BUS 271: Module 6: Reports

informal analytical reports typically include the following 4 sections:

- introduction or background -support or reasons - recommendations: shows how data supports the recommendations - conclusion or summary

Body Sections of a Report

-Benefits: show that solution will be substantial -Qualifications: explain experience of your team management -management: This section may stand alone or be part of the benefits section. In some cases, the resumes of the proposed team for the project are requested or provided. In those situations, this section is found as part of the back matter. -implementation: trial period to see if solution is feasible -schedule: give a deadline; sometimes combined with the implementation section; can be critiqued by readers to make sure they are feasible, good way to keep track of how project is proceeding -methods of operation: how solution will fit in day-to-day costs -conclusion: comprehensive reminder of key components

Body sections of a report

-Introduction: sets up structure, informational and analytical -Background: explains circumstances that led to report -Purpose/Problem Statement -Research: establish credibility, provides research background -Recommendation: explain why, prioritize options -alternative options: underline key features of options -Evaluation: bulk of report, state end results

what are the different types of informational informal reports?

-Meeting minutes: summarizes discussion and meeting results -expense reports: little to no free writing -status updates: informational reports

Analytical reports and informational reports can be distinguished by ________.

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

back matter

-can provide critical ideas not in body of report -needs to be informational and analyzed -use less prose to explain or connect different items -provides location of more detailed items -includes references and appendices There is no "standard" list of items that should be included in the back matter of a report. Simply put, this section can contain anything needed to further support your report; however, resist the temptation to overdo it and include only items that are truly relevant.

formal reports

-company policy may determine base sections -complex topics with background, research, and evidence -data gathering and summary of the topic generate length -requires formal headings and tight organization

Neutral/ positive audience

-conclusion/ recommendations near the beginning of report -introduction, recommendations, facts, summary

negative audience

-conclusion/recommendations near the end of a report -introduction, facts, recommendations, summary

analytical

-information is researched, collected and analyzed -analysis leads to one or more recommendations *** ex= 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.

Informal informational reports typically include the following 3 sections:

-introduction and background (short section introducing the reader to the why of the report) -support or reasons (the main purpose is to present a summary of main ideas from the research-- not simply a collection. of raw data; if more detail is needed an appendix is used for raw data; this section may include the methodology of the research. -summary

How to write a formal report

-plan ~See if there is a prescribed structure ~Follow steps for informal report ~Complete data gathering: proposal -write: •Single line spacing •Section headings •Use page numbers (1-50) -revise: •Takes time and involves more people reading through making changes •Needs at least two reviewers •Consider grammar and purpose

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

Types of formal reports

-research reports : gather and explain data -proposals: may be internal to a company in addressing a business situation, or they may come from an solicited or unsolicited sales situation. Formal proposals will include details of the proposed solutions and costs -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. A feasibility report can be developed in much less time than a full business plan, while still providing excellent direction for decision makers -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 -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.

informal reports

-shorter (under 10 pages) -uses specific grouped topics -don't have required heading

Business reports must take stakeholders into consideration because ________.

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

Information reports

-summary of data on a certain topic ** EX: expense report- format is predetermined and often completed at the end of a business trip

Sharing formal reports

-think of the audience as stakeholders -Consider the variety of formats -memos and letters less likely to be used; depends on company and structure -delivery methods should not change content or structure of formal reports

front sections of a report

-transmittal letter: describes the need for report and date of completion ~standard business letter -cover/ title page A specific title in large font Company name Name of the author(s) Date of the report Relevant picture ~PICK A THEME ~MORE DETAILED INFO ABOUT THE DOCUMENT ~MLA OR APA FORMATTING -Table of contents, exhibits, illustrations ~contents: different formats; last section to be created ~exhibits, illustrations: if figures are referred to repeatedly -Executive Summary: ~summarizes all materials in the report, found in longer reports ~written after a report is completed ~succinct in length

what are the different kinds of stakeholders?

1) direct: initially impacted by the news of the report ** For instance, if you are writing about opening a new waste disposal site, the stakeholders clearly include the company you are writing the report for. However, disposal companies that might use this waste site in the future are also considered direct stakeholders because they will be in the same situation as the current company. Their future business will be impacted based on whether your proposal is accepted or declined. 2) indirect: not impacted until later time, but still engaged **Using the previous example of the waste disposal site, citizens in the area would be indirect stakeholders. 3) remote: affected in far future **One example, following our hypothetical waste disposal site, is future generations.

cover page

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

The Back Matter section of a formal report can include:

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

What is the best way to review and revise a formal report?

Assemble a team of reviewers to individually review and compile edits, then meet and work as a team to ensure continuity throughout the document.

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 since no recommendations have been requested.

organization of formal reports

Informational: -follows some broad structure with the informal report -introduction contains support, reasons, and summary Analytical: -The introduction contains support, reasons, recommendations, and conclusion

A typical informal analytical report has four sections:

Introduction, Support or Reasons, Recommendations, and Conclusion.

