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Progress Report Progress Report are documents about work that technical communicators have begun but not

yet completed. It is written for those who need to keep in touch with what is going on. It depends on the agency when to submit progress report; it may be monthly, quarterly, etc. Progress report differs from other reports, because: 1. Its introduction relates the present report to a previous one as a background information which is called TRANSITIONAL INTRODUCTION. 2. The body contains the development of the work in detailed form. 3. Its conclusion gives the anticipated works to be done in the future work which is called PROPHETIC CONCLUSION. Progress report main objective: To present information about a work done on a particular project during a particular period of time. Progress reports have several important functions: 1. Reassure recipients that you are making progress, that the project is going smoothly, and that it will be complete by the expected date. 2. Provide the recipients with a brief look at some of the findings or some of the work of the project. 3. Give the recipients a chance to evaluate your work on the project and to request changes. 4. Give you a chance to discuss problems in the project and thus to forewarn recipients. 5. Force you to establish a work schedule so that you'll complete the project on time. Guidelines in writing Progress Reports: 1. Use headings to mark off the different parts of your progress report. #Particularly the different parts of your summary of work done on the project. 2. Arrange your information in a logical way and the structure must well balanced. #The way the report is divided determines the structure. Make use of chapters, paragraphs, sub-paragraphs. Chapters need to be roughly the same length. Paragraphs should be a logical subdivision of the chapters. Keep each short and make sure that one sub-paragraph covers one subject. 3. Write the language of your reader not childish or over-sophisticated. #Avoid long and complicated sentences (not longer than 15 20 words). Take care that the report is easy readable without reference to other literature. If needed, use footnotes to explain certain concepts/ideas. 4. Make sure the layout is well organised. #The reader will give up quickly if it takes too much effort to follow the line of your argument. Make sure that there is enough space between the lines, paragraphs etc. Also, you may use bullets to have appropriateness in your report.

5. Graphs, tables and sketches. #When doing a progress report it is not always necessary to use graphs, tables and sketches. Although graphs and tables are understandable, you want your report as readable as possible. Do not interrupt your discussion with to many tables. Just evaluate or interpret the data in the body of the report itself. However, you may also use graphs, if and only if, the datas are in a mass number. Those data cannot be presented in paragraph pattern, the reader ended up confused rather than informed. Just remember that those data should not be stand alone without comment. Format of Progress Reports Progress report can take the following forms, depending on the size, the length and importance, and the recipient, of the project: 1. Memo - A short, informal report to someone within your organization A memo begins with: (Modern heading, to:, from:, subject:) In memo, the various sections of information have headings and subheadings, and brevity is generally the goal. 2. Letter - A short, informal report sent to someone outside your organization A letter follows traditional business letter format (Full-Block Style), beginning with Conventional heading Inside address Salutation Introduction Describes the purpose of the document and the previous work which includes a brief summary of the document. Facts and Discussion Project Description Purpose Scope May also contain organizational pattern #There are 3 types of Organizational Pattern 1. Project tasks. Practically every project breaks down into individual tasks. 2. Time periods. 3. Report topics. #that'd be: In organizational pattern it includes what the recipient wants to see.

Work completed Current work Future work

Conclusions/Recommendations This final paragraph or section usually reassures audiences that all is

going well and on schedule. It can also alert recipients to unexpected changes or problems in the project. 3. Formal report - A long, formal report sent to someone outside your organization. This should be written formally with the cover, the title page, the letter of transmittal, table of contents, list of figures, abstract, headings, quotation and listings, equations, and conclusions. As long as the project is not finished, all the reports about its work is called progress report. But once it is finished, it is not anymore progress report, it is now accomplishment report.

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