Generic Report Writing Guide Written by Leonie Taylor, 2008 Adapted by Jan Fermelis, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2016 A. Sections in a Report 1. TITLE PAGE
Your title or cover page needs to convey the main information about your assignment. It must look professional and include:
The Unit Code and Name: e.g. MMH356 Change Management The title of the assignment task (the main task with as much detail as is reasonable, but not an entire paragraph): e.g. Final Case Study Report: Change management issues, interventions, processes and strategies within (organization), including specific recommendations for the management of ongoing change Student name and Student ID number Name of the Unit Chair and of your tutor Trimester and year of submission Date of submission 2. TABLE OF CONTENTS
The Table of Contents (TOC) provides the outline of your report to the marker/reader. It is the first indication that you have addressed key issues and carefully planned you work. Your TOC should look well laid out as if it is the TOC in a book. Use numbering for major and minor headings where appropriate and include page numbers. You can use an extra page to detail illustrations or tables if it is appropriate. 3. LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
If you include any Illustrations, Figures, Tables or Exhibits in your report, these need to be numbered throughout, and a listing of these numbers and the titles provided in this section. 4. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The Executive Summary should give an overview of your report to a busy executive who does not have time to read it in full. It should:
convey the purpose of the report, give a summary of key themes, ideas or findings (sub-headings may be used), provide abridged recommendations.
The size of the Executive Summary is usually related to the size of the report. You should aim for an Executive Summary around 10% of the word count. Keep in mind that the words in the Executive Summary may not always be included as part of the final word count.
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5. BACKGROUND
This section provides background information about your organization which is important for your reader to know, but which does not fit easily into the body of the report. Some reports may not require a Background section. 6. INTRODUCTION What should be included?
You need to make the decision about what should be included in your introduction. Choose from the following, based on analysis of your assignment and the audience you are writing for. Most reports do not use subheadings in the Introduction, unless the report is an extremely long document. a. Problem, opportunity or purpose
Why are you writing the report? What question are you trying to answer? What position are you trying to substantiate? Your audience for this report are the directors of your company, so think about what information they would want to read. b. Scope
What is and isn’t going to be considered in your report. Does your report cover data from a number of different organizations? Does your report cover research from the last 12 months in the specific area of concern? What will and will not be addressed in your report?
Look at the outline of the sample assignment suggested. You might specify: • the number of businesses you have researched • the industry you are researching • the period of time you are researching • the location you have researched c. Background
What has lead to this report being written? What is the intention of the report? This could be to provide information, to analyse information and/or to make a proposal. Any of these could be in relation to a problem. It may be that the only reason for the report is the university assignment however it is good to set the scene for your reader. d. Sources and methods
On what are you basing your report? How have you collected your information? Have you conducted 1,000 questionnaires? Have you conducted interviews? Has there been a literature search? e. Definitions
Take the time to clarify any terms or concepts that are significant for your report or which might not be totally understood by your reader. f. Report Structure
In a long report it is helpful to the reader to be given an outline of how the report has been structured. This lets the reader know what sections you have included and the order of those sections.
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7. BODY OF THE REPORT
You can only include so much in any report. Refer to the details given on your assignment sheet and decide what topics and sub-topics are most important to include.
It is up to you to: o Identify key ideas/information o Work on developing a logical progression of ideas/information o Include academic materials into your report o Include your experience into a report where relevant and/or asked for The types of headings which might be included in the body of a report include: o Explanation/s of problem or opportunities (more detail than in the introduction) o Facts, statistical evidence and trends o Results of studies, questionnaires o Discussion or analysis for alternative courses of action o Advantages, disadvantages, costs of specific courses of action o Procedures or steps in a process o Methods or approaches to an investigation o Criteria for evaluation alternative or opinions o Supporting reasons for conclusions or recommendations (Bovee & Thill 2008) 8. CONCLUSIONS
The Conclusion is your evaluation or summary of the major points and key findings in discussed in the Body of the report.
The Conclusion should always be concise and must not contain any new information. It should not require a substantial number of words to draw information together and summarise what you have found.
9 RECOMMENDATIONS
Your recommendations are the culmination of all your work and should deliver a well-rounded and thoughtful ending to your research. The material in the body of your report provides the basis for your considerations. The conclusion provides a summary of your deliberation over your findings. The recommendations provide the reader with your considered opinions of what would be the best decision(s) to make, or course(s) of action to follow, based on your research and critical analysis.
Your conclusions then flow on to your recommendations. Start with a brief persuasive statement and follow with a list clear recommendations using numbered or bullet points. Each main issue analysed in the body needs at least one recommendation (Grellier & Goerke 2012, p. 182).
Make sure you allow enough time to write this final part of your report and proof read it carefully before submission.
10. APPENDIXES
Some reports contain Appendixes. An Appendix contains information directly relevant to and mentioned in the report, but which is too lengthy to include within the body. If you wish to include more than one document here, you must label each Appendix with a number or letter and a short descriptive title. Appendixes must be listed in the Table of Contents
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11. REFERENCES
This must contain full details all sources referred to or cited in the report, using the Deakin authordate (Harvard) style.
B. Sections in a Report 1. REPORT OUTLINE OR NUMBERING SYSTEMS
Alphanumeric Outline
I. First major point A. First subpoint B. Second subpoint 1. Evidence 2. Evidence a. Detail b. Detail 3. Evidence C. Third subpoint II. Second major point A. First subpoint 1. Evidence 2. Evidence B. Second subpoint
Decimal Outline
1.0 First major point 1.1 First subpoint 1.2 Second subpoint 1.2.1 Evidence 1.2.2 Evidence 1.2.2.1 Details 1.2.2.2 Details 1.2.3 Evidence 1.3 Third subpoint 2.0 Second major point 2.1 First subpoint 2.1.1 Evidence 2.1.2 Evidence 2.1 First subpoint
These are the two most common outline forms, but other forms do exist (e.g. MSWord has several in ‘Multilevel List Styles’), and many companies have their own traditions or styles. Use the form most commonly used within your discipline
2. PAGINATION
Every page in a report is counted; however not all pages show numbers and two different types of pagination must be used.
Small Roman numerals are used in the first part or prefatory sections of the report (Title page, Table of Contents, Executive Summary). The first page of the report, normally the title page, counts as page i but the number is normally not printed on that page. All pages in the prefatory sections are numbered beginning with ii (on the page after the title page), then following with iii, iv etc.
Arabic numerals are used for pages within the text of the report (Background, Introduction, Body, Conclusion, Recommendations, Appendixes, References,). Page 1 is the first page of the Background, followed by 2 for the Introduction, then 3 etc.
References used and cited in this guide: Bovee, Courtland L. & Thill, John, V 2008, Business Communication Today 9e, Pearson Education International, Upper Saddle River, New Jersey.
Grellier, J & Goerkr, V 2012, ‘Report Writing’ in MMH299 Team 2012, MMH299 Business Communication, Cengage Learning, South Melbourne.
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