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Study Unit

Writing the Report By

Robert G. Turner Jr., PhD

Reviewed by

Gregg Kohlhepp

About the Author

Robert G. Turner Jr. holds a BS in business and an MS and a PhD in sociology. He has more than 20 years of teaching experience, mainly at the college level, and is currently serving as an adjunct professor at Virginia Tech, Blacksburg. Dr. Turner is primarily employed as a professional freelance writer. His literary credits include two stage plays, two novels, and two nonfiction works, along with an array of publications in academic and educational venues.

About the Reviewer

Gregg Kohlhepp holds a BA in Communications and has completed graduate work for Secondary English certification. He is a three-time nominee for Disney Teacher of the Year and has served as a commence- ment speaker on two occasions. He has more than 15 years of experience as an English and public speaking teacher and has earned recognition for his work with the Advanced Placement Language and Composition course and the Upward Bound STEM program.

All terms mentioned in this text that are known to be trademarks or service marks have been appropriately capitalized. Use of a term in this text should not be regarded as affecting the validity of any trademark or service mark.

All rights reserved. No part of the material protected by this copyright may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, record- ing, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

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Printed in the United States of America

CONTENTS INSTRUCTIONS 1

SECTION 1: INFORMAL REPORTS 2 The Purpose of Reports 2 Types of Reports 3 Formats for Informal Reports 4 Types of Informal Reports 7

SECTION 2: FORMAL REPORTS 16 Report Planning 17 Report Design 18 Part 1: Preliminary Information 19 Part 2: Body of the Report 25 Part 3: References and Appendices 30 Report Styling 30 Summary 34

SELF-CHECK ANSWERS 37

GRADED PROJECT 40

INSTRUCTIONS Information is at the heart of any human enterprise. While information may be conveyed in many ways, in the world of business, reports make up the bulk of what gets written and, presumably, read.

Consider a typical business manufacturing operation. Sometimes things go wrong: Shipments don’t get out on time, and customer orders aren’t processed efficiently. Managers and other people in authority often require reports to track particular projects, track routine progress, or solve problems.

Even when things are going right, people in an organization often need information. Market changes, altered production procedures, and changes in personnel may require a written report of some kind. In fact, simple day-to-day operations generate a need for progress reports.

Reports can be written whenever information needs to be transmitted—for any reason and from anyone to anyone else inside or outside an organization. Clients often need information on how their money is being spent. Workers may need to share report infor- mation to coordinate their activities. In larger organizations, reports between departments are often needed to coordinate interdepartmental activities. Marketing people need to know what’s happening in the production division. People in production may need to coordinate with the shipping department, and so on.

Reports come in all sizes. Routine reports may involve a single-page form. Troubleshooting or progress reports may be long and complex. Depending on their scope, size, and audience, reports may be formal or informal. Emails, along with memos and letters, are often informal. Longer items, such as a hardcopy or web-based report or proposal involving a complex architectural or construction project, are usually formal and may involve multiple volumes of specifications, notes, explanations, and justifications.

In this study unit, you’ll explore the various kinds of informal and formal reports.

When you complete this lesson, you’ll apply what you’ve learned to a topic outline and an informal field investigation report. The directions for completing and submitting this assignment are at the end of the study unit, after the self-check answers.

SECTION 1: INFORMAL REPORTS Objective

When you complete this section, you’ll be able to explain the purpose and importance of various types of informal reports.

The Purpose of Reports In general, reports are written because people in authority need information. They may need information to evaluate a procedure or a current policy, to help formulate recommendations, or to track day-to-day activities in the organization (Figure 1).

FIGURE 1—No matter what kind of business you work in, writing and reading the information in reports can help you make good decisions.

Regardless of their size, form, or subject, all reports should convey information thoroughly, accurately, and objectively. To help you remember these objectives, use the acronym TAO (thorough, accurate, objective). Tao is also a Chinese word that, loosely translated, means “the correct and natural path.” When you’re charged with writing any kind of report, the principle of tao, the proper way, becomes your responsibility.

Types of Reports There are two general types of reports: formal and informal. The differences between the two, however, aren’t always clear. In fact, there are variations of reports that fall some- where in between the two.

Nonetheless, the characteristics in Table 1 should give you a good idea of the main differ- ences between formal reports and informal reports.

TABLE 1

Characteristics of Formal and Informal Reports

Characteristic

Type of Report

Informal Formal

Length Five pages or less More than five pages

Purpose To inform or persuade To inform or persuade

Readers People inside or outside the organization

People inside or outside the organization

Subject matter Basic and straightforward Complex, with specified depth and varying levels of details

Organization Letter or memo format Formal organization with cover, title page, letter of transmittal, table of contents, text, works cited page, and attachments and/or appendices

Audience Generally somewhat familiar with the writer

Readers with varied backgrounds who may not know the writer

Documentation Little, if any, or as neces- sary

Careful, detailed documentation

Language Informal tone, but not too casual

More formal tone with careful adherence to language usage

Determining whether to use an informal report or a formal report is usually relatively easy. For example, suppose you want to make a suggestion to your boss about a new piece of equipment or a new procedure for your department. Such material would fit naturally into an informal report, such as an email.

On the other hand, suppose an employee is seriously injured while working with a machine in your department. You must prepare a report that will be read by your imme- diate supervisor and other executives in your company, by representatives of your insurance company, by the employee’s attorneys, and by people at the employee’s

insurance company. In this report, you must include a description of the accident, why the employee was using the machine, what caused the accident, information on the machine itself, and other related information. This type of situation calls for a formal report.

Sometimes, the choice between formal and informal isn’t completely clear. To help you decide on a format, consider your audience. If your audience consists of people with whom you’re familiar and who are familiar with the situation, then you can probably use an informal report. If you must submit a report to people who are unfamiliar with you and with the topic you’re writing about, then probably a formal report would be the better choice (Figure 2).

FIGURE 2—Don’t make the mistake of taking too casual an approach to an audience with which you’re unfamiliar.

Formats for Informal Reports Basic forms of informal reports include:

1. Blank report form

2. Email

3. Interoffice memo

4. Letter

5. White paper

Blank Report Form

A blank report form is used when certain information must be submitted on a regular basis. For example, suppose a restaurant owner wants to keep track of certain information about the business he conducts. To obtain this information, he requires his waiters and waitresses to submit a report every day at the end of their shifts. Rather than have each employee write out a report, the owner has prepared a blank form that the employees can complete and submit (Figure 3).

Downtown Diner Daily Business Report

Date: _____________________

Employee Name: _______________________

Hours Worked: _____________ to _____________

Insert appropriate number in the blanks provided below:

______ Tables served

______ People served

______ Children served

______ Specials ordered

______ Number of people eating alone

______ Dinners returned*

*Type of dinner ____________________________________________________

Reason returned ____________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________

FIGURE 3—This blank form could be used by a restaurant owner to track business information.

Blank report forms are the simplest of the informal reports. The writer must merely fill in the necessary blanks with the appropriate information. Such forms are generally provided by the organization and tailored to its unique informational needs. This type of standardized report form is meant to ensure that information is

n Never unintentionally omitted

n Easily located by those who must read the form

n Clearly focused and brief

Emails

While blank forms are probably the easiest of the informal reports to complete, emails are by far the most popular. Emails provide timely information to anyone in an organization and can be used in conjunction with the submission of the blank form.

Emails are extremely efficient in terms of delivery and response, which is why they have replaced memos and letters in most organizations. Emails can be generated to provide information to a large group or an individual. Additionally, emails afford the sender the option of showing recipients of the communications or blindly copying people on the email without others being aware.

Emails can take on the role of an interoffice memo, with the format of the memo being adapted into an email delivery system. Likewise, emails can support the intention of a business letter with very few modifications needed.

Finally, another major benefit of email systems for informal reports is that sent and receipt information can be recorded and create a more effective form of documentation than other informal reporting options.

An email typically addresses only one main topic, such as the relevant results of a survey, simple announcements, or conclusions and recommendations with respect to some kind of needed action. A writer may use headings within the body of an email if they help to clarify the message. A writer may also insert lists if they’re the most efficient way to summarize information.

