Reports

What should a cover page contain for a formal report?

- A specific title in large font - Company name - Name of the author(s) - Date of the report - Relevant picture

What sections can be included in the body of a formal report?

- Introduction - Background - Purpose (or problem statement) - Research (or methods) - Recommendation (or solution) - Overview of alternative options - Evaluation - Benefits - Qualification - Management - Implementations - Schedule - Methods of operation - Costs - Conclusion

Informal reports may have internal or external audiences. The format of the report should align to the recipient. Formats include:

- Memos, are used for internal communication. - Letters, are used for external communication. - Web postings, are typically used for external communication, but institutions that have private networks may use these posting for internal communication. - Email, may be used for internal or external reports depending upon company policy.

What are some types of formal reports?

- Research reports - Proposals - Feasibility reports - Business plans - Other complex recommendations

Front sections of a formal report may include:

- Transmittal letter - Cover page and Title Page - Table of Contents - Executive Summary

What are some types of analytical reports?

- feasibility studies - justification reports - proposals

In a formal report there are three major sections.

- front part - body - back matter

What are some types of informational reports?

- meeting minutes - expense reports - progress/status updates

Informal analytical reports should include what 4 sections?

1. Introduction or background 2. Support or reasons 3. Recommendations 4. Conclusion or summary

Informal informational reports should include what 3 sections?

1. Introduction or background 2. Support or reasons 3. Summary

What is the section order for an analytcal report presented to a negative audience?

1. Introduction/Background 2. Facts/Findings 3. Recommendations 4. Summary

What is the section order for an analytical report presented to a neutral audience?

1. Introduction/Background 2. Recommendations 3. Facts/Findings 4. Summary

What is included in an introduction?

A short section introducing the reader to the "why" of the report. In more complex reports, the introduction may include a background, a problem statement, specific objectives, or all of the above.

How do you organize formal analytical reports?

Analytical formal reports typically follow the same broad structure introduced with the informal report: introduction or background, support or reasons, recommendations, and conclusion or summary. However, in formal reports each of these primary sections likely have their own subsections (as discussed in the previous pages).

Included in the Back Matter section of a formal report is:

Any detailed information that could not fit into the body of the report.

Which of these topics would be best suited for an informational report versus an analytical report? - A review of our executive staff's salaries compared to our competitors and those of similar market segments. - Attendee profiles who attended our last marketing conference. - Quarterly results being reported to the Board.

Attendee profiles who attended our last marketing conference.

Chris's boss, Yasmin, wants to consider changing the work schedule from 40 hours over five days a week to 40 hours over four days a week. She wants to know if this will cause any employee dissatisfaction or increase the cost of overtime. Chris really hopes Yasmin will make this change; he would love three days a week off a week no matter how long the work day is. What should Chris do?

Chris should create an informational report.

The heart of the company is the development organization, divided into an Application Development group and a Tools Development group. The Tools Development group is responsible for internal Infrastructure, Data Center, Integration Tools and the Core Development environment. The Application Development group is responsible for Workday's products: Financials, HCM, Payroll and Student applications. The above paragraph would be appropriate in what section of a report?

Discussion/Analysis

We have observed several things that we believe are consequences of the rapid growth of the organization: - Overall agile scrum practices at team level are above-average. - Bottlenecks and other process problems are being experienced at the "program layer", where work needs to be brought together across the teams and even across the product group structure. - Release planning activities across teams and groups should be accomplished in days instead of months and should result in hitting more than 50% of the plan. - The ability to track what is actually being delivered by the Apps team, especially to XL customers, is currently impaired. The above paragraph would be appropriate in what section of a report?

Facts/Findings

Writing informal reports follows the same steps of any other writing task. What are these steps?

First is the plan. Second is the writing. Third is the revising.

Madison's manager has asked her to prepare a report on whether it would be profitable for her company to respond to a request for proposal (RFP) to provide all the local school district's food services needs in the next school year. Since Madison's boss requested the proposal, she thinks it is likely he will agree with her conclusions. Broadly speaking, what is the best way to organize her report?

Her recommendation should come near the beginning of the report.

