Writing Reports and Memoranda

• Writing reports is an effective communication method, second to business letters
• Corporations circulate and write a lot of reports on a daily basis
• Report writers need to be aware of two vital questions: "Who is the audience?" and "What is my purpose?"
• One should consider the destination of a report before writing it
• A report audience might be an employee, manager, supervisor, boss, or client
• Reports can supply records of work, record and clarify complex data, present info to many people, document schedules and milestones, record problems, document current status, and recommend future actions.
• The module discusses explaining concepts of report writing, using different concepts in writing a technical report, and distinguishing the categories of the technical report

Writing Memoranda

• "Memo" is frequently used word in corporations
• Some employees do not grasp the memo's definition
• A memo's knowledge and background could denote something negative
• A memo, per Collins Dictionary, is a brief, official note that someone from the same company/organization sends to remind the recipient
• It is a shortened term for memorandum
• A memo is a business correspondence with letters, contracts, endorsements, and certifications, all for management
• Writing effective memoranda is critical for managers and administrators
• Successfully written memos will deliver a message effectively
• A poorly drafted memorandum will fail to meet its goal, making a negative impression on the writer
• Some organizations want the memo to be concise and one page, as stated by Locker (2006)
• Careful editing and revising cuts memos down to a page in simple situations
• Put key points on one well-designed page with appendices when careful revision can't get everything on one page
• Minas et al. (2010) states interoffice memoranda passes between individuals in different departments, departments, management & staff.
• Most firms use printed forms and limit interoffice correspondence to a single topic, promoting conciseness, clarity, and ease of reference.

Memorandum versus Letter

• Memorandums are internal correspondence to colleagues within a company
• Letters are external correspondence written outside the business
• Identification lines for memos include "Date," "To/For," "From," and "Subject" before the message
• Letters include the letterhead address, date, reader's address, text, salutation, complimentary close, and signatures
• The audience that reads the memos are generally high or low tech and mostly business colleagues
• The audience of letters are generally low tech and lay readers, such as vendors and clients
• The topic of a memo is generally high to low tech with abbreviations and acronyms allowed
• The topic of a letter is generally low tech to lay, abbreviations and acronyms are defined
• Memos are generally informal (peer audience)
• Letters are more formal (audience of vendors and clients)
• Hard-copy attachments are stapled in memoranda, copies can be sent to other readers
• Additional info is enclosed within letter envelopes, complimentary copies are sent to readers
• The company's in-house mail procedure determines delivery time for memoranda; it could be delivered 3 days (more or less)
• The destination (country, state, or city) determines letter delivery time; Letters could be delivered in 3 days with over a week possible

Memorandum Elements

• Memoranda must include these basic elements:
• Companies create their own heading
• Dateline: actual date the memorandum is created
• Number: frequency of issued memos
• Receiver: person the memorandum is to be sent
• Sender: person who issues the memo
• Subject: title or topic of the memo
• Enclosure is an optional part for attachments

Reports

• Language is vital in report writing
• Sections and ideas of business reports should be expressed with language that is coherent, concise, and precise
• There are four fundamentals of report writing
• The K-I-S-S Concept (Keep It Short and Simple) uses simple yet concise words not complex words/jargon, it emphasizes to express rather than impress
• Observe specific punctuation marks when quoting, which is copying an original text
• Paraphrase by using your own words restating a author's ideas or words while observing the same amount of words
• Summarizing differs in the amount of words and and is like paraphrasing
• Summarizing and recapitulating authors' ideas is restating original text in its shorter form with your own words
• Properly document quoting, paraphrasing, and summarizing
• Graphic organizers such as figures or tables are compact data that are systematically in columns
• Figures may include presenting figures or information with graphs and charts
• Documentation and citation acknowledge the references or resources used with the author's name and publication date
• American Psychological Association (APA) and Modern Language Association (MLA) Style are the two citation styles
• There are ten steps in writing a technical report
• Define the problem
• Identify your audience
• Identify what you need to learn
• Gather necessary information and data
• Summarize your findings
• Design, organize, and write your report
• Draw possible conclusions and recommendations
• Cite references
• Review and revise
• Present or submit
• Each report has four basic components: heading, introduction, discussion, and conclusion/recommendations
• Connect different pieces of data together to form a story or a case
• After information is understood, revise and check the existing outline before writing the report
• Headings can synthesize information by interpreting data instead of restating the data (Locker, 2006)

Report Categories

• Reports need to be logically sequenced, well-organized, easy to read, and well-planned
• There are two categories of reports based on Roberts (1999):
• Informal reports ranges from a few paragraphs to several pages
• Informal reports can be a letter, memo, or email, it consists of a body, introduction, conclusion recommendations
• This functions to direct, sell, clarify, recommend, or inform
• The report's introduction elaborates the procedures and topics while the findings from research are in the body
• Conclusions and recommendations tell the diagnosis, as well as what needs be done about the findings of the study
• Formal reports are usually lengthy and may have a title page, table of contents, executive summary, body, conclusions or recommendations, abbreviations with symbols, list of tables with figures, appendixes, index, and more
• These may function to propose, analyze, examine, clarify, direct, document, or inform
• Reports should be concise and thorough by covering all issues and keeping it short and simple (KISS)
• Reports can analyze and provide data, or support a recommendation with information and analysis
• These reports can do the following based on what they do, according to Locker (2006):
  • Recommendation reports gives solution or recommend an action
  • Analytical reports interpret data but don't recommend action
  • Information reports collect data for the reader