Interoffice Memos

Interoffice memos are generally used to send information to people in the same department or to people in different departments within the same organization. Memos are typically posted in specific employee areas as well as distributed to the workforce, perhaps as part of an email.

Memos should be used for information that can be covered in one or two pages. Anything longer than two pages should be prepared in a more formal format. When memos are used to convey routine information, such as the revision of a pay schedule or a change in the procedures for reporting production, they should be direct and to the point.

A report in the form of an interoffice memo should supply readers with all of the facts they need to understand a body of data or a situation. Like with emails, subheadings and lists can be used in such informal reports to make the information more clear to the reader.

Letter

The classic informal report takes the form of a business letter. These letters are usually longer than would be suitable for emails and memos—often exceeding two pages. In addition, the letter format commands a different kind of attention. For example, a letter generally presents a somewhat more formal and courteous approach to the message being communicated.

A report in the form of a letter may include more headings than an email or memo, simply because it may be longer. Headings break up information into logical categories and make it easier for the readers to digest the information. Like emails and memos, reports in letter form may contain lists—if and when lists are the most efficient way to summarize information.

Business letters may be intended for receivers either inside or outside an organization. They may be used within an organization if the subject seems too important for an email or memo or if the subject demands the more commanding look of a well-prepared letter. For example, a document that critiques an employee’s performance or a long report on the prospective budget for the coming fiscal year may be best presented in letter format.

When a letter is directed to someone outside an organization, the writer should give a bit more attention to the mechanics involved. As in any kind of business letter, the writer should aim for appropriate formality, a courteous style, a neat appearance, and a positive tone.

White Paper

White paper used to be a term that referred to an official government report, but has since come to be used online as a downloadable resource that is meant to be authoritative and informational in nature. White paper is distinctive from other forms of reports in terms of purpose, audience, and organization. Commonly, the purpose of white paper is to express a position or solution to a problem. White papers can also be used for commercial purposes to influence the consumer decision-making process.

The audience for a white paper tends to be the general public. With the wide reach of the Internet, your audience can be anyone seeking a solution to the problem you’re addressing. Because of the nature of Internet writing, you won’t know who your exact audience is, but you can still write a white paper following the style and guidelines of your company. Visuals and graphics can also be used to enhance your white paper by increasing readability and making your work more appealing and persuasive.

A white paper most commonly starts with a broad topic and leads its readers to a proposed solution. White papers generally following basic formatting elements.

Introduction. It’s a good idea to add a summary of what you’re going to be discussing with your readers. Attention spans are short online and you want to pull your audience in quickly.

Background. For your readers to fully understand the solution or position you’re presenting to them, they need to understand the problem. This is where you convince readers you’re an authority or expert on the information you’re presenting by showing evidence of the problem. Consider your readers’ perspective and address what problems they might have.

Solution. Simply: propose your solution to the issue.

Advertisement. If your white paper is meant for commercial means, this is the part where you would mention your products or services. Saving the selling for last ensures your readers read the whole white paper and you earn their trust first. If you market first without convincing readers, they may be turned off to your message.

Conclusion. Wrap up all of the information you presented to ensure your readers’ full understanding.

Works Cited. Because a white paper is meant to be published online, hyperlinking can serve as form of citation if you’ve used any outside resources. It’s also a good idea to add a works cited at the end in case any readers want to download and print your white paper.

Types of Informal Reports Informal reports can be created for almost any occasion on any subject imaginable. Many of these reports can be completed and submitted electronically with computer software programs or through email systems.

The following types of informal reports are the ones you’re most likely to receive or write:

n Field trip reports

n Progress reports

n Status reports

n Periodic reports

n Feasibility reports

n Troubleshooting reports

Field Trip Reports

Field trip reports are frequently used in business and industry to record the results of on-site inspections. Like most other types of reports, their scope and significance determine whether they take the form of a formal or an informal report.

This type of report can focus on one or two operational problems, on a wide range of operational concerns, or as part of a routine inspection. They may be critical, or they may be positive.

Here are the types of topics that would be appropriate for a field trip report:

n Safety conditions at a plant

n Damage to shipments of storage sheds

n Employee complaints about management

n The overall management picture, including procedures, policy adherence, and the morale of managers

n Physical access control procedures for organizational computer servers

n Methods to improve shipping time

Field reports can cover general topics like those just mentioned, or they may deal with a specific situation in your organization. No matter what the topic, a field report usually includes five kinds of information, generally in the order given below:

1. Purpose of your inspection or inquiry. To familiarize your readers with the situation, begin any field trip report with a brief description of the purpose of the investigation. Doing so helps to focus your report for you and for your readers. The field trip report in an email or memo form (Figure 4) states the purpose in one concise statement: “To investigate the causes of employee problems and reduced work output in a shop of the Jemco Company.”

FIGURE 4—Sample Field Trip Report in Email Format

2. Identity of the site or facility. Clearly identifying the site of an investigation is especially important when you’ve been sent to check out several different sites. However, even if you’re examining only one site for a single purpose, you should still identify the site under consideration. Identifying the site is part of making sure your report is thorough—the first part of the tao principle. Including a description will also help in the future when you look back on the report. You’ll know exactly which site you were evaluating.

3. Description of your investigation. The description of your investigation is crucial. It lets your reader know how you collected your data and under what conditions. For example, if you gathered your information through interviews, you should explain what questions were asked, of whom they were asked, why they were asked, when they were asked, and even, at times, where they were asked. For example, interviews conducted during short work breaks may not be as fruitful as those conducted during the lunch break or in a meeting with several interviewees. Remember that a field report is intended to provide timely and useful information to the reader. If your description of the investigation is inadequate, you’re forcing the reader to see the situation either dimly or inaccurately. Inaccurate understanding on the part of your readers may lead to poor management decisions and inappropriate outcomes.

The description of your investigation doesn’t have to be long, but it should definitely include the who, what, when, where, and why—as well as the time it took to conduct your investigation. Overall, your description should follow the second and third parts of the tao principle—that is, it should be accurate and objective.

4. Your results, including what you observed and under what conditions. The results of your investigation should follow naturally after the description of how you conducted your study. In the results section, record the data you collected, such as the summary of answers to a questionnaire, conditions you observed, negative or positive attitudes revealed through interviews, numbers of units produced per unit time, and so on. List your results in a manner similar to that in Figure 4. Use appropriate facts and figures to address each topic or problem covered in the report. Your results will be the basis of any conclusions or recommendations drawn from your investigation; therefore, they should obviously be thorough, accurate, and objective.

5. Your conclusions and recommendations. The bottom line of your report is revealed in your conclusions and recommendations. Although you should base your conclusions on the facts you’ve gathered, you may also indicate your interpretation of the data, including any feelings or hunches you may have about that data. A good report should include your best objective judgment and insight into the problems you’ve investigated.

Finally, your conclusions should lead to your recommendations for some action or actions to address the situation. In Figure 4, the conclusions section is a brief paragraph stating that Shop No. 6 is too small to handle the number of employees who must work there. A list of specific recommendations follows the conclusions.

Progress Reports

Progress reports generally give accounts of work that’s currently being worked on, but isn’t yet completed. These reports are typically intended for managers who are responsible for tracking a project, so they can plan to provide or set aside necessary resources such as time, people, space, and equipment. Progress reports are also intended to be a quick way to catch problems early. Problems that go unresolved may produce a ripple effect that can influence costs, time schedules, personnel needs, and other kinds of operational factors.

If you must write a progress report on a project for which you’re responsible, that report can serve two purposes. First, it informs your readers of your progress so they can plan what they must do to assist with the completion of a project. Second, your report can be a self-check on how much remains to be done, how much time will be involved in reaching a completion date, and just what resources are needed to get the job done.

In effect, a progress report can benefit both the person who prepares it and the person who reads it.

The basic concern of most progress reports is time. Project managers want to know how much has been done, how much is currently being accomplished, and how much remains to be done. A good progress report considers the past, the present, and the future and should include the following items:

n Summary/overview of the whole project

n Summary of work already completed

n Description of work currently under way

n Estimate of the work remaining

n Final recommendations

Status Reports

Status reports are very similar to progress reports. In some organizations, they may even mean the same thing. For example, when you report on the status of a project, you’re usually accounting for the progress of that project.

