REPORT WRITING

Definition

 Reports are a standard part of business writing and are situationally defined, ie what is
included in a report, the type of report written and the organization of a report is
determined by the situation that gives rise to the report. Despite their variety, however,
all reports have one thing in common, they are a description of a task, project or
research activity either at its completion or at some midpoint to recount and to
summarise one’s actions.
 Lesikar and Flatley (2003:273) say “a business report is an orderly and objective
communication of factual information that serves a business purpose.”
 Little (1997) says a report is a document providing an account of something witnessed
or examined or work carried out or an investigation together with conclusions.
 Business reports assess a situation, analyse and suggest ways of improving.
 Reports are a highly structured form of writing often following conventions that have
been laid to produce a common format.
 They vary in their purpose yet all of them will require a formal structure and careful
planning, presenting of material in a logical manner using clear and concise language.
They can be short or long, formal or informal.

PURPOSES OF REPORTS IN ORGANIZATIONS

 Reports are written in order to:

a. reflect, develop or introduce new systems
b. to recommend a course of action
c. for decision making
d. for accounting purposes
e. to assess performance
f. to participate in business endeavors
g. to inform
h. to ascertain why things happen as they do
Classification- reports can be classified by

a. content ie subject matter and circumstances that prompt the report

b. medium of presentation ie is it an oral or written report
c. frequency of production ie is it weekly, monthly, quarterly, bi- annually or yearly.
d. Length – (how long)
e. Form (research)-all reports are research reports as an investigation has to be carried out
first whatever the situation.

TYPES OF REPORTS

1. The General report

- Circumstances which give rise to a general report are usually general everyday
occurrences or situations.
- They have no strict planning for them to happen.
- In the operations of organizations there are circumstances or situations pertinent to the
operations of the organization that may happen, as such the organization will require
information on such happenings.
- A General report is written after an event-information is gathered on what transpired and
a report is then written, Recommendations in a General report depend on circumstances.
- A general report contains the following elements or sub-headings:
a. The front matter which consists of the letter or memo of transmittal, title page or cover
sheet, table of contents and the executive summary as well as acknowledgements.
b. Introduction
c. Methods or methodology
d. Facts and discussions including visuals
e. Conclusions
f. Recommendations
g. Appendix and References (if references to other documents independent of the report
were made)
 2. The Progress report
- This looks at a project either in the middle of the project or at any other relevant stage
in order to inform or provide the foundation for decisions
- It forces one to produce or establish a work schedule to work with or allow
evaluation, it is, therefore, time bound.
- Progress reports are used in education to check learner progress and by funders of
projects to assess how a grant was used or to evaluate the progress of a project.
- A Progress report is written either at the beginning of a project or in the middle or just
before its completion, tracing the progress of a project both positive and negative,
highlighting challenges at each stage and how they were overcome etc.
- The recommendations in a progress report are intervention measures to keep progress
on track, they are corrective.
- A progress report contains the following elements or sub-headings:
a. The Frontmatter which is made up of the letter or memo of transmittal, title page or cover
sheet, table of contents and the executive summary as well as acknowledgements.
b. Introduction
c. Methods or methodology
d. Facts and discussions which are divided into past work, present stage and future work as
well as visuals
e. Conclusions
f. Recommendations
g.Appendix and References (if references to other documents independent of the report
were made).

INFORMATION CONTAINED IN EACH OF THE ELEMENTS

1. The letter or memo of transmittal

 - A report cannot contain both of these but a report that is to be sent outside a particular
organization will be accompanied by a letter of transmittal whereas a report that is to be
distributed within the same company or organization will be accompanied by a memo of
transmittal.
- The memo or letter of transmittal identifies the report and explains the key points in
brief.
- The memo or letter can also describe the situation that gave rise to the report.
- One of the characteristics of reports is repetition, as such the same information may be
found in the letter or memo of transmittal as well as in other sections of the report such
as the Executive summary, the introduction, the facts and discussions as well as the
conclusion section of the report. Such that if one reads one section of the report, they
will understand what it is about.
- In addition, the different sections of a report need to stand alone so the memo or the
letter will be on its own page which is the first page of the report, numbered in Roman
numerals.

2. Title page or coversheet

- It is the second page of the report, numbered in roman numerals.
- It bears the title of the report, author name(s) and designations, name of organization
or person for whom the report has been written, the date etc.
- The title should be brief, straight forward and factual usually capturing the exact issue
it is addressing, eg Report on Mtikizizi Dam Construction.