In creating a table of contents, you have a number of design decisions:

Levels of headings to include. In longer reports, consider only including the top two levels of headings. This keeps the TOC from becoming long and unwieldy. The TOC should provide an at-a-glance way of finding information in the report quickly. Indentation, spacing, and capitalization. Notice in Figure 2 that items in each of the three levels of headings are aligned with each other and page numbers are right-aligned with each other. Notice also the capitalization: Main chapters or sections are all caps; first-level headings use initial caps on each main word; lower-level sections use initial caps on the first word only. Vertical spacing. Notice that the first-level sections have extra space above and below, which increases readability.

types of informal reports

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. 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. Trip or 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. Proposals or 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.

How to write an informal report

Planning Report: -checkfor form/ template -complete data gathering -aim for 25-30% reading time of full report Writing Report: -use summary statements -use outline from your planning -look at type of report and select headers from there 40-50% of time of full report Revising Informal Report -use word processing tools -read report aloud/peer review -go back to original report -provide clear purpose 25-30% reading time of full report

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.

If you expect the response to your formal report's findings to be negative, you put your recommendations at the end of the report. Why?

To allow the audience to benefit from the research and logic offered to reach the same conclusion as you.

The most important factor in preparing a formal report to be shared is:

What will work best for the recipient of the report.

Informal and formal reports are different because

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

You are writing a status report on the work done by your cross-functional team. This status report should NOT include ________.

a lengthy detailed analysis of project feasibility.

A formal report organized into sections identifying work done by functional company areas would be most appropriate for which of the following?

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 formal report needs to be carefully reviewed and revised by ________.

a team of reviewers who first individually review and compile edits and then meet and work as a team to ensure continuity throughout the document.

There are many resources that provide lists of sections that can be included in the body of a formal report; it is important to remember that ________.

all these lists are suggestions of what is available but not all sections are necessary depending on the situation.

Analytical reports and informational reports can be distinguished by ________

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

You are a member of a cross-functional team charged with developing a new go-to-market strategy. You have been asked to write a status report. What should it focus on

an update on the progress made, any current issues holding the project back, and next steps.

What is a stakeholder?

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

Corrina needs to send an informal report to a small group of her customers. Which is NOT an appropriate way for her to send her report?

as a memo

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

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

how do we typically distinguish informal and formal reports

based on length and sections

You have been asked by your manager to summarize the company's efforts over the last six months to consolidate from five to four locations. This summary will involve real estate dealings, HR issues, IT projects, and financial accounting. What should you do?

create a formal report with sections identified for each category of information

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 ** since the response does not have any specific format requirements, nor does it merit a lengthy response, Carrie does not need the complex structure found in the formal report

Which of these topics would be best suited for an analytical report instead of an informational report?

current conditions for a new market we may enter

Which of these methods of sharing reports can be used for both internal and external recipients?

email

Sharing an informal report can be accomplished by ________.

emailing a digital copy

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

the primary purpose of a feasibility report is to

explore new ideas prior to finding or investment

letters

external communication

Sections of Formal Report

front body back matter

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

Chris has completed the report about changing the workday from five days to four days a week. As he does his final read-through before giving Yasmin his findings, Chris wonders who else might see the report. 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 thinking about ________.

indirect and remote stakeholders ***workers in the store will hear about the info and they are indirect stakeholders since they are impacted by the results even if they are not the ones who requested the info. Regulars at the store are remote stakeholders since work days do not directly affect them

what are the two main types of reports?

informal and formal

Informal and formal reports ave 2 major categories:

informational and analytical

an informal report fits in one of two large categories:

informational and analytical

memos

internal communication

email

internal or external depending on policy

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, recommendations, support/reasons, conclusion

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

introduction, support or reasons, recommendations, and 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

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 (is short and keeps a record of an event; may be formatted as desired)

An informal report would be appropriate for ________.

mileage expenses for out of town customer visits

web postings (blog)

mostly external communication

title page

opportunity to provide more specific info about the document and its intended audience. very similar to front cover and it repeats the info on the cover but adds more important details

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

page numbers

When you expect your audience's response to your recommendations to be neutral or positive, you should ________.

place your recommendation in the beginning of the report.

The three primary stages of writing an informal report are:

planning, writing, and revising

Writing an informal report has three stages which are

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

informational informal report:

provides background without reaching an evaluation

analytical informal report

provides the same info as an informational report, along with evaluation and recommendation -EX:feasibility studies, justification reports and proposals

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 outcome of a business report has the least effect on ________.

remote stakeholders.

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 reports as the body (correct choice if report is short -under 3 paragraphs- ; if longer then the report should be an attached document with the email simply introducing the attachment.

Reports are a key communication tool in business; they effectively ___ and ____ information and decisions.

share; retain

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 the audience.

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

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

the audience.

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

the needs of the audience

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

to show how the data supports the recommendation

What is the purpose of the Introduction Section of a formal report?

to state the reason for creating the report

True or False: Both informal and formal reports can fall into these 2 categories.

true

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

writing