The difference between a status report and a progress report lies mainly in their empha- sis. A progress report relates the past, present, and future of a project; a status report focuses more on the present condition of a project. A progress report is about change over a given time; a status report is about current conditions.

To make sure you place the emphasis on the correct factor, you must organize your material properly. For example, in a progress report, you should distribute information evenly over these topics: work completed, work in progress, and work yet to be completed. In a status report, on the other hand, you should focus on current conditions, providing a wealth of specific detail. You might then add observations about work completed and work remaining.

Here’s an effective approach to organizing a status report:

n Summary overview of the entire project

n Detailed discussion of current conditions related to the project

n Summary observations of the work already completed and the work remaining

n Final recommendations

Periodic Reports

Periodic reports, as their name suggests, are meant to help management keep track of operations on a regular basis. The frequency with which the reports are submitted can vary from daily to yearly.

For example, department heads may have to submit annual reports to their bosses, detailing the production for the year, including items like quantities produced, machine downtime, quality assurance checks, and so on. On the other hand, these same department heads may also have to submit daily reports of how much was produced in the department or weekly reports on sick time and vacation time.

Whether a periodic report is to be filed daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, or annually, it’s typically prepared by a project manager or supervisor and submitted to someone in upper-level management. For routine, short-interval reports, some kind of blank form may be standard. When the reports are filed less frequently or when they involve complex operations, they may take the form of status or progress reports.

While periodic reports may take any of the forms you’ve considered to this point, they most often deal with routine matters and tend to take on a uniform style. For example, in most organizations, requisition, travel, and expense reports are typically submitted on a standardized form. The standardization of status reports is a common characteristic of efforts to promote efficiency. Without standardization, some reporting procedures would become confusing.

Suppose you’re a new employee at Briscett, Inc. You’ve been told that you must submit a daily report. At the end of the first day, you get a blank form for your report. Now, you would need to take the time to talk to a coworker about what the standard is for the report and how you should prepare it.

Additionally, if the report form is standardized and its format doesn’t quite suit what you have to say, show some initiative. Don’t let the layout of the form dictate what you write. When you must explain or clarify special circumstances, modify the form or, if necessary, attach an explanatory note with it.

Feasibility Reports

Managers regularly ask themselves questions in an attempt to improve some aspect of their business. Here are some of the types of questions managers may ask:

n Should the space allotted to quality control be expanded?

n Will productivity be enhanced if employees are permitted to set up flextime schedules?

n Will upgrading the computer network assist the people who handle order processing?

n Should we add a new item to our current product line?

When these questions arise in the world of business, you may be asked to write a feasibility report. The purpose of such a report is to show whether it’s realistic to make a proposed change in the company.

Imagine that you’re the one who has been asked to write a report about the feasibility of allowing employees to establish flextime work schedules. Consider these logical steps you must take:

1. Research the problem to understand what may be involved. Will productivity be enhanced or hampered? How can standard shift arrangements be reordered to allow some people to work on flextime?

2. Evaluate the results of your investigation and consider alternatives. This step may involve making inquiries at firms that use flextime systems. It may involve some online research, and certainly, it will involve talking to employees about what kinds of work schedules will meet their needs.

3. Write a report that offers recommendations based on your decisions.

Most feasibility reports are informal documents written in an email, memo, or letter form. Since a feasibility report can deal with a very wide range of issues, however, it may end up being short or long, simple or complex. No matter what the length or the complexity of the subject, most feasibility reports have four basic components:

1. Introduction, which should include

n Background and purposes of the report

n Statement of the problem

n Extent of your investigation into the problem

n Criteria applied in the investigation, which may include such things as cost, efficiency, and productivity

2. Proposed action or actions. This part of the report may contain a few paragraphs or many pages, depending on the nature and scope of the problem or problems and the scope of your investigation.

In principle, this section of the feasibility report should consider all of the issues or variables that may have a bearing on the problem at hand. In reality, considering all possible alternatives may not be feasible because you may not have access to all relevant information. Therefore, the practical goal is to gather all of the data you can and consider all of the options implied by that data.

In other words, the report should be thorough, accurate, and objective (remember tao?), within the limits of the time and resources that surround any real-life situation.

For each problem that you’re considering in a feasibility report, address it in terms of the criteria that seem most relevant. These typically include

n Cost

n Ease of implementation

n Time constraints on implementation

n Efficiency

3. Conclusion. The conclusion is usually one of the shortest sections of a feasibility report. It should include a summary and an evaluation of each proposed action covered in the preceding section.

4. Final recommendations. This is the heart of your feasibility report. End your report in one or two paragraphs that summarize your conclusions and recommen- dations. In this section, you should justify your best judgment and possibly make some concluding comments on potential alternatives. If you have expertise in the subject matter you’re reporting on, offer your best judgment. Above all, however, be certain that your conclusions and recommendations follow logically from the facts and observations presented in the body of your report. In particular, your recommendations should clearly be based on the criteria you’ve established for evaluating any kind of action.

Troubleshooting Reports

Things go wrong even in the most efficient and productive organizations. When things go wrong, you can either ignore the trouble or take action. If you decide to take action, you should take the following steps:

1. Investigate the problem.

2. Attempt to discover its cause or causes.

3. Determine how the problem can be fixed.

4. Prepare some kind of plan for correcting the problem.

5. Implement the plan.

These steps sound simple and logical, but in the real world, one problem often leads to the discovery of another problem (or even to the realization that the problem can’t be fixed at all). Regardless, people in commercial or service enterprises often have to attempt to solve problems. In doing so, they may have to write troubleshooting reports to the people they work for.

Since trouble happens, troubleshooting reports are one of the most crucial of the reports considered in this study unit. A troubleshooting report may be informal or formal. It may be as short as a quick email or as long as a detailed letter—full of facts, figures, tables, and discussion points, all overflowing with information.

Regardless, an effective troubleshooting report should begin with an explanation of the purpose and scope of the report and the problem or problems it addresses. Further, each component of such a report should be clear and well defined. The components you can expect to cover when writing a troubleshooting report can be summarized as follows:

n Introduction. In the introduction, you should explain the purpose of the report, the scope of the problem, and the resources available to address the problem. While this section may amount to only a paragraph or two, it should properly orient the reader to the nature of the problem. To do this, you may have to provide some infor- mation about the history or background of the problem. Resources you may explore to address the problem might include technical manuals, diagrams, and websites; someone who has expertise in the problem at hand; or in the case of personnel issues, a psychologist who is available as a human resources consultant.

n Body. The body of the report should contain all of the relevant facts and figures derived from an investigation of the problem, along with the relevant locations, per- sonnel involved, analyses, and proposed solutions. In this section, include helpful headings such as “Problem Analysis,” “Similar Problems at the Charleston Facility,” and “Alternative Solutions.” Under each heading, include only information that pertains specifically to that heading. Avoid digressions and other kinds of verbal wandering. Stay focused on the subject, be specific with the facts, and use sim- ple, concise language. The body of the report must provide a thoughtful, accurate, and objective analysis, including specific ideas about how the problem may be addressed and corrected.

n Conclusion. The conclusion should summarize the problem and specify some preferred solution. If you divide the body of the report into sections under distinct headings, then your conclusion should provide a summary of each of them. In this section, the focus should be on how the problem can be corrected.

n Final recommendations. Your final recommendations should be concise, to the point, and above all, useful. When possible, attempt to show that the proposed solution should prevent similar problems from arising in the future.

Self-Check 1

At the end of each section of Writing the Report, you’ll be asked to pause and check your understanding of what you’ve just read by completing a Self-Check exercise. Answering these questions will help you review what you’ve studied so far. Please complete Self-Check 1 now.

Respond to the following based on your reading.

1. Briefly explain the tao principle.

2. Carefully read the following three situations. Then determine what type of report (field trip, progress, status, periodic, feasibility, or troubleshooting) would best suit the facts provided.

a. Situation A A tornado damages the Emerson Fabrication Plant in Charlotte, North Carolina, causing about $28,000 in damage to the roof and the north wall. Three machine lathes and a storage area in the shipping department were affected by water damage.

