Business Writing Tips Newsletter. Issue 19: May, 2009

Greetings!

This month's issue looks at report writing, which is particularly important for executives. A "Frankenstein Report" is frighteningly common: it's composed of disjointed parts that don't work when grafted together. Here are tips to avoid this.

With warm regards,
 
Mary Cullen
President

PS Clients are welcome to email us any questions about this issue.
Mary Cullen Photo

Business Reports: A Unified Whole, Not Disjointed Frankenstein-Like Parts

I met last week with a technology company having problems with their project business reports. The company vice president complained business reports were often "confusing and choppy." When he showed me some typical status reports, I instantly recognized one common problem.

Each report required input from several employees, often in different business units and work teams, so each wrote the section of the business report requiring his or her expertise. No one edited the business report for consistency in style and voice, or verified audience targeting and complete content.

This resulted in a Frankenstein-like report composed of strong and clear individual components, which when meshed together, did not create a cohesive whole. A reader would be more likely repulsed by the report, instead of easily engaging with it.

Business Reports - Cohesive, Not Patched

HOW TO PREVENT THE FRANKENSTEIN REPORT

It is most productive for the person who is most knowledgeable about a project component to write that report segment, or else provide the data and content to the report writer. Most important: each person who contributes to this business report needs to understand who will be reading the report, and shape the content for those readers.

Once the report is fully compiled, one person needs to edit it in its entirety. When you choose the report writing editor from your project team, consider these qualifications:

  • In most organizations, information flows downward fairly well. It's upward information that needs nudging. So, choose as your report writing editor the person on your project team who is a strong writer and who best understands executive needs, particularly since business reports typically move laterally and upward.
Your chosen editor should:

  1. Define the audience clearly. Make sure the business report is shaped for this reader, or multiple readers.
  2. Verify the content in the business report matches your clearly envisioned readers' needs. Verify that the all content is included. Content inclusion should be based on what your reader needs to know, not what the project team did or knows.
  3. Edit next for organization and sequence. Make certain information is grouped by concepts, and that information is well organized.
  4. Last, check for style and format.
    • In one Frankenstein-like status report we examined last week, the executive summary was written in narrative form in Microsoft Word, grafted on top of the body of the report shaped in PowerPoint. Scary! The full report needs to follow the same format.
    • Correct all syntax and grammar errors and eliminate wordiness and jargon.
    • Format the business report so it is most easily absorbed by your reader, tiering the information from most to least importance for your reader.
Ensuring a unified voice, style and format will prevent Frankenstein reports, and ensure they correctly and clearly communicate business-critical projects and opportunities to executives.

Grammar Error: Hunt and Correct

This paragraph contains an error. Find and correct it.
 
David Ambers, Technology Director, is upset reports are not communicating value to executives. Error free writing is critical, if we want executives to understand the value of our initiatives. Additionally, reports need to be jargon-free.
 
The answer is here.

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Business Reports: A Unified Whole, Not Disjointed Frankenstein-Like Parts
Error: Hunt and Correct

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