Analytical Reports

In this report type, information is researched and collected, then the report provides an analysis that leads to one or more recommendations. For example, consider a report that helps a company determine where to open a new store. The report might look at three properties with respect to road traffic, cost of the land, and adjoining stores, and then recommend the best site from the alternatives.

The body of a formal report should ________.

Include only the suggested sections that are consistent with the situation.

How do you organize formal informational reports?

Informational formal reports typically follow the same broad structure introduced with the informal report: introduction or background, support or reasons, and summary. However, in formal reports each of these primary sections likely have their own subsections (as discussed in the previous pages).

What are the four sections typically included in an informal analytical report?

Introduction, Support or Reasons, Recommendations, and Conclusion.

ABC Corporation is a highly-successful software development company in the Finance/HR space. Their primary competitors, SAP and Oracle, are two of the largest software companies in the world. In order to compete with such formidable players, ABC Corporation has grown rapidly through heavy investment in people in order to build and deliver new innovative products to attract large enterprise customers. The above paragraph would be appropriate in what section of a report?

Introduction/Background

These issues will present a very real challenge to ABC Corporation's ability to continue to grow and satisfy customers. It is imperative that ABC Corporation embarks on a dedicated effort to scale their development processes. The above paragraph would be appropriate in what section of a report?

Introduction/Problem

What is an executive summary?

Just as the name says: it summarizes all the materials that follow in the report. They are written once the entire report is complete.

Guadalupe is the manager for the meats and seafoods department for a rapidly-expanding grocery chain, Valuetown. The main reasons for Valuetown's expansion is because they have been purchasing individually-owned stores or small chains in the region. One of the issues Guadalupe has faced is that the display and storage units in these stores are not in great shape, and often meats can't be displayed. Valuetown is also spending a lot on repairs on equipment. Guadalupe has done an analysis of what the old refrigeration units are costing in terms of repairs and lost revenue. Her manager told her to write a report to present to the Valuetown board requesting a budget for the new units. How should she proceed?

She should write a formal report with her conclusions at the front, a summary of her analysis in the middle, and back matter that includes the raw data on costs and lost revenue including estimated costs to replace the units. This report should be thoroughly edited and proofread so it is both stylistically perfect and in line with the needs of her audience.

What is the most important guideline of the "planning" and "revising" steps of an informal report?

That the writing has stayed true to the original purpose of the report.

How should you label pages in a formal report?

The pages may be numbered in a format such as 1-50, or they may be numbered by the section, such as Methods 1-Methods 50. The material in the front part of a report is generally numbered in lowercase roman numerals (i-ix).

A formal report should have a Back Matter section that always includes:

There is no standard. Only include what may be needed to provide details to further support your report.

What is included in recommendations?

This section is only found in analytical reports; it shows how data supports the recommendation given in the report.

What is included in the conclusion/summary?

This short section wraps up the report and gives a quick summary of the information provided therein.

True or False: Other complex recommendations may also come in the form of a formal report. These recommendations result from a business problem that an individual or team has been asked to solve.

True

True or False: You should always ensure your report matches the style and template of your organization?

True

You learned key competitive information about vendors that might help your company with a new project after you attended a national conference. You should write ________.

a conference report.

Informal and formal reports are different because:

a formal report goes more deeply into a topic and has more structure.

There must be more emphasis on the planning phase of a formal report because ________.

a formal report may involve multiple authors and even legal oversight.

Informal reports shared internally should be in the form of ________.

a memo or email.

A formal report organized into sections identifying work done by functional company areas would be most appropriate for which of the following? - a study run in HR discussing the benefits of a new vacation policy - a summary of the company's efforts over the last 6 months to consolidate from 5 to 4 locations involving real estate dealings, HR issues, IT projects, and financial accounting - a summary of the Accounting departments' efforts to review available software packages

a summary of the company's efforts over the last 6 months to consolidate from 5 to 4 locations involving real estate dealings, HR issues, IT projects, and financial accounting

Analytical reports and informational reports can be distinguished by ________.

an informational report is usually a simple, one-topic set of data.

Stakeholder

anyone who will be affected by the contents of what you write

Feasibility reports

are a specific type of analytical report. When an entrepreneur or business manager has a new idea, it is prudent to fully explore the idea before making major investments. Some think of this report as a precursor to developing a full business plan. While a business plan may take many months to develop, a feasibility report can be developed in much less time, and it still provides excellent direction for decision makers.