The findings are as follows:

n One machine lathe is beyond repair.

n Two machine lathes will require repairs to their transmissions.

n Seventeen packed shipping cartons suffered water damage, requiring the repackaging of approximately 1,400 dozen machined toggle bolts.

(Continued)

Self-Check 1 b. Situation B

In the midst of a rash of customer complaints and high absenteeism among sales personnel, gross sales at the Henderson Friendly Store (No. 24) have dropped dramatically over the current quarter, showing a 37 percent decline over the same quarter in 2015. Here are the findings for this situation. Customers have been complaining that sales personnel are discourteous and that they have difficulty locating salespeople on the floor when they need information. Sales employee absenteeism has been linked to two factors: (1) a recent decision to raise the biweekly paycheck deduction for medical insurance from $37.00 to $52.00 and (2) the recent layoff of 10 percent of the sales personnel. Both customer complaints and sales declines are related in part to inadequate inventory restocking and in part to low employee morale.

c. Situation C WXJT Broadcast Systems wants to upgrade its signal from 100 to 1,000 watts.

The findings for this situation are as follows. We have completed a study assessing the needs of station WXJT and have found that replacing the old R16 tube and cavity with an R28 tube and cavity would increase wattage by a factor of 10, improve broadcast quality, and expand the current 15-mile radius to a 50-mile radius.

Currently, we’re filling out the necessary FCC forms, applying for the license, and notifying them of the 48-hour shutdown dates.

On June 22 and 23, we’ll shut down the station, tear out the old R16 tube and cavity, and install the new R28 tube and cavity.

3. List the four criteria used to consider each problem in a feasibility report.

4. What is the difference between a status report and a progress report?

Check your answers with those in the back of this study unit.

SECTION 2: FORMAL REPORTS

Objective

When you complete this section, you’ll be able to describe the nature of formal reports and identify their components.

You probably won’t have to write a formal report early in your professional or business career. However, you may have to read, study, or evaluate reports written by others. Therefore, you should be aware of the nature of formal reports, their components, and how they’re prepared.

Formal reports may be developed for distribution within a company, but they’re more often used to address an audience outside the organization. A company’s annual report, for example, is a formal report directed to the company’s stockholders as well as to key company personnel.

Formal reports generally don’t convey a specific kind of information, yet a progress report, a feasibility report, or a troubleshooting report may be presented as formal reports. In any case, formal reports are typically prepared either because the topic is important or complex or because the topic demands a lengthy treatment.

The attributes of a formal report are

n Its relative size. A formal report is longer than an informal report.

n Its scope. A formal report has a broader scope than an informal report.

n Its significance to those concerned with it. A formal report deals with a subject of importance.

n A specified format. The format for a formal report is predetermined.

n A formal tone. The language used in a formal report should be more formal than the more conversational style of an informal report.

Report Planning Because formal reports are far more complex than informal ones, they require more preparation, more work, and a lot more writing. In planning a formal report, you should begin by asking yourself some important questions:

n Who is my audience?

n What information do I have to offer that’s relevant to them?

n What is my purpose in writing the report?

n How should I organize the work?

All of these questions are interrelated. If your audience consists of your company’s stockholders, then the information that’s relevant to them includes facts and figures about the company’s performance, market prospects in the future, and of course, profitability. Investors need to know how much they can expect as a return on their investment, now and in the future. Therefore, in writing an annual report for stockholders, you would present your company in a positive light, showing concern for the interests of investors. In addition, you should include topics and headings that address the likely concerns of your investors.

On the other hand, if your audience consists of customers, your tone will probably be aimed at maintaining congenial relations. The purpose of your report will very likely be to attract and retain customers. A key element of any good formal report is its attention to its intended audience (Figure 5).

FIGURE 5—Who is the audience for your report? Make sure you always keep them in mind as you prepare any report.

Report Design Most formal reports take a position and then document that position with various kinds of supporting evidence, presented in a logical and readable manner. In drafting a formal report, you should divide your effort into three sections:

1. Part 1 contains preliminary information that allows your readers to understand, locate, and review the information presented in the body of the report.

2. Part 2 represents the body of the report. It includes your investigation of the subject and provides the basis for your final conclusions and recommendations.

3. Part 3 contains the supplemental matter of your report. It complements the first two sections and provides your audience with information they may find useful in digesting and interpreting what has come before.

The next three sections of this study unit cover these three parts in more detail.

Part 1: Preliminary Information The preliminary section of a formal report presents the following elements in the order shown:

1. Title page

2. Table of contents

3. List of illustrations

4. Summary or abstract

The sample parts of the formal report illustrated on the following pages relate to the same scenario: Geoffrey W. Schnyder is president of Mainline Hardware Inc., a chain of large hardware stores. He has asked Tamara K. Lyons, director of marketing, to examine the possibility of locating a new store in Pennsylvania. The locations he has in mind are two adjacent towns, Pleasant Mill and Orchard Mountain. He wants to know if a store in either of these towns is feasible and, if so, which one would be the better location.

Title Page

The title page should be the first page of your report. All formal reports have a title page that supplies the following information:

n A title that clearly identifies the subject of the report

n The name of the person or organization to whom the report is being submitted

n The name of the person or organization submitting the report

n The date of submission

The formality of the title page should convey the seriousness and professionalism of the organization. Indeed, in any formal report, the title page is a kind of flag that should both command attention and reflect positively on the presenter. A carelessly constructed title page may well be interpreted as carelessness and indifference that’s associated with both the report and the organization it represents.

The title of your report should be descriptive. That is, it should provide the reader with an immediate and concrete understanding of the subject.

Arrange the information on the title page so that it’s evenly distributed on the page and formatted to be both pleasing to the eye and commanding of the reader’s attention. The format of the print should encourage the reader’s eye to fall a little bit above the center of the page (Figure 6).

MAINLINE HARDWARE

Feasibility of Opening A Mainline Hardware Store in Pleasant Mill, Pennsylvania,

or Orchard Mountain, Pennsylvania

Prepared for: Geoffrey W. Schnyder President Mainline Hardware Inc.

Prepared by: Tamara K. Lyons Director of Marketing Mainline Hardware Inc.

Date: February 3, 2015

FIGURE 6—Sample Title Page for a Formal Report

Table of Contents

The table of contents for a formal report should be organized in the same way as the table of contents for a book. In fact, you can use published books as a guide in preparing your own table of contents for a formal report.

The table of contents should list all of the headings in your report exactly as they appear in the body of the document. Figure 7 illustrates a sample table of contents for the Mainline Hardware report. Note that the page numbers are opposite the headings at the extreme right. The page numbers represent the first page on which the heading appears.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 1 SUMMARY 2 INTRODUCTION 3 Description of Purpose 3 Outline of Investigation 3

PLEASANT MILL, PENNSYLVANIA 5 Location 5 General Description of Area 7 Access Routes 8 Population and Demographics 9 Tax Structure 10

ORCHARD MOUNTAIN, PENNSYLVANIA 11 Location 11 General Description of Area 13 Access Routes 14 Population and Demographics 15 Tax Structure 16

SURVEY 17 Description of Survey 17 Method of Choosing Sample Population to Survey 19 Survey Results 20 Interpretation of Survey Results 24

COMPETITION 25 Pleasant Mill 25 Orchard Mountain 29

OTHER MAJOR INDUSTRIES AND BUSINESSES 31 Pleasant Mill 31 Orchard Mountain 33

CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 35

FIGURE 7—Sample Table of Contents for a Formal Report

Your table of contents should clearly itemize your major headings, subtopics, and details of those subtopics. In other words, your table of contents should look very much like your outline. Normally, the major section headings are printed in all capital letters at the extreme left of the page.

The subtopics and the details of those subtopics should follow, in capitals and lowercase letters.

Give careful attention to the preparation of the table of contents. It’s an important part of any report, because it allows readers to

n Get an overview of the material

n Locate topics within the report

n Grasp the report’s organization

List of Illustrations

Immediately after the table of contents, you should include a separate page that lists all of the figures, tables, charts, graphs, and other graphic elements. List the tables separately from the other illustrations. For each item, include the number and title of the illustration, along with the page on which the graphic falls. If you have only a few illustrations—say, three to five—you may list them on the same page as the table of contents.

