Quick and easy business report writing – What is a report?

Hello everyone,

Today I start a new series of articles on Report Writing.

You know them, those things that cause you the most anguish in your business life. They keep your business success on their pages and their failure is guaranteed by their roller coaster approach to writing them.

So what is this monster?

A report is defined as an account of some event, situation, project, etc., prepared for the benefit of others, generally providing information obtained through research and/or research.

With many other forms of written communication, you can be a bit creative and put your own bias into your words, in a report you shouldn’t. (Well, in theory, anyway!)

This does not mean that reports have to be dull and boring. However, it does mean that in a business report you must clearly differentiate between what is fact and what is opinion. Your facts must be reliable and accurate, your opinions factual and objective.

A report is both a communication tool and a decision-making tool, and as such, it can have far-reaching consequences. Therefore, it is important that they are well written, reliable, and easy to read.

They are difficult to write because you have to collect, summarize, and interpret amounts of data for a specific audience (reader/user). They are also written for a specific purpose and you should compile your report with this purpose in mind.

Another challenge in report writing is presenting your report in a format that is both professional and engaging for the reader. Therefore, it must be typed, spelled and grammar checked, carefully read and collated.

There are many types of reports: financial, progress, project, research, case study, proposal, cost-benefit analysis, health and safety, technical, periodic, work accident, useless, complete, and the list goes on. ..But I want to talk mainly about reports for use in the business environment.

So what is a good report?

Sorry… there is no objective opinion of a “good report”. When someone defines a report as “good” they are referring to one that effectively conveys what the writer wants and can be used by the intended audience.