3. Table of contents
- A report should be written making use of headings and sub-headings so this section
lists the different sections of the entire report
- It shows which information is on which page
It serves to guide readers and direct them to the exact area where specific
information is located within the document
 - It is compiled last even though it is page 3 of the report so leave page 3 blank and
fill it in after completing the report when you know what information is on each
page.

4. Executive summary
- This is a brief summary of the entire report
- An Executive summary is made up of quite a number of paragraphs
- It is a summary of the report and serves the purpose of informing the reader on key
factual information contained in the report.
- It includes a short statement of the main task, methods used in collecting data and
why those were used, conclusions reached and any major recommendations.
- It is usually written last after the conclusions and recommendations, just before the
contents page even though it is on page 4 of the report. So leave page 4 blank and fill
it in after the other sections of the report.

Acknowledgements

- This section after the Executive Summary is reserved for acknowledging (thanking)
all the people and organizations that helped in the investigations and all data
gathering that enabled the production of the report. Simply mention the people/
organizations without a run-down of what they did. This shows gratitude/
appreciation of the help one got for the report.

NB: The 5 items described above form what is referred to as the Front matter of all
reports and each one of them should be on its own page, numbered in Roman numerals.

THE REPORT MAIN BODY (the pages of these sections are to be numbered in
Arabic numerals)

5. Introduction
- This is just a paragraph giving background information or highlighting conditions
which gave rise to the report
- One might want to state the objectives of the report
 - It may also explain why the report is needed including the terms of reference (what
the report is all about), aims, definition of key terms etc.

6. Methods or Methodology
- In any investigation there are methods which are used to gather data/ ways of acquiring
information for the report.
- These should be listed without giving any further explanation as the explanation will
have been given in the Executive summary.
- Methods usually enable the reader to determine the reliability of one’s facts and
conclusions.
- They show reliability and validity of the data gathering techniques.
- These include questionnaires, interviews, visual observations, archival research, eye-
witness accounts, CCTV footages etc- to be listed in bullet form.
7. Facts, discussions and visuals
- This section makes up the main body of the report
- Facts are the actual findings organized logically into sections or subsections. They are
the evidence of research
- The discussion is the interpretation of the facts or findings from an author’s point of
view.
- At this point one seeks to explain why the situation was the way it was found
- Some of the facts are presented in word or text form and some in the form of visuals
- Visuals are diagrams or graphics such as pie charts, line graphs, bar graphs, maps,
pictures, histograms, gannt charts etc.
- These diagrams will show the part of the report which cannot be written in word or text
form.
- The visuals should be labeled (titled) and should have a key explaining what is what in
the visual.

Conclusions

- These arise naturally from evidence presented in the previous sections

- They are the convictions which one gets after interpretation of data one gathers
 - This could also be viewed as one’s own opinion based on the discussion and all
statements must be substantiated by the given data.
- Conclusions here must not be understood in the same way as the conclusion in an essay
where a restating of a major point is done.
- Conclusions here are one’s convictions or understanding/ opinions after an experience
with the data.
- They should link with findings and should flow naturally from evidence and arguments.

Recommendations

- This is a brief statement or a set of what should be done or should not be done next.
- It directs the reader on what course of action to take next.
- Be specific and present them in bullet form.

Appendix

- If the writer made use of certain information which is normally not found in standard
reports such should come under the appendix
- That information is referred to as peripheral matter which should be properly numbered
and attached at the end of the report.

NB: If the report made use of secondary sources (if some information was borrowed from other
sources) then a reference list should be compiled at the end.

Structure of a Memo
MEMORANDUM( For a Report that is to be circulated within a particular
organization/company)

To: the CEO (Mtilizisi Enterprises)

From: The Projects Manager (Mtikizizi Enterprises)

Date: 10 October 2016

Subject: Report on Mtikizizi dam construction

Body: Write what the report is all about. What has necessited the report ( e.g this should be abt
½ to ¾ to a fall page . Not more

Skip one line

Sign off e.g

Dobbie Maushe ( Projects Manager Mtikizizi)

Structure of a Letter of Transmittal

Letter of Transmittal (For a Report being sent outside one’s organization or company)

Sender’s Address
P.Bag 707
Mtikizizi
10 October 2016

Recipients title and address e.g

The manager
Kitsiyatota Enterprises
P.Bag 9020
Kitsiyatota

Use of Visuals in Reports

Visual communication is the conveyance of ideas and information in forms that can be seen.
Visual communication in part or whole relies on eyesight. Visual communication is a broad
spectrum that includes signs, typography, drawing, graphic design, illustration, industrial design,
advertising, animation, color, and electronic resources. These days it is unimaginable that a
technical report or article can be written without some form of graphic display to support the
text. With the advent of the digital age incorporating images in a written report is as easy as
clicking the mouse a few times. Visuals are used to illustrate what words would say; and as we
all know, "A picture is worth a thousand words" when the picture is relevant and well developed.