Figure 8 presents a sample page containing a list of illustrations for the Mainline Hardware report.

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

TABLES

1. Occupations of Pleasant Mill Residents 9

2. Pleasant Mill Income Levels 10

3. Occupations of Orchard Mountain Residents 15

4. Orchard Mountain Income Levels 16

5. Tabulation of Survey Results 23

FIGURES

1. Map of Pleasant Mill 6

2. Map of Orchard Mountain 12

3. Sample Survey 18

4. Chart of Market Share of Hardware Business (Pleasant Mill) 28

5. Chart of Market Share of Hardware Business (Orchard Mountain) 30

FIGURE 8—Sample List of Illustrations for a Formal Report

Summary or Abstract

In a formal report, the final element of Part 1 is a summary or abstract. This element is probably the second most important component of a formal report, the most important being the final conclusions and recommendations.

Suppose some of your readers want to get the gist of a long and complex report with- out actually reading the report. In such cases, they’ll read the summary or abstract and then turn to the conclusions and recommendations section to see where the report is headed. If some of your readers are going to read only the summary or abstract and the conclusions and recommendations sections, then these two sections demand the most attention.

The objectives of a summary or abstract are twofold:

1. To provide readers with a quick overview of the major points of a report

2. To allow readers to understand what a report is about without having to read the entire document

In a busy world, most people are pressed for time. Large, complex documents seldom get read from front to back. In fact, people in authority seldom have time to read all of the documents they receive. Often subordinates are given the responsibility of digesting and briefing their superiors on reports.

On the other hand, just because some people don’t have the time or the will to read a report from start to finish doesn’t mean that no one is going to read it. As the author, care- fully prepare your reports as if they’ll be read by everyone who receives them.

Summaries and abstracts should be written and organized so they permit readers to make decisions without having to read all of the copy and study all of the tables, facts, and figures. On the other hand, when your formal report is read carefully and in detail, the abstract or summary permits that reader to review the report quickly before making decisions.

With all of this in mind, remember that summaries or abstracts must be brief but thor- ough. Although they should contain no details, they should address the major points of the report, which are

n The problem

n The investigative procedure

n The conclusions and recommendations

Because your abstract or summary should give the reader a concise and accurate overview of the entire report, it should be the last thing you write. Write the body of the report; then, write your summary or abstract. In that way, you can refer to all of the major headings in the report to make sure you’ve included their basic content in the summary or abstract.

What’s the difference between a summary and an abstract? As it stands, there’s no gen- eral agreement about the differences in meaning for the words summary and abstract, but there’s general agreement on two points:

n An abstract is usually briefer than a summary because it merely lists major points without defining their relationships.

n A summary is more complete than an abstract because it outlines relationships between significant points. An abstract is like an outline—a kind of skeleton or framework. On the other hand, a summary is more like a highly condensed essay.

Figure 9 presents a summary and an abstract for you to compare. The first difference you’ll probably notice is the length. The summary explains the topic in a bit more detail while the abstract offers only a minimal overview. Nevertheless, both samples accomplish the following goals:

n They give the reader a basic understanding of the report that follows.

n They address the report’s problem: to determine the feasibility of opening a new Mainline Hardware Store.

n They suggest the methods through which the problem was researched: personal research, survey, and the study of the competition and other businesses.

n Both convey the report’s solution to the problem: to build a new store in Pleasant Mill.

Whether you choose to write a summary or an abstract, make it brief. If it contains too much detail, it won’t accomplish its objectives. At the same time, make sure it addresses all of the major points included in the actual report.

SUMMARY

The purpose of this report is to outline the results of my study to determine the feasibility of opening a new Mainline Hardware Store in either Pleasant Mill, Pennsylvania, or Orchard Mountain, Pennsylvania.

In conducting my study, I first evaluated both areas based on such factors as loca- tion, access roads, and demographics. Next, I conducted a survey of 1,000 persons in each town. The survey concentrated on the current hardware-buying habits of the population and their future needs. Finally, I studied the competition for the hardware business in both towns and other major industries and businesses.

The results of my survey and my initial examination of both areas indicate that either town would be a suitable location for one of our hardware stores. However, after examining the competition and the tax structure in both areas, I have con- cluded that the Pleasant Mill area would be a wiser choice.

ABSTRACT

To determine the feasibility of opening a Mainline Hardware Store in either Pleasant Mill, Pennsylvania, or Orchard Mountain, Pennsylvania, I studied both areas, con- ducted a survey in both towns, and examined the competition and other businesses and industries in these areas. Based on the results of my study, I have concluded that the Pleasant Mill area would be a wiser choice.

FIGURE 9—The summary and abstract in this figure were written for the same report. Comparing the two should give you an idea of the differences and similarities between them.

Part 2: Body of the Report Part 2 of a formal report is really the report itself. It should include all of the information readers need to understand the problem and to evaluate your investigation, along with a proposed solution to the problem.

Specifically, in the body, you should include the data you’ve gathered, the findings gen- erated by that data, and the way the results of the investigation connect to the problem you’re addressing. Most importantly, you must include your conclusions and your recom- mendations—the cornerstones of any report.

Introduction

In the introduction, include all of the preliminary data that a reader needs to understand about the topic of the report. Such information includes any necessary background and history related to the problem, a brief statement of the report’s purpose and objec- tives, and if appropriate, a concise annotation of references based on your research. Possible subheadings for the introductory material are Problem, Purpose, and Objectives.

Body of the Report

The body of your formal report should contain the whole picture, as well as the important details, of what you have to say, sharing your investigation, observations, and analysis with the reader. It concisely outlines the methods used to conduct the investigation, it presents the data that have been collected, and it delivers an analysis.

The body of the report should be as long and as complex as necessary for it to follow the tao principle—that is, it should be thorough, accurate, and objective. Therefore, when you’re interpreting your data, you should be clear and logical, and you must fully docu- ment what you say.

For example, if you propose a change in the pay scale for line workers, you should be able to support that suggestion with comparable pay scales in similar organizations, and you should justify your proposal in terms of cost versus productivity. Your readers must be able to grasp the validity of your assertions. Don’t leave anything hanging in the body of your report. Your reader should be able to understand what you’ve done and how you went about it.

In the report for Mainline Hardware, Tamara Lyons is recommending that Pleasant Mill serve as the location for a new store. In her report, she must first supply data to show that Pleasant Mill is an appropriate location for one of their stores and then provide proof that it’s a better location than Orchard Mountain.

Regardless of the method of organization you use, your report should be easy to com- prehend. Here are a few suggestions to help you make your material understandable for your readers:

n Use vivid descriptive headings to engage the reader and make effective transitions between topics.

n Present technical information in a manner that’s “user friendly,” especially if your readers may not have a technical background.

n Present topics in a logical order. For example, suppose you’re presenting infor- mation on how to display merchandise in a store. You should probably begin with descriptions of various display methods before you begin to discuss your research into consumer responses or sales figures related to display approaches.

Information Sources

Within the body of any formal report, you must support your findings. Doing so helps to verify and validate any conclusions you draw and any recommendations you make. The following list includes some of the sources you may use in your report.

n Tests or experiments. You can conduct tests to work out many kinds of problems. The testing of new products might involve using a small group of potential consum- ers to evaluate a product. Conducting lab tests of different kinds of drive motors may help a writer recommend the best one for the robotics division of the company.

The results of tests and experiments are more convincing when they involve first-hand observation by the person preparing the report.

n Published material. Information from published sources in libraries, in company files, or online can be the starting point for supporting information for many reports. As a reminder, with web-based research, you must use credible sources that you may need to verify.

n Personal experience. If you work directly with the information you’re reporting on or if you have prior experience in solving problems like the one being addressed, then you’re the ideal resource. But, you must document your experience.

n On-the-job observations. Personal observation of a production process or any personal experience that gives you an edge in dealing with a problem may be cru- cial sources of information for an effective report.

