English 365

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Chapter 17 Overview:
Writing Informational Reports

Understanding the process of writing informational reports
Writing directives
Writing field reports
Writing progress and status reports
Writing incident reports
Writing meeting minutes

emails
memos
forms
reports
web pages

Informational reports can take many forms:

When writing an informational report, focus on the following steps:

Find out whether your organization has a preferred format for reports.
Think about whether your report will be read by people from other cultures who might expect a formal style/application.
Consider drafting on site.
For routine reports, consider using boilerplate or sections from previous reports.

Will your readers be comfortable with your choice of application?
Do you need to adjust your writing style?

Consider two questions when

writing reports for multicultural readers:

directives
field reports
progress and status reports
incident reports
meeting minutes

You likely will have to write

five types of informational reports:

Use this strategy

when writing directives:

Explain why the new policy is desirable or at least necessary.
Present clear, compelling evidence.
Consider opposing arguments effectively.
Present yourself as cooperative, moderate, fair-minded, and modest.

Use this strategy

when writing directives (cont.):

If appropriate, include arguments that
appeal to readers’ broader goals of
security, recognition, personal and professional growth, and connectedness.

Use this strategy when writing field reports:

Describe the inspection, maintenance, or site study.
Explain the problem, methods, results, and conclusions.
Deemphasize methods.
Include recommendations if needed.

What is the purpose of the report?
What are the main points covered in the report?
What were the problems leading to the decision to perform the procedure?

Answer these six

questions in a field report:

What methods were used?
What were the results?
What do the results mean?

Answer these six

questions in a field report (cont.):

Understand the difference between

a progress report and a status report:

A progress report describes an ongoing project.
A status report, or activity report, describes the entire range of operations of a department or division.

Report your progress honestly when responding to three common problems:

The deliverable won’t be what you thought it would be.
You won’t meet your schedule.
You won’t meet the budget.

Time Pattern

Discussion

A. Past Work

B. Future Work

Task Pattern

Discussion

A. Task 1

1. Past Work

2. Future Work

B. Task 2

1. Past Work

2. Future Work

Two organizational patterns are
typical in progress and status reports:

Project an appropriate tone

in a progress or status report:

If the news is good, convey your optimism but avoid overstatement.
Beware of promising early completion.
Don’t panic if the preliminary results are not as promising as you had planned or if the project is behind schedule.

Use this strategy

when writing incident reports:

Explain what happened.
Explain why it happened.
Explain what the organization did or will do to follow up on the incident.

Use this strategy when writing
meeting minutes:

Be clear, comprehensive, objective, and diplomatic.
Report the events of the meeting accurately, without interpreting the events.
Do not record emotional exchanges between participants; the minutes should reflect positively on participants and the organization.