is short
for Introduction, Method, Results And Discussion.

As reports often begin with an Abstract, the structure may also be

referred to as AIMRAD.

Preliminaries
There are several parts which go at the beginning of the report,
before the main content. These are the title
page, abstract and contents page.

Title Page
Your report should have a title page. Information which
could be included on this page are:
  the title of the report
 the name(s) of the author(s)
 your student number(s)
 name of the lecturer the report is for
 date of submission

Abstract
Many longer reports will contain an abstract. This is like a
summary of the whole report, and should contain details
on the key areas, in other words the purpose, the
methodology, the main findings and the conclusions. An
abstract is not usually needed for shorter reports such as
science lab reports.

Contents Page
Many reports will contain a contents page. This should
list all the headings and sub-headings in the report,
together with the page numbers. Most word processing
software can build a table of contents automatically.

Introduction
The first section of your report will be the introduction.
This will often contain several sub-sections, as outlined
below.

Background
There should be some background information on the
topic area. This could be in the form of a literature review.
It is likely that this section will contain material from other
sources, in which case appropriate citations will be
needed. You will also need
to summarize or paraphrase any information which
comes from your text books or other sources.
Theory
Many reports, especially science reports, will contain
essential theory, such as equations which will be used
later. You may need to give definitions of key terms
and classify information. As with the background section,
correct in-text citations will be needed for any information
which comes from your text books or other sources.

Aims
This part of the report explains why you are writing the
report. The tense you use will depend on whether the
subject of the sentence is the report (which still exists) or
the experiment (which has finished). See the language
for reports section for more information.

Method
Also called Methodology or Procedure, this section
outlines how you gathered information, where from and
how much. For example, if you used a survey:
 how was the survey carried out?
 how did you decide on the target group?
 how many people were surveyed?
 were they surveyed by interview or questionnaire?

If it is a science lab report, you will need to answer these

questions:
 what apparatus was used?
 how did you conduct the experiment?
 how many times did you repeat the procedure?
 what precautions did you take to increase
accuracy?

Results
This section, also called Findings, gives the data that has
been collected (for example from the survey or
experiment). This section will often present data in tables
and charts. This section is primarily concerned with
description. In other words, it does not analyze or draw
conclusions.

Discussion
The Discussion section, also called Analysis, is the main
body of the report, where you develop your ideas. It
draws together the background information or theory
from the Introduction with the data from the Findings
section. Sub-sections (with sub-headings) may be
needed to ensure the readers can find information
quickly. Although the sub-headings help to clarify, you
should still use well-constructed paragraphs, with
clear topic sentences. This section will often include
graphs or other visual material, as this will help the
readers to understand the main points. This section
should fulfil the aims in the introduction, and should
contain sufficient information to justify
the conclusions and recommendations which come later
in the report.

Conclusion
The conclusions come from the analysis in
the Discussion section and should be clear and concise.
The conclusions should relate directly to the aims of the
report, and state whether these have been fulfilled. At
this stage in the report, no new information should be
included.

Recommendations
The report should conclude with recommendations.
These should be specific. As with the conclusion, the
recommendations should derive from the main body of
the report and again, no new information should be
included.

Reference section
Any sources cited in the text should be included in full in
the reference section. For more information, see
the reference section page of the writing section.

Appendices
Appendices are used to provide any detailed information
which your readers may need for reference, but which do
not contain key information and which you therefore do
not want to include in the body of the report. Examples
are a questionnaire used in a survey or a letter of
consent for interview participants. Appendices must be
relevant and should be numbered so they can be referred
to in the main body.