Conclusions and Recommendations

At the end of Part 2, present your conclusions and recommendations. Conclusions are your final observations. They record your convictions and feelings about the subject that you investigated. They represent your reactions, thoroughly reasoned and thought out, to the data you compiled and recorded.

Recommendations, on the other hand, are proposed actions—that is, what you think should be done based on the information you’ve gathered.

Since you already understand that the conclusions and recommendations are the corner- stones of a report, you should understand that this section of a report should be as clear and logical as possible.

Sometimes, conclusions and recommendations evolve quite naturally from the content of your report. At other times, they require a “big picture” approach, forcing you to step back from the trees to see the forest. If the content of the report is particularly complex, you may need to give the conclusions and recommendations some careful reflection.

Any effective report should be headed toward some “exciting conclusion.” A fatal error for writers is to become wishy-washy and inconclusive when it comes time to draw conclu- sions and make recommendations. After all, a report may be the basis of future decisions that could affect many people within an organization, not to mention the people who depend on an organization’s products or services.

Assume you’re writing a formal report and you’ve come to a standstill in finding patterns and relationships that point to specific recommendations. Here are some questions you can ask yourself to help guide your thinking:

n Who will be reading my report?

n What have I been asked to do in this report?

n What is the problem?

n What will my reader need to know to understand the problem?

n What expectations does my reader have about how the problem should be resolved?

When it comes to making recommendations, remember that while conclusions may be based on convictions, recommendations are proposals for action. Recommendations require a writer to engage his or her imagination, considering the implications of actions that may be taken, as well as future needs that may arise from those actions.

Figure 10 presents a conclusion and recommendation for the Mainline Hardware report. The conclusion focuses on past observations; the recommendation suggests future actions.

CONCLUSION

My study indicates that the areas around Pleasant Mill and Orchard Mountain, Pennsylvania, are ideal for the building of a new Mainline Hardware Store. Both areas have a stable population that’s employed in various types of occupations. Both areas have good access roads into the towns. The results of the surveys in both towns indicate that over 25 percent of the people surveyed are do-it-your- selfers, and approximately 30 percent plan major home improvements in the next three to five years.

The results of my study regarding our competition and other area businesses, however, give the edge to Pleasant Mill. In addition, the tax structure in Pleasant Mill is more advantageous for our type of business than the tax structure in Orchard Mountain.

RECOMMENDATION

Both Pleasant Mill and Orchard Mountain, Pennsylvania, are good locations for a new Mainline Hardware Store. However, based on the competition and the tax structure in both areas, I recommend building a new store in the Pleasant Mill area.

FIGURE 10—Sample Conclusion and Recommendation for a Formal Report

Remember to give conclusions and recommendations the importance they deserve. If you’re presenting several conclusions or recommendations, number each one and list them separately so that nothing gets lost with the reader.

Conclusions and recommendations depend on the findings presented in the body of a report. For most reports, they should logically follow immediately after the data and results in the body. Sometimes, however, a writer may place them right at the beginning of Part 2, just before the introduction and the body. There may be several reasons for this alternative approach:

n The person or organization requesting the report requires this arrangement in for- mal reports.

n The readers may be more likely to be engaged by the report if they’re aware of the conclusions and recommendations from the start.

n It may simply be more effective to organize some reports this way. For example, if the conclusions or recommendations are somewhat controversial, the reader may be better motivated to search out the data and results in the body of the report.

Always give conclusions and recommendations a strong placement in terms of the report format. Make sure they follow logically from the findings you present.

Illustrating the Body of a Report

With computer software programs, you can easily produce striking graphics for a report. You can insert photographs and add full-color pie charts and graphs. Even though these illustrations may appear very professional, be cautious in their use. In other words, don’t insert a colorful chart or graph simply to dress up your report. Include only those graphics that contribute to the clarity of your report.

When you insert graphs and figures into a formal report, leave some white space around them. Don’t crowd them with text. Always place illustrations adjacent to the supporting text so they contribute to the goal of clarity. Avoid adding flashing and animations that attempt to impress without adding any substance. Put simply, keep your presentation for- mal by keeping your format clean and simple.

If the material in your report is thorough, complete, and accurate, you won’t need elab- orate illustrations to make it look good.

Part 3: References and Appendices Think of the third part of a formal report in terms of one guiding word—reference. In this section, you should provide items that a reader may need to consult for further informa- tion. Some of the references to include in this part are:

n Bibliography

n Endnotes

n Additional graphs, tables, and figures that may provide supplemental information, but would otherwise confuse and clutter the body of the report

n Glossary of key terms

n List of symbols and their meanings (for a technical report)

If the material you add at the end is several pages long, you should introduce it with a separate title page labeled Appendix. If the material fits on one page, you may put the title Appendix at the top of that page.

Report Styling After you’ve completed the first draft of your formal report—and there should always be a first draft—you must begin the revision process. Revising a document doesn’t mean you read through it quickly, looking for misspelled words. In fact, you likely will have to read your material several times before you get it the way you want it to be.

During any revision process, you should be checking certain points in your report. Ask yourself the following questions:

n Is my information complete?

n Have I included unnecessary information?

n Is my report objective?

n Is my report interesting?

n Are my sentences grammatically correct?

Is My Information Complete?

For a report to fulfill its function, it must be complete. The content should address all of the relevant issues. It should answer all of the pertinent questions and clearly present all of the needed facts and figures.

In practice, making your reports complete may not be as easy as you think. For example, you may not be able to give easy answers to all of the questions you should address.

Consider the report that addressed the feasibility of opening a new Mainline Hardware Store. The main question to be addressed in that report is “Will a hardware store in the Pleasant Mill or Orchard Mountain area be a profitable venture for the company?” Only time and experience will answer that question definitively.

However, you can answer questions such as, “How many hardware stores are cur- rently in the area? What volume of business do these stores do? Is the population of the area growing or shrinking? Do the homeowners in the area take good care of their properties?”

Such questions are usually fairly easy to formulate and answer. These obvious questions will arise naturally in the course of your investigation or the process of writing your first draft. Clearly, these are the questions you know you must address in your report, and the answers to these questions can help you formulate an educated response to the main question.

However, answering questions that are obvious and apparent often isn’t enough. You must also find and answer hidden questions that could influence the outcome of your report and the final form of your conclusions and recommendations. For example, the writer of the report on the hardware store should determine if there are enough people in the area to staff a large store and if there’s a parcel of land appropriate for the store. Such hidden questions must be answered if your report is to be useful and complete.

As you progress through the revision stage, you must also make sure you consider the effects that may result from your recommendations and their implementation. You must ask yourself, “Will my recommendation have any adverse side effects?”

For example, consider the hardware store situation. How will the store’s suppliers handle the increase in sales volume? Will the store have to take managers from the current stores to train new personnel? When you can, you must identify, research, and answer these hidden questions if your report is to be complete, effective, and worthwhile.

Have I Included Unnecessary Information?

During the revision stage of report writing, you must consider your readers’ needs when deciding if additional information will make your presentation more compelling. That is, you must ask yourself if adding information will enhance the clarity of your discussion and provide support that will make your report as effective as you can make it.

You must also consider your readers’ needs just as carefully in deciding what to leave out. Too much information can detract from the impact of your report. It can also confuse and frustrate readers by forcing them to focus on matters that aren’t directly related to the objective of your report (Figure 11). Too much information clutters your presentation and makes it less readable.

FIGURE 11—Too much excess information in a report can confuse and frustrate readers.

While revising your first draft, look for information that’s not absolutely necessary to your report. Perhaps the real secret to removing unnecessary information is to ask yourself again and again, “What do my readers really need to know?” The answer to that question should fill your report with just what’s needed and no more.

If certain information isn’t immediately relevant to your report’s objectives, you should probably omit it. If you think it may help some people or if you’re unsure about whether to include it, put it in the appendix section with other supplemental facts, figures, and notes.

Is My Report Objective?

Being objective doesn’t mean that you completely ignore your impressions and insights. It does mean that you’re aware of the differences between your personal preferences and the facts and figures generated in your investigation of a problem.