According to Boyle (2009), visuals can be used to represent real things such as photographs,
drawings and diagrams. They can also represent numbers in the form of tables, bar charts, pie
charts, and line graphs. Visuals can also represent instructions for example, when giving
complex instructions or explaining a process one can consider using a flowchart. It simplifies the
process and the understanding of the instructions. Visuals can also be used to represent
descriptions. When giving descriptions you would also want to use pictures or drawings. Simple
drawings (often called line drawings because they use just lines, without other details such as
shading) are the most common. They simplify the situation and the objects so that the reader can
focus on the key details (Wirth 2007).

Presentation of data can be done through charts. Common types of charts include title charts,
overview charts, bullet charts and flow charts.

Title charts

These are used to state the topic and its importance to the audience as below:

Figure 1: Showing a lecturer’s intention to teach students on Visual Communication

What Is Visual

Communication

Overview charts
Overview charts are used to preview the contents of one’s presentation as shown below.

Figure 2: Showing the subject overview normally given at the beginning of a presentation

OVERVIEW

1. Definition

2. Different Types of Visuals

3. Diagrammatic Representations

Bullet Charts

Bullet charts are used to show lists of ideas to be covered in a presentation in bullet form as
shown below in Figure 3 where an instructor is lecturing on oral communication skills.

Fig 3

The Physical Message

 Posture

 Eye Contact Gestures

 Voice inflection

Flow charts.

Flow charts are used to describe steps of an event or process as shown below:
Figure 4: showing the step by step process of registering on line with the Midlands State
University

Figure 4
Log onto the MSU
website
www.msu.ac.zw

Select on line
registration

Enter your full details

on spaces provided

Access your e-
learning account

GRAPHS

Any good analyst knows the importance of effectively communicating results. Graphs are a good
way to communicate results effectively.

Bar Graph

Bars (or columns) are the best types of graphs for presenting a single data series. Bar charts have
a much heavier weight to them so they really emphasize a point and stand out on the page. A bar
graph shows the differences between categories or trends over time using the length or height of
its bars. Bar Graphs can be either horizontal or vertical and can be stacked differently to show
different aspects and trends.

Vertical bar graph

The vertical bar graph below shows how children in a classroom setup will remember varying
percentages of what they hear in class depending on what mode of presentation the teacher uses.

Figure 5

Key: Y axis shows percentage of information remembered and the X axis shows method used in
delivering information
Figure 6: Horizontal bar graph showing recruitment levels for a private owned company
Servcor P/L from January – April 2018

Horizontal Graph

SERVCOR P/L 2018 Recruitment Levels

April

March

February

January

0 1 2 3 4 5 6

General Staff Senior Managers Line Managers

Key:

Y-axis shows the months in which recruitment was done

X-axis shows the different categories of employees recruited.

Stacked Bar Chart or Relative Value Chart

A stacked bar chart allows you represent more complex relationships between data sets. A
stacked bar will let you place one or more sub-categories inside a bar while still showing the
total. The below chart shows the number of undergraduate students enrolled over a number of
years by an university (MSU)

MSU UNDERGRADUATE ENROLMENT

Figure 7

Key: The Y-axis shows the number of students enrolled throughout the different campuses
On the X-axis the red(lower part of bar) is the ladies while the blue(top part) is the males
enrolled per year.

Clustered Bar Chart

Clustered or grouped bar charts are similar to stacked bar graphs in that they let you show
subcategories in addition to regular categories on your chart. When the bars you want to group
are only loosely related, you will definitely want to use a clustered representation. Clustered bar
graphs are also useful when you have more than 3 subcategories that are part of a whole.
Figure 8

Key: X-axis

1st bar represents the production levels

2nd bar represents the export levels

3rd bar represents the total consumption levels

Y-axis is the number of pieces in billions.

