Tenterden PTY Ltd
Steps on How to Write a Business Report
1. Determine your report's audience and purpose. If the report is for your board of directors, the report should contain more information than if it's directed toward employees who work within your division. Consider the information that is pertinent to who will be reading the report and don't include data that is unnecessary. Your purpose and intentions of the report should be detailed at the very beginning of it.
2. Assess the current status quo. Provide information about how your company is handling the current situation and what its position is on the issue at hand. Include any details you have about the process of doing business pertaining to the purpose of your report.
3. Collect data. Performance reports, production numbers, quality control information, attendance reports and expenses are all important pieces of data that might be included in a business report. Depending on your report's purpose, different pieces of data may need to be included. Carefully consider what is important to the mission of your report.
4. Format your data so it's easy to understand. This may mean that you should create a graph or a chart displaying quantitative data. Use color within the display, as it draws more attention and helps to differentiate the information. If it's quantitative data you're trying to include, set it up with bullet points, numbers or in a box. This sets your data apart from the rest of your report and helps to indicate its significance.
5. Set goals within your report. Clearly specify what your expectations are for the future. The goals should be measurable. Perhaps, you wish that production would increase. Set a goal for a 20 percent increase in production and set a deadline when that goal will be measured.
6. Establish a plan to meet the specified goals in the report. Goals should include specific actions, not vague statements. Write out any changes in job descriptions, schedules or expenses necessary to implement the new plan. Each statement should directly indicate how the new method will help to meet the goal set forth in the report.
7. Print enough copies to distribute to everyone in the meeting where you will present the report. If there are several pages, bind them together. Include all necessary attachments and additional documents.
1. Determine your report's audience and purpose. If the report is for your board of directors, the report should contain more information than if it's directed toward employees who work within your division. Consider the information that is pertinent to who will be reading the report and don't include data that is unnecessary. Your purpose and intentions of the report should be detailed at the very beginning of it.
2. Assess the current status quo. Provide information about how your company is handling the current situation and what its position is on the issue at hand. Include any details you have about the process of doing business pertaining to the purpose of your report.
3. Collect data. Performance reports, production numbers, quality control information, attendance reports and expenses are all important pieces of data that might be included in a business report. Depending on your report's purpose, different pieces of data may need to be included. Carefully consider what is important to the mission of your report.
4. Format your data so it's easy to understand. This may mean that you should create a graph or a chart displaying quantitative data. Use color within the display, as it draws more attention and helps to differentiate the information. If it's quantitative data you're trying to include, set it up with bullet points, numbers or in a box. This sets your data apart from the rest of your report and helps to indicate its significance.
5. Set goals within your report. Clearly specify what your expectations are for the future. The goals should be measurable. Perhaps, you wish that production would increase. Set a goal for a 20 percent increase in production and set a deadline when that goal will be measured.
6. Establish a plan to meet the specified goals in the report. Goals should include specific actions, not vague statements. Write out any changes in job descriptions, schedules or expenses necessary to implement the new plan. Each statement should directly indicate how the new method will help to meet the goal set forth in the report.
7. Print enough copies to distribute to everyone in the meeting where you will present the report. If there are several pages, bind them together. Include all necessary attachments and additional documents.
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