For example, if you present a variety of solutions in your report, you should treat each one with equal respect. In fact, you should treat the work on your report like a scientist. Your job isn’t about believing or feeling; it’s about discovering. Don’t begin your investiga- tion burdened by your preconceptions. Avoid letting your feelings and wishes get in the way of accurate reporting.

A formal report isn’t the proper place for airing your opinions. Your objective isn’t to per- suade but to lay out a problem, investigate its nature, present the facts you’ve gathered, and attempt to draw impartial conclusions that lead to logical recommendations. Your sources of information may include personal experience, and your investigation may also reveal opinions from other people’s observations and experiences. The trick is to weigh all of the evidence, all of the impressions, and all of the bservations on the same scale.

Is My Report Interesting?

Your report can be logical and objective without being dry, tedious, and boring. How, you may ask, can that be the case when impartiality and objectivity are so important to the effectiveness of a report?

The answer is simple: Give the readers what they need and what they want. This is the best way to keep your readers’ interest.

Remember, your report is designed to address a problem. Problems need to be solved because they cost time and money. They often reduce employee morale while raising the anxiety and stress levels of executives and managers. If you write your report effectively and it meets crucial needs, then it will offer a basis for decisions that need to be made.

Specifically, you can make your report valuable and interesting by highlighting the benefits of your recommendations. If your conclusions provide suggested solutions to important problems, highlight that fact. If your recommendations would lead to savings, cost-effectiveness, improved employee morale, happier customers, reduced downtime, or increased production, highlight those assertions.

Make sure the benefits you highlight are based on facts. An effective report is generally effective because it approaches a problem with a practical, logical analysis. There’s noth- ing wrong with approaching your investigation and your formal report with enthusiasm. However, during the revision phase, make sure you revise your information to eliminate emotional language and verbal fluff.

Don’t imagine that you can increase the impact of your report with words or phrases that are full of emotion. Avoid expressions that are anything other than objective. Eliminate words like outrageous, terrible, and disastrous. Say small instead of tiny, large instead of huge, inappropriate, or erroneous instead of ridiculous. When possible, use facts and figures instead of nonspecific words. For example, say three percent instead of tiny, 50,000 pounds instead of huge amount, or 75 percent more effective instead of wonderful.

Verbal fluff refers to the use of colorful words that are more appropriate for adver- tisements than they are for an effective report. Avoid substituting verbal fluff for plain language. Your report will be judged on its substance, not its glitter.

Are My Sentences Grammatically Correct?

Not all your readers will be aware of grammatical errors in your writing, but many will. And sometimes, these mistakes can become stumbling blocks for those who are aware of them. If your report contains misspelled words and grammatical errors, your readers may wonder about the accuracy of the information you are presenting.

Many errors are easy to miss when you’re reviewing your work. Sometimes, you see what you expect to see rather than what’s actually on the paper. To help you eliminate such mistakes from your writing, carefully follow these suggestions:

n Use spelling and grammar checks, but remember that these tools aren’t foolproof.

n Very slowly read through your entire report, looking carefully at each word. Watch for misspellings that are tricky to find (for example, than instead of then, him instead of his, and so on). Make sure to double-check the spelling of proper nouns, espe- cially people’s names.

n As you read, check for errors in grammar, capitalization, and punctuation. Refer to the material presented earlier if you’re unsure of how to handle something.

n Read your material as if you know nothing about the topic. Would you understand the report if you were reading it for the first time?

n Check for transitions. Do your sentences flow from one to the other? Have you tied your paragraphs together so your readers can easily follow your train of thought?

n Check your table of contents. Are the page numbers correct? Do the headings in the contents match the headings in the material itself?

n Consider having a colleague read the report before you submit it. Sometimes a pair of fresh eyes will notice things you’ve overlooked.

Summary You’ll undoubtedly be expected to write reports of one kind or another throughout your professional career. Whether those reports are formal or informal—and regardless of their size, form, or subject—they should all convey information thoroughly, accurately, and objectively.

In this study unit, you’ve learned about the various forms of reports, and you’ve studied examples of informal and formal reports. You’ve also been introduced to the elements of style suitable to effective report writing.

As you become more familiar with the purposes of the various types of reports and as you gain experience in writing them, your communication skills will improve. You learn the art of writing by writing. However, to enhance your rate of improvement, keep the follow- ing writing goals in mind:

n Strive for clarity in any report you write.

n Be exacting about the logic of what you write.

n Include only the information that the reader actually needs.

Finally, remember that writing is all about rewriting. Be ruthless with yourself when editing and revising your work. Make changes that will enhance the clarity of your presentation, and eliminate anything that doesn’t contribute to the purpose of your report.

Self-Check 2

Respond to the following based on your reading.

1. What are the four components in Part 1 of a formal report?

2. Why might you put your conclusions and recommendations before the body of a report?

Rewrite sentences in Items 3–7 to eliminate emotional or vague words.

3. A lot of damage was done to the Charlotte plant.

4. Automation of the drill presses would result in a huge production increase.

5. The budget figures for 2018 recommended by management were ridiculous.

6. There was a terrible sense of job dissatisfaction expressed by a whole bunch of employees.

7. Many lousy oscillators will be replaced soon.

Check your answers with those in the back of this study unit.

SELF-CHECK ANSWERS

Self-Check 1 1. The tao principle, which can be applied to any effective report, requires a

document to be thorough, accurate, and objective.

2. Situation A: field trip report Situation B: troubleshooting report Situation C: progress report

3. The four criteria used to consider each problem in a feasibility report are cost, ease of implementation, time constraints on implementation, and efficiency.

4. Status reports are a variation of progress reports, but they may be the same things in some organizations. The main difference between the two is in their emphasis. A progress report covers the past, present, and future of a project; a status report focuses more on the present, or current, condition of a project.

Self-Check 2 1. Part 1 of a formal report usually includes a title page, a table of contents, a list of

illustrations, and an abstract or summary.

2. There are three reasons why you might place the conclusions and recommenda- tions before the body of a report:

a. The person or organization requesting the report requires this arrangement in formal reports.

b. The readers may be more likely to be engaged by the report if they’re aware of the conclusions and recommendations from the start.

c. It may simply be more effective to organize some reports this way. For example, if the conclusions or recommendations are somewhat controversial, the reader may be better motivated to search out the data and results in the body of the report.

Your responses to Items 3–7 may vary, but your revised sentences should contain substantive information in place of generalities and avoid the use of emotional expressions.

3. About $28,000 worth of damage was done to the roof and north wall of the Charlotte plant.

4. Automation of the drill presses would produce a 250 percent increase in production.

5. The $358,000 budget recommended by management was inadequate by $75,000.

6. Three out of five workers reported job dissatisfaction over 80 percent of their workdays.

7. Eighty percent of the broken or faulty oscillators will be replaced by October 30.

GRADED PROJECT

Overview You’ll gain practical experience in writing an informal report, using an email format, by building on the background information, prewriting, and emails about Phoenix Advertising you prepared for the graded project in the study unit Writing Effective Communications.

This exam has two parts. In the first part, you’ll submit a topic outline following the format described in Step 3. In the second part, you’ll write an informal field investigation report using four headings:

• Description of the Investigation

• Results

• Conclusions

• Recommendations

You should submit both parts in one Microsoft Word document. The Grading Criteria sec- tion below makes a good checklist for the expectations for each part of this assignment in terms of content and format.

Instructions

Step 1: Review the Scenario and the Goals

Phoenix Advertising, with its main headquarters in Charlotte, North Carolina, serves clients that include banks, insurance companies and local businesses such as restaurants and shops. You’re the vice president of human resources management at Phoenix, and you report directly to Gregory S. Forest, the president of the company.

Mr. Forest advises you that in the last month, four clients have complained about the advertising work produced by the Roanoke, Virginia branch of the agency. He reminds you that the Roanoke branch and its clients are vital to the overall success of the company.

Mr. Forest explains what he has learned about the situation at the Roanoke branch over the last three months. Three graphic designers and four copywriters have threatened to quit because their creative contributions on projects are being rejected or revised without their input. They want to be part of a collaborative team, not to simply produce work that the art directors and account executives can alter arbitrarily. These changes to projects have also caused tension between the creative teams and account managers, causing an art director and an account manager to leave the agency.