Meeting Minutes

are a type of informal report that summarizes the discussion and results from a meeting. These reports are informational. They are summaries, not a direct collection of all statements from all attendees.

Expense Reports

are informal reports that nearly always have a prescribed format. These reports consist primarily of amount of expenditures by type of expense. There is little to no free writing.

Business plans

are typically informational reports about what a new or existing company plans to do over the next period of time. A business plan may take on a bit more of an analytical tone rather than a strictly informational tone when it is shared with potential investors. In some cases, the business plan may be presented with a request for funds; in those cases, the writing is gently more persuasive.

Trip/Conference Reports

are used to summarize and transmit learning from a trip or conference. They are informational, and they increase the value of the trip or conference as they share what was learned with others.

The length of formal reports can lead to a large file size; which of the following is the best way to share them?

as an attachment or link to/from an email

Positive or neutral conclusions would suggest you put the recommendations ________.

at the beginning of the report.

Abby finished a territory analysis report for her senior manager, Jose. The report turned out to be 35 pages, with additional individual store reports that were almost as long. Jose is wrapping up a two-state personnel review and will be in the office briefly in the morning before rushing out to the airport for a cross-country flight back to the home office. Abby is considering how to share her completed report. The best way for Abby to share this report is to ________.

attach the file to an email to Jose

Informational reports can provide __________.

background and information without reaching an evaluation

Carrie's boss, Jorge, is considering changing the work schedule from 40 hours over five days a week to 40 hours over four days a week. He wants a preliminary analysis in order to know if this will cause any employee dissatisfaction or increase the cost of overtime. Carrie's best choice of format for this research is to ________.

create an informal report.

Stakeholders fall into the following three types:

direct, indirect, and remote.

Tobias is writing a feasibility report for, Alex, his senior manager. Tobias estimates the report will turn out to be about 40 pages long, based on his knowledge of a similar report completed five years ago. He knows this work will be classified as a formal report. He reviews the prior report and his school notes to consider which sections he might need to include in the report he is generating. Which of the following might Tobias use in his formal report as part of the "front section"?

executive summary

What is included in a support or reasons section?

facts, findings, and data - but not simply raw data. If more detailed data is needed, an appendix is the most likely place for key selections of raw data. This section may include the methodology of the research.

Proposals/Feasibility Reports

for smaller or simpler projects can also be considered informal reports. These are analytical, as they provide analysis and propose a direction to take.

Research reports

gather and explain data; these reports are informational. Module 4: Research discusses research methods to obtain the data you'll use in these reports.

Chris has completed the report for Yasmin about changing the workday from five days to four days a week. As he does his final read-through before giving his findings to Yasmin, Chris wonders about other stakeholders. There are some co-workers and even store regulars that may not be excited about the change. As Chris thinks about how the findings might find their way to individuals beyond Yasmin, Chris is also thinking about ________.

indirect and remote stakeholders

Chris's boss, Yasmin, wants to consider changing the work schedule from 40 hours over five days a week to 40 hours over four days a week. She wants to know if this will cause any employee dissatisfaction or increase the cost of overtime. Yasmin tells Chris that other organizations are making this change, and she expects that Chris's research will find that this change makes sense for increased productivity. Chris expects to write an informal analytical report that Yasmin can use to support her decision to make this change. If Chris finds evidence to support this change, which organizational format makes the most sense for his report?

introduction, recommendation, support/reasons, conclusion

Sophia noticed that the customer check-out lines at her store have become much longer than they used to be on Sundays. Some disgruntled customers have asked why there are so few checkers in the morning on a weekend. Sophia asks her morning manager, Valerie, to track the number of customers at each checker stand for the next 30 days and compare it to last year's numbers. Valerie collects the checker stand data and starts her outline for the short report.

introduction, support, summary

A transmittal letter

is sent to the company or business leader who requested the report. This letter may be sent separately from the report. This letter can be printed (especially in situations where the report itself is a paper copy), or it can be sent as an email. This letter describes the need for the report and the date of report completion. The letter includes the background of the project, a reference to the problem analysis, and outlines the procedure used to determine the recommendations presented.