Three Levels of Reports

• Information Only
• Sales reports give sales figures for the week or month
• Quarterly reports give plant's profits and productivity for the quarter
• Information plus analysis
• Audit reports give interpretations of facts revealed during an audit
• Annual reports give an organization's accomplishments and financial data from the past year
• Make-good/Pay-back reports calculate when a new captital investment will pay for itself
• Information plus analysis plus a recommendation
• Feasibility reports evaluate two+ alternatives and recommend one
• Justification reports justify the need for investments, a new personnel plan, or a change in procedure
• Problem-solving reports identify causes of the organizational problem and recommend a solution

Classification of Technical Reports

• Whether you're preparing one for your supervisor, executive staff, clients, board of directors, a report is very important in the workplace
• The report is concise and short like an email or memorandum, or longer with several pages
• The result is the same regardless of the content, destination, or length: The report must be understandable, neatly presented, factual, and informative (Oxford Dictionary)
• Business reports are broad and cover needed business documents such as accomplishment, incident, recommendation, financial report, and so on
• Using the standard format of a business report allows readers to locate vital information quickly and organize the report logically, according to Custodio et al. (2013)
• Knowing how to write a business report is necessary in the business world
• There are basic classifications of written report, according to Custodio et al. (2013)
  • Article Report: informs the public on any general interest topic like the magazines read on an everyday basis
  • Laboratory Report: communicates laboratory works to observation s to management and answers the question, "How did we do it?"
• Common parts of a laboratory report:
  • Abstract shows the outline of complete experiment
  • Introductions present goals and significance of the experiment from the objectives and importance of the experiment
  • Procedures/methods/steps demonstrate how the experiment is conducted step-by-step
  • Results and Discussions present discussions of results, figures, and tables
  • References include sources during the conduct of the experiment
  • Results are summarized in the conclusions
  • Appendices are composed of graphs, raw data, communication, graphs, figures, pictures, etc. that have not been in the overall report
• Information Report: main function is informs, includes annual and periodic reports
  • Periodic Report is a report by employees or subordinates submitted weekly, monthly, or daily to superiors to note comparisons and tendencies
  • Annual Reports are reports with projects, events, and activities over the whole year
  • There are three categories of Special Information Reports: preliminary, progress, and final report
  • Preliminary Reports gather all information about costs, designs, and other elements of a proposed project
  • Progress Reports record the history of an activity from the start date
  • Final Reports are given to document the plans that show how plans are delivered after completing a project
  • Research Reports generate data either in the laboratory or in the field
• Research reports contain the following information
  • Background as well as the purpose from the introduction
  • Essential inquiries and situations from the problem section
  • Research aims tells what the researcher intends to do including the objectives and scope
  • Related readings from different literature shown in the review of literature section
  • Supplies, facilities, and resources that are utilized in the materials, equipments, and facilities section
  • How report writer conducted the research in methods, procedures, and theory section
  • Results, figures, and charts in the results, findings, and data section
  • Conclusions based on the findings in the Discussions, Conclusions, and Recommendations Section
  • List of sources and references writer had in the bibliography section
• General format of research report
  • Transmittal Letter
  • Title Page
  • Table of Contents
  • List of Figures
  • List of Tables
  • Abstract
  • Introduction
  • Problem, Background
  • Purpose, Objectives, and Scope
  • Review of Literature
  • Materials, Equipment, and Facilities
  • Theory, Methods, and Procedures
  • Results, Findings, Data
  • Discussions, Conclusions, and Recommendations
  • Bibliography
• Field Report: helps develop practical observation and data collection skills and students theoretical concepts
• Analyze and record information of an issue to be constantly aware of meaning.
• Theoretical framework to understand the report's purpose and analyze observations (Glesne & Peshkin, 1992)
• Avoid providing a description without any analysis which is error to avoid
• Recommendation Report: answers the overall critical question for possible solutions & alternatives and allow one to make a better drafted decision.
• Recommendation reports contain the following:
  • Introduction
  • Technical Background
  • Make Comparisons
  • Critical Requirements
  • Conclusions
  • Recommendations
• Incidental Report: narrates prior, during, and after a sudden situation, however, is different from the narrative type of essay.
• Ideas are presented using clear words with appropriate language.
• Things to consider in an incident report:
  • Context
  • Details of the Incident
  • Feelings, thoughts, or concerns
  • Demands
  • Impact
• Accomplishment Report: presents the company/organization's activities & achievements and see if plans were carried
• Steps to write an accomplishment report:
  • Use the prescribed template;
  • Create charts & tasks with number, actions & activities, initiator, person responsible, target time, comments;
  • Add the risk factor & list of those who will be receiving the report
• Common Types of Reports
• Feasibility reports
• Inventory reports
• Staff utilization reports
• Travel reports
• Study reports justification reports

Minutes of Meeting

• Should be recorded with money and time saved in mind
• Defines next steps & informs people of happened during the meeting
• Written record of an agreement, tells when to achieve it, and jogs tasks for others
• Follow up if you're not caught up with the task
• Repeats the meeting if minutes are not written
• Essential / general parts
  • Heading - contains company address, number, contact, etc.
  • Title- includes day,date,location -Attendance-complete attendee list
  • Divided to 3 components -Present,regrets, absent -Sign by Corporate secretary and checked/monitored -Half + 1 = quorum -Call to order- time, person who set the meeting -Approval-revisions of previous meeting made
  • Business- reviewing old agendas for actions -New Business- new agenda meeting with new matters being carefully put -Adjournment/concludes- what time the meeting was ended
  • Signature- sign the meeting's minute