Histogram

A histogram is similar in appearance to a bar chart, but instead of comparing categories or

looking for trends over time, each bar represents how data is distributed in a single category.
Each bar represents a continuous range of data or the number of frequencies for a specific data
point. The histogram example below shows the distribution of test scores in a class. We can see
at a glance that the distribution follows a traditional bell curve.

Figure 9

Line Graph

A line chart (also known as a line graph) plots a series of data points on a graph and connects
them with lines. A line chart is particularly useful when showing trend lines with subtle
differences, as shown in the example below.
Figure 10

Stephens Supermarkets Sales for the first quarter 2018

14

12

10

8
Fruits
Meat Products
6 Dry Groceries

0
January February March April

Key:

Y-axis shows quantities in 000s kgs sold

X- axis shows the month in which sales were made

Pie Chart

A pie chart is a graphic that shows the breakdown of items in a set as percentages by presenting
them as slices of a pie. The key to a pie chart is that all of the slices must equal 100% as shown
in the illustration below showing the consumption percentages of renewable energy in Australia.
Figure 11

Area Charts
An area chart functions similarly to a line chart, but with the areas below the lines filled in. This
can make the trends easier to see than in a traditional line chart. It works well for showing an
increasing trend line over time, such as in the example below, where each succeeding time
period reflects a higher price in each corresponding month.

Figure 12

Visuals can be used when one is using too many words to explain something. They are also used
as a representation of trends or a lot of numerical data. You can also use them when you are
doing a comparison over many categories. When you use visuals in a report you must include
titles. The titles of all the illustrations should be numbered. For example, Figure 1, Figure 2,
Table 1, Table 2 and so on. Labels are also important where illustrations that describe something
should contain labels. Keys should be included for illustrations like bar or pie charts which have
certain shadings, colors, or line styles, that have a special meaning. Illustrations should be placed
just after the point where they have been discussed and should normally be between a quarter to
half of a vertical size of the page. It is important that they fit with the text that discusses/
describes them and their main findings. Visuals should be as simple as possible as the course is
on report writing not on computer visuals or an arts course. Visuals are an excellent way to
highlight a message in workplace communications. Many companies depend upon visuals, such
as bar and line charts, photos, and multimedia presentations, in order to help create a memorable,
informative message.

Chivers and Shoolbred (2007), state that, when individuals need to show a pattern or relationship
of data, it is best to use visual graphics, such as bar, pie and line charts. These charts help
illustrate specific relationships and communicate a pattern as part of a message. Common visuals
used in report writing and presentations include tables. These are rows and columns of numbers
and, sometimes, words which allow rapid access to information and comparison of information.
A table can be as simple as one row and one column of data. It can also be very complex. At the
top of each column is a column heading which defines or identifies the contents of that column
(and usually it indicates the unit of measurement, for example, percentage or kilograms). On the
left edge of the table there are usually row headings. These define or identify the contents of
those rows. A table can be in the format below.

Figure 13

HCS 101 STUDENTS MARKS

EVANS 95

JOSHUA 90

FINANCE 10

GRACE 55
 TAONA 50

GANTT CHARTS

A Gantt chart is a type of bar chart that illustrates a project schedule. This chart lists the tasks to
be performed on the vertical axis, and time intervals on the horizontal axis. The width of the
horizontal bars in the graph shows the duration of each activity. Gantt charts illustrate the start
and finish dates of the different elements of a project. Modern Gantt charts also show the
dependency (i.e., precedence network) relationships between activities. Gantt charts can be used
to show current schedule status using percent-complete shadings and will also show the current
position of the project.

Progress Gantt charts (Research on what a Gannt chart looks like)

In a progress Gantt chart, tasks are shaded in proportion to the degree of their completion. In
other words, a task that is 60% complete would be 60% shaded, starting from the left. A vertical
line is drawn at the time index when the progress Gantt chart is created, and this line can then be
compared with shaded tasks. If everything is on schedule, all task portions left of the line will be
shaded, and all task portions right of the line will not be shaded. This provides a visual
representation of how the project and its tasks are ahead or behind schedule.

In conclusion, visual communication is similar to how verbal or written language works.

However, visual language might not be as reliable or consistent as written language which has a
more formalized set of conventions and rules. It , undoubtedly confirms the meaning of written
text in memorable ways. People will remember more of what they saw visually than just what
they heard or read about.