6 Tips to Writing Excellent Business Reports

Few people find that writing business reports is the most rewarding part of their professional lives. However, such reports are of ever-increasing importance. They can help solve problems, improve decision-making processes, and even lead to new strategies for the entire company. In other words, reports matter, and it is a good career move to learn the skills you need to write them well.

There are many different types of reports: a technical research paper, a chairman’s speech, a market analysis, a marketing debrief, a staff appraisal or a simple team memo. Such reports have different formats, depending on their audiences and objectives. In this article, we look at some important report-writing principles to help you write reports more efficiently (to save time) and more effectively (to produce better results).

Before reading this article, think about the following questions. Then compare your ideas with those in the text.

1. Who are your readers?
2. What is the best format?
3. What is the best structure?
4. What style should you use?
5. How should you give recommendations?
6. How can you improve your report writing?

1. Who are your readers?

Whatever sort of report you are writing, you will have an objective: to explain, to analyse, to justify, to recommend or simply to inform. To help you reach this objective, ask yourself two questions about your readers: “Who?” and “What?”.

Who? You should adapt the style and format of the report to your readers. Are they internal to your company or external? What is their position in the company hierarchy? What are their expectations regarding content and format?

What? You should modify the content according to the readers’ existing knowledge of the subject — for example, by providing background information if necessary — and according to the information they want or need to have.

Also, remember that people read reports in different ways and for different reasons. Some read quickly in order to get only the key information. Such people are often interested primarily in how any conclusions or recommendations may affect them. For this type of reader, you need to highlight key information through formatting and organization.

Analytical reader, on the other hand, will read in far greater detail. These people require data and more data, as well as clearly presented arguments to substantiate conclusions or recommendations. Try to meet the needs of both types of readers.

2. What is the best format?

The format and design of reports can range from the heavily structured style of research papers to the informal style of the internal memo.

Many companies have an in-house style, so follow an authorized company model in your choice of font, indent, heading, sub-heading, bullets, etc. However, remember that the purpose of formatting is to make a report more readable.

Formatting tips

1. Headings should describe content clearly. However, they should not be the content: you could understand this report without the headings.
2. Headings/bullets should be consistent. For example, all the bullet points are followed by verbs in the “-ing” form.

3. What is the best structure?

The information in reports can be structured and sequenced according to importance, chronology or business concept. Choose the structure that will be most transparent for the reader. Most internal reports use some form of the basic structure shown below:

1. Objective;
2. Background information;
3. Issues in detail;
4. Options, with advantages/disadvantages;
5. Recommendations/solutions/conclusions.

4. What style should you use?

As is true for many other forms of writing, the key to writing good reports is to be concise, to avoid jargon as far as possible and to use good grammar and punctuation. In reports, information should be presented in an objective manner, with relevant supporting data. Here are three tips to help you be objective:

Tip 1: Report facts, not opinions. If your IT manager says that your controller is incompetent because “he has no idea of IT”, report that “a breakdown of communication has occurred between IT and controlling”, or find out further details before reporting. Don’t report your IT manager’s opinion.

Tip 2: Be balanced. Acknowledge alternative points of view by using contrastive linking language such as “however”, “despite this”, “although”, “on the other hand” and “alternatively”. Use open-ended constructions such as “This may create …” or “This could indicate …”.

Tip 3: Stay impersonal. This means avoiding as far as possible words that are overly emotional, such as “terrible”, “extraordinary” and “fantastic”. Also, use the passive verb form to distance yourself from the suggestions.

Does culture matter?

Culture can influence business reports in various ways. At a very general level, systematic business cultures, such as that of Germany, may value reporting more highly than other cultures do. At a more specific level, style may be partly culture-specific. Interestingly, much of the literature on writing is heavily dominated by American values: “get to the point”, “use plain English”, “KISS: Keep It Short and Simple”. However, to people from business cultures such as France, where a more sophisticated style has a higher value, KISS may well be interpreted as “Keep It Short and Stupid”.

5. How should you give recommendations?

Many readers will see the recommendations at the end of your report as its most critical part. As a writer, you can make the suggested plan of action more convincing through two key aspects: structure and tone. Here is a model structure:

Structuring report recommendations

1. Introduce recommendations;
2. List recommendations;
3. State the schedule for implementation;
4. Review the time between now and implementation.

The tone of recommendations

When making recommendations, you have to decide whether to make strong, neutral or tentative statements. Remember that the strongest language should not be overused, and that even tentative recommendations should be supported by data and sufficient analysis.

6. How can you improve your report writing?

Here are some tips to help you improve your reports:

• Start reading a range of reports and make a list of useful aspects of style, format and languages;
• Ask one of your colleagues to look at your writing and give feedback;
• Build report writing into any language or communication training you do.

Do I really have to edit my reports?

Yes, you do! Make sure you have enough time to redraft all your writing: e-mails, letters and reports. You will soon realize the benefits: a clearer message, fewer language mistakes and a more objective tone. We nearly always tone down opinion and anger when we redraft. When redrafting, use the following checklist of points to look for:

Transparency: Is it clear, well-formatted, concisely written?

Logic: Is it structured effectively? Do points appear in the proper order?

Style: Have I used

• balanced and impersonal language?
• a variety of words and phrases?
• headings/bullets that are consistent?
• facts rather than opinions?

Impact: Are recommendations supported by data and sufficient analysis?