In addition to the four clients who complained, others have not renewed their contracts with Roanoke. Several have posted poor reviews of the Roanoke branch on social media sites, leading to a drop in profits.

In an attempt to increase revenues, the branch is accepting new clients without evaluating the effects of the new accounts on the current project workload. As a result, without notice or compensation for the additional hours, all salaried employees are required to work long hours several days each week. Employee morale and productivity are declining day by day.

Your investigative goals are to

n Identify and describe specifically the causes (root issues underlying) each problem

n Show the impact of each problem on the business and on employee morale

n Provide specific recommendations for resolving the problems to restore the Roanoke branch to full productivity

Step 2: Prepare to Write

1. Review the information on outlines in the study unit Organizing, Researching, and Illustrating Your Material.

2. Review the instructions on informal and formal reports and format in this study unit.

3. Reread the information about field investigation reports in this study unit.

4. Review the background and prewriting work on which you based your exam for Writing Effective Communications.

Step 3: Write the Topic Outline

Prepare a topic outline (no sentences) using the four Roman numeral points shown in the text box Guidelines for Writing Your Outline. Organize all of your prewriting and scenario information according to those four points. The following partial outline will guide you, but don’t be limited by the capital letters or numbers. Subdivide each level more or less as necessary to incorporate all your ideas.

Guidelines for Writing Your Outline

When you write your outline, begin with the four points listed as Roman numerals; then subdivide and add details.

I. Purpose for investigating, including the location, the branch, and general nature of the problems

II. General approach to investigating the causes of each problem

A. One way you investigated the problem, such as interviews (subdivide two or more levels as needed)

1. Four of the ten employees from the Graphics and Design Department

2. Head of the Graphics and Design Department

3. All ten employees during a group meeting

B. Another way you investigated the problem (subdivide as needed)

C. Another way you investigated the problem (subdivide as needed)

III. Overall findings about the underlying issues (primary findings as capital letters and specifics about that finding as numbers)

A. First primary issue matched with first investigation method

1. One cause of the problem and/or the impact on business/morale

2. Another cause/impact

3. If appropriate, another cause/impact

B. Second primary issue (such as, lack of communication)

1. Cause/impact

2. Cause/impact

C. Third finding/issue, subdivided as necessary

D. Continue to subdivide Point III to identify all your findings.

IV. Overall recommendation for/approach to solving the issues you found

A. Recommendation 1 (match with issue identified in III.A.)

1. Details

2. Details

B. Recommendation (issue III.B)

C. Recommendation (issue III.C)

Make sure the topics within the subdivisions (A, B, C or 1, 2, 3) are of equal importance. Your first Roman numeral point requires no subdivision; it merely states the purpose of the field investigation and gives the location. For the other points, use your brainstorming information to add appropriate subdivisions and a significant number of details beyond the scenario.

If you subdivide a point, you must have at least two divisions. For example, if you subdivide to level 1, you must have at least a 2 as well. You can’t subdivide something by one.

Revise your outline for clarity and completeness. Your outline must show depth of detail, as well as correct format. Remember: You’re preparing this outline after you’ve finished your investigation of the site in order to organize your thoughts for your report.

Ask yourself the following questions when reviewing your outline:

n For Point I, did I state the purpose and branch location without subdivision?

n For Point II, did I list a variety of specific investigative methods, including with whom, where, and when?

n In Point III, did I specify causes for each problem and show the impact of the prob- lem (effect) on morale and productivity?

n In Point IV, did I provide clear solutions that address each cause in the same order as I listed them in Part III?

Step 4: Write the Informal Field-Investigation Report

Begin a new page in the same Word document as your outline. Follow your outline as you draft your informal report using the illustration on page 9 in your study unit (do not use an email app). Use the ABC method for developing paragraphs and the headings shown in the sample field-investigation report in this study unit.

Keep in mind your purpose is to inform the Phoenix Advertising executive team about your investigation and recommend solutions for the problems at Roanoke.

After providing your purpose statement and location of the branch, use the following along with your outline to write your report.

1. Description of investigation. Describe in complete sentences and paragraphs the ways you investigated the problems to find the causes of each problem and their impact on business/morale. This section must describe a variety of objective, specific methods used, such as employee and management interviews, surveys, attendance records, budget reviews, and organizational observations. Use different methods to verify facts and causes—don’t use just an employee’s words or feelings.

2. Results. Write a numbered list of findings using complete sentences in which you fully identify the source of the causes underlying each problem and show the impact of each cause on employee morale/business. Provide a clear analysis of each problem in the scenario, identifying the underlying causes of each one and describing the impact on the company. Don’t merely summarize the scenario. By showing the underlying issues connected to specific impact/results, you establish a basis for your recommendations and show you’re addressing the root of the prob- lems. You’ll probably need more than one sentence for several of your findings.

3. Conclusions. Clearly summarize the primary causes for the problems and their impact on business/morale. Use complete sentences and one or two paragraphs.

4. Recommendations. List detailed solutions connected to the root cause of each problem, which you identified in the Results section. Define specific procedures or processes that Phoenix must undertake to boost morale and profitability. List each recommendation in the same order as the causes you defined in Results. You may use imperative or declarative sentences.

Step 5: Revise

Referring to the above instructions and the evaluation criteria for the exam, revise your work carefully for clarity, content, and coherence. Edit grammar, spelling, and punctua- tion thoroughly.

Read through your work backward using the following methods:

n Word by word. Use this way to locate spelling errors. Be alert—you may see the word here in your essay, a correctly spelled word. But also check the words on either side. Did you mean here in terms of location or did you mean the sense of hearing?

n Sentence by sentence. By looking at each group of words separately from the context, you can more easily locate run-on sentences or fragments. Compare the length and structure of each sentence for variety. Also check the connections between sentences—are they coherent?

n Paragraph by paragraph. Locate the controlling idea of each paragraph and compare them with your primary focus for the report. Does the paragraph help to develop that focus in some specific way? Then, match controlling ideas of each paragraph to the one before it and the one after it. Do they follow in logical order?

GRADING CRITERIA The following rubric will be used to grade your project.

Skill/Grading Criteria

Skill Realized A / 100-90

Skill Developing

B / 89-80

Skill Emerging C / 79-70

Skill Not Shown F / 69-0

Topic Outline: Chose one problem to focus on; cor- rectly applied topic outline format; effec- tively matched each section to parallel inves- tigation results with recom- mendations.

15-14 13-12 12-10 9-0

Purpose and Facility/ Description of Investigation: Clearly stated the purpose of the report and designated the facility; Effec- tively described the investiga- tive approach using objective point of view.

10-9 9-8 8-7 7-0

Results: Provided de- tailed cause- effect links with verifiable proof for scenario.

15-13 13-12 12-11 11-0

Conclusions: Effectively summarized the key causes and effects provided in the results section.

10-9 9-8 8-7 7-0

Skill/Grading Criteria

Skill Realized A / 100-90

Skill Developing

B / 89-80

Skill Emerging C / 79-70

Skill Not Shown F / 69-0

Recommenda- tions: Provided detailed rec- ommendations that parallel the results, and make specific suggestions that address un- derlying issues.

15-14 14-13 13-12 12-0

Report Format: Correctly ap- plied format for the informal field investigation report, and used headings for each section.

5-4 4-3 3-2 2-0

Audience, Tone, Diction and Coherence: Effectively main- tained a pro- fessional tone as part of the company team; developed and organized infor- mation clearly and logically.

10-9 9-8 8-7 7-0

Grammar, sentence structure, and mechanics: Edited and proofread to ensure correct application of standard writ- ten conventions for American English.

15-14 14-13 13-12 12-0

General format: Used correct font, justifica- tion, header info.

5-4 4-3 3-2 2-0

SUBMITTING YOUR PROJECT

Submitting Your Assignment Each project is individually graded by your instructor and therefore takes up to a few weeks to grade.

Be sure that each of your files contains the following information:

n Your name

n Your student ID number

n The lesson number (35002000)

n Your e-mail address

Note: If you have more than 10 attachments, you’ll need to WinZip all of the project’s associated files along with all documentation using the WinZip software program.