2. Report
– writing plays an important part in the business world and is altogether a more difficult
type of written communication than the simple type of report writing. It can be written in
the letter-form but is also often written in what is known as the ‘Report Form’, (with a
covering letter).
The British Association for Commercial and Industrial Education has defined a written
report as: "a document, in which a given problem is examined for the purpose of
conveying information, reporting findings, putting forward ideas and, sometimes, making
recommendations."
3. KINDS OF REPORTS
On the Basis of Law
• Statutory Reports
• Non-statutory Reports
On the Basis of the
Number of People
Drafting them
• Individual Reports
• Committee Reports
On the Basis of What is
Reported
• Performance Appraisal
Reports
• Progress Reports
• Project Reports
• Inspection Reports
• First Information Report
(FIR)
• Feasibility Report
• Investigative Report
4. WHAT A REPORT USUALLY CONTAINS
The Authority
2. Terms of Reference
3. Procedure
4. Findings and conclusions
5. Recommendations, if any.
5. Detailed (longer) reports have the following arrangement :
1. A title page
2. Table of contents
3. A synopsis or summary
4. Introduction including authority and terms of reference.
5. Procedure or investigation methods followed.
6. Findings and conclusions
7. Recommendations
8. Acknowledgements and thanks to those who have helped.
9. Appendixes.
6. Contain of report
The Authority- The authority under which the report is being written is mentioned first.
Thus an individual submitting a report must mention the person or resolution by which he
has been authorized to write the report.
Terms of Reference This section clearly spells out what aspects are to be covered by the
report and helps the report writers by focusing their attention on the main issue. Thus the
terms of reference of a committee might be to report on the poor quality of work put in by
the workers in the factory. This means that the committee will have to address itself to this
problem and should not stray into the field of economics or finance or the disadvantages of
location, etc.
Procedure Here the report writers mention the procedure they followed in obtaining their
data or information. How and when they visited different places, whom they met, with
whom they corresponded and the details of the questionnaires issued, if any.
7. Contain Of Report……
Findings Based on the data, facts and information collected the report writers will draw
definite conclusions which are called 'findings'. The findings are summarized statements of
all the data collected.
Recommendations Based on the findings the report writers will give their
recommendations or suggestions as to the best course of action to be followed. It is in this
section that the real skill and intelligence of the report-writers is revealed.
8. CHECKLIST FOR COMPILING REPORTS
1. Detail and Comprehensive Since a report is designed to give a complete
picture of what is taking place at a distance or away from the person who
receives it, it must be detailed and comprehensive – it must not leave out
relevant information. A good report leaves no question unanswered in the
mind of the person to whom it is addressed. If the directors or persons at
the Head Office have to re-inquire about matters or ask for explanations
then there is something wrong with the report that has been sent.
2. Concise A report must be detailed and comprehensive does not mean
that it must be long drawn out. It must, like a good business letter, contain
only relevant matter. Care should be taken to use concise and clear
language, for a report that is written in confused and muddled language
defeats its own purpose.
9. 3. Good Language
Using impersonal style One problem which is often found in report writing is the
difficulty writers have in writing naturally. As they are accustomed to writing in first-
person style and using personals pronouns such as you and I, they fail to achieve the
degree of objectivity they think a report should profess. We normally believe that
reports should eliminate pronouns completely and appear so antiseptic that humans
had nothing to do with them. Such need not be the case. The personal pronoun can be
eliminated and the report can still be natural and unstilted.
Sentences beginning
“It is believed...” or “It is submitted...” often leave the reader confused about the subject
it. In individual report writing style, “I believe...” is quite appropriate. As the report
approaches the formal end of the continuum, however, personal pronouns become
undesirable. One can develop skill in avoiding the personal pronouns while still writing
interesting and natural messages. Recasting sentences is a skill all good report writers
develop. Following sentences say the same thing:
10. Using the pronoun : I distributed questionnaires to 500 workers.
Recasting the sentence : Questionnaires were distributed to 300 workers. The
pronoun you tends to increase interest, because it brings the reader into the
story. At the same time, however, you also tends to be persuasive and may
decrease the desired objectivity. Remarks such as “You will notice the
difference between...”, the you can be avoided and action improved by simply
saying “Notice the difference between...”
Using active sentences As reporting is associated with some kind of action,
active writing is often appropriate. For example, in the following sentence,
passive voice is converted to active by recasting the sentence : Passive : The
agreement was reviewed thoroughly by the attorney. Active : The attorney
thoroughly reviewed the agreement.
11. Using proper tense One should keep in mind that that anything done before
writing the report is reported in the past tense.
For example : You developed a strategy, you gathered data, and you reached a
conclusion. As one directs the reader through the report, one calls attention to a table
that shows information. One may remind the reader that a preceding chapter showed
something. In other words, write about things as they occur.
Using articulate nouns and pronouns When there is an abundance of references
such as it, those, their, these, chances are that the reader might get confused. As
pronoun is a word that stands for a sentence, a paragraph, or an idea, it is always
advisable to repeat the noun rather than replacing it with a nebulous pronoun.
For example: “Procedures have been modified. These account for the delay”, can be
written as: “Procedures have been modified. These modifications account for the
delay”. In the first example, “These” may refer to either the procedures or the
modifications whereas in the second, the meaning is definite. It is important therefore,
to fix the meaning.
12. Using common language Common language use enables the writer to
reduce large amounts to understandable terms. In written analysis of data
shown in tables and other graphic presentations, common language should
be used. Report writing is at its communicative best when difficult –to –
understand concepts and figures are reduced to concise, common-language.
13. 4. Logical The report must contain a logical arrangement of ideas and
information. The best logical arrangement is that of proceeding from the general
to the particular. While writing a report on a particular industrial plant a general
description of the geography and location must be given before giving details
about the factory building and machinery.
5. Good Conclusion As in all logical arguments, a good report must contain a
definite conclusion. The report-writer cannot conclude by sitting on the fence and
saying "taking all the factors into consideration it is advisable and also not
advisable to set up a new plant in Bhopal." This, of course, does not apply to
those reports that are meant only to provide information and facts.
