Read Chapter 9.4 in Business Communication for Success. This reading describes two main categories of reports, and the typical report organization focus and format that apply to many different report types. Informational reports provide factual details of a circumstance, without evaluative judgement. Analytical reports provide a thorough examination of a circumstance to solve problems, demonstrate relationships, or make recommendations. All reports are typically organized around key ‘who, what, where, when, why, and how’ content elements in relation to stakeholder needs. And, as you may already know, reports also typically include cover and title pages, a table of contents, an executive summary (or abstract), an introduction, a body, a conclusion, references, and an appendix. Collaborative team writing is now becoming a standard expectation, particularly on large projects that require diverse expertise and consensus decision-making. One common pattern of collaborative writing involves teamwork during pre-writing brainstorming and goal-setting, individual work during research and first draft phases, and then teamwork again in content synthesis and the early revision phases (Guffey et al., 2013). Usually writing the final report is assigned to one person to ensure a consistent style, with the asistance of another team member in a reviewer or proofreading role (Thill et al., 2011).
Recommended: Do Chapter Exercise 1 with the modifications suggested here.
First, recall the guidance in Chapter 4.2 on how effective writing skills are learned. One important learning strategy is to read various types of business documents to learn conventional genre patterns, because this can help you reduce preparation and production time when you create your own documents.
Then, do a search for an annual report from a business you would like to know more about. Review the report to identify how informational and/or analytical approaches are applied to meet stakeholder needs in the report content, organization, formatting and use of graphics.
Next, do a search for a few other types of business reports listed in Table 9.3, and repeat your report review process. Which of the reports have more than one author?
Finally, do an Internet search for collaborative writing software commonly used in business communication? Which of these, if any, are already familiar to you?
References
M.E. Guffey, D. Loewy, K. Rhodes & P. Rogin. (2013). Business Communication: Process and Product. 4th Brief Canadian Edition. Nelson Education Ltd.: Toronto, Ont.
J. Thill, C. Bovee & A. Cross. (2011). Excellence in Business Communication. 4th Canadian Edition. Pearson Learning Solutions: Boston, MA.