Status Updates

may be internal to a company in addressing a business situation, or they may be external in providing the status of a project to another organization. These reports are short and tightly focused to the purpose. They are informational reports.

Proposals

may be internal to a company in addressing a business situation, or they may come from a solicited or unsolicited sales situation. Formal proposals will include details of the proposed solutions and costs.

Dena, who manages a team in her company's social media department, wants to change the layout of her team's office to include more collaborative workspaces. She wants to know if this will cause any employee dissatisfaction or cause team members to feel as if they won't have time to focus on personal projects. Dena has asked her assistant, Angela, to conduct a focus group of seven employees to talk about the impact of this possible change. Which type of informal report should Angela write to present her work to Dena?

meeting minutes

Analytical reports can provide __________.

much the same information as the informational report along with evaluation or recommendation

Remote Stakeholders

not affected until far into the future

Proper spacing, paragraph structure, appropriate headings and ________ are to be included in the formatting of a formal report.

page numbers

Chris's boss, Yasmin, wants to consider changing the work schedule from 40 hours over five days a week to 40 hours over four days a week. She wants to know if this will cause any employee dissatisfaction or increase the cost of overtime. Yasmin asks Chris to look into it and prepare a report. She then asks Chris how long it will take to complete this work. Chris calculates the time each step takes. These big steps to the report's creation include ________.

planning, writing, and revising.

Madison works at the main office of a regional grocery store. Her District Manager found a Request for Proposal (RFP) on the local school district website asking potential suppliers to provide a bid for all the district's food service needs in the next school year. The two-page document listed many items that must be provided in the requested proposals, such as nutritional listings, ratio of hot to cold meals, requirement to provide a sample contract, costs for service, separating fixed from variable costs, and so forth. The report that Madison will help create is a ________.

proposal

Formal reports can include business plans, research reports and:

proposals.

Informational Reports

provide a summary of information and data found on a particular topic. One such report is the expense report: this report is a set of information that is used to request allocation of funds. The format is strictly pre-determined and it is often completed at the end of a business trip.

Executive Summaries in the front section of a formal report have the express purpose of ________.

providing a condensed view of the entire report including the conclusions reached.

The title page of a formal report should ________.

repeat the information from the cover page and add important details.

Hayley is writing a proposal for her senior manager, KJ. She estimates the report will turn out to be about 25 pages long. She knows this work will be classified as a formal report. Which of the following might Hayley use in her formal report as part of the body in the report?

research or method section

Angela has finished her report about the potential change in the workplace layout and now needs to share the report with Dena, who asked for the report. Angela should ________.

send an email with the report as the body

Business reports must take stakeholders into consideration because ________.

stakeholders will be affected by the decisions made based on the report.

Roman is writing a territory analysis report for his senior manager, Elly. He estimates the report will be about 35 pages long, based on his knowledge of the report completed five years ago. He knows this work will be classified as a formal report. He looks back over the prior report to consider which sections he might need to include in the report. Which of the following might Roman use in his formal report as part of the back matter?

store-by-store data

Formal Reports

tend to be longer; although, again, the quantity of pages or words is not defined. It may start at ten pages and in some cases exceed one hundred pages. With a formal report, the topic of the report or the policy of the company it's being written for determines which sections, labels, content, and purpose should be used as the basis for the report. These reports address complex topics that require substantial description of background, research on the topic, and evidence to support any proposed solutions. Both the data gathering and the summary of the topic generate length. To keep this abundance of information organized, the report requires formal headings and tight organization in order to help the reader stay on track.

Informal Reports

tend to be shorter, although the quantity of pages or words is not defined. Think of informal reports as documents of under ten pages. An informal report usually has specific topics grouped in paragraphs, and these topics tend to have simple headings. Note that while informal reports often don't have required headings, you can take inspiration from the headings required in formal reports.

Formal reports can be distinguished from informal reports by ________.

the length of the report.

What is the most critical factor to consider when organizing your informal report?

the needs of the audience

The ________ of writing an informal report takes the most time.

the writing stage

Direct Stakeholders

those initially impacted by what you write

Indirect Stakeholders

those that are not impacted until a later time

Why is the recommendation section of an informal analytical report important?

to show how the data supports the recommendation