Report writing in business communication

BUSINESS COMMUNICATION
Unit – 5
Report writing
What is a Report?
In academia there is some overlap between reports and essays, and the two words are
sometimes used interchangeably, but reports are more likely to be needed for business,
scientific and technical subjects, and in the workplace.
Whereas an essay presents arguments and reasoning, a report concentrates on facts.
Essentially, a report is a short, sharp, concise document which is written for a particular
purpose and audience. It generally sets outs and analyses a situation or problem, often making
recommendations for future action. It is a factual paper, and needs to be clear and well-
structured.
Requirements for the precise form and content of a report will vary between organisation and
departments and in study between courses, from tutor to tutor, as well as between subjects, so
it’s worth finding out if there are any specific guidelines before you start.
Reports may contain some or all of the following elements:
 A description of a sequence of events or a situation;
 Some interpretation of the significance of these events or situation, whether solely
your own analysis or informed by the views of others, always carefully referenced of
course (see our page on Academic Referencing for more information);
 An evaluation of the facts or the results of your research;
 Discussion of the likely outcomes of future courses of action;
 Your recommendations as to a course of action; and
 Conclusions.
JYYOTHEES MV asst. professor source: Google
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Not all of these elements will be essential in every report.
If you’re writing a report in the workplace, check whether there are any standard guidelines
or structure that you need to use.
For example, in the UK many government departments have outline structures for reports to
ministers that must be followed exactly.
Sections and Numbering
A report is designed to lead people through the information in a structured way, but also to
enable them to find the information that they want quickly and easy. Reports usually,
therefore, have numbered sections and subsections, and a clear and full contents page listing
each heading. It follows that page numbering is important.
Modern word processors have features to add tables of contents (ToC) and page numbers as
well as styled headings; you should take advantage of these as they update automatically as
you edit your report, moving, adding or deleting sections.
Report Writing
Getting Started: prior preparation and planning
The structure of a report is very important to lead the reader through your thinking to a course
of action and/or decision. It’s worth taking a bit of time to plan it out beforehand.
Step 1: Know your brief
You will usually receive a clear brief for a report, including what you are studying and for
whom the report should be prepared.
First of all, consider your brief very carefully and make sure that you are clear who the report
is for (if you're a student then not just your tutor, but who it is supposed to be written for),
and why you are writing it, as well as what you want the reader to do at the end of reading:
make a decision or agree a recommendation, perhaps.

Step 2: Keep your brief in mind at all times
During your planning and writing, make sure that you keep your brief in mind: who are you
writing for, and why are you writing?
All your thinking needs to be focused on that, which may require you to be ruthless in your
reading and thinking. Anything irrelevant should be discarded.
As you read and research, try to organise your work into sections by theme, a bit like writing
a Literature Review.
Make sure that you keep track of your references, especially for academic work. Although
referencing is perhaps less important in the workplace, it’s also important that you can
substantiate any assertions that you make so it’s helpful to keep track of your sources of
information.
The Structure of a Report
Like the precise content, requirements for structure vary, so do check what’s set out in any
guidance.
However, as a rough guide, you should plan to include at the very least an executive
summary, introduction, the main body of your report, and a section containing your
conclusions and any recommendations.
Executive Summary
The executive summary or abstract, for a scientific report, is a brief summary of the
contents. It’s worth writing this last, when you know the key points to draw out. It should be
no more than half a page to a page in length.
Remember the executive summary is designed to give busy 'executives' a quick summary of
the contents of the report.
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Introduction
The introduction sets out what you plan to say and provides a brief summary of the problem
under discussion. It should also touch briefly on your conclusions.
Report Main Body
The main body of the report should be carefully structured in a way that leads the reader
through the issue.
You should split it into sections using numbered sub-headings relating to themes or areas for
consideration. For each theme, you should aim to set out clearly and concisely the main issue
under discussion and any areas of difficulty or disagreement. It may also include
experimental results. All the information that you present should be related back to the brief
and the precise subject under discussion.
If it’s not relevant, leave it out.
Conclusions and Recommendations
The conclusion sets out what inferences you draw from the information, including any
experimental results. It may include recommendations, or these may be included in a separate
section.
Recommendations suggest how you think the situation could be improved, and should be
specific, achievable and measurable. If your recommendations have financial implications,
you should set these out clearly, with estimated costs if possible
A Word on Writing Style
When writing a report, your aim should be to be absolutely clear. Above all, it should be easy
to read and understand, even to someone with little knowledge of the subject area.
You should therefore aim for crisp, precise text, using plain English, and shorter words rather
than longer, with short sentences.

You should also avoid jargon. If you have to use specialist language, you should explain each
word as you use it. If you find that you’ve had to explain more than about five words, you’re
probably using too much jargon, and need to replace some of it with simpler words.
Consider your audience. If the report is designed to be written for a particular person, check
whether you should be writing it to ‘you’ or perhaps in the third person to a job role: ‘The
Chief Executive may like to consider…’, or ‘The minister is recommended to agree…’, for
example.
A Final Warning
As with any academic assignment or formal piece of writing, your work will benefit from
being read over again and edited ruthlessly for sense and style.
Pay particular attention to whether all the information that you have included is relevant.
Also remember to check tenses, which person you have written in, grammar and spelling. It’s
also worth one last check against any requirements on structure.
For an academic assignment, make sure that you have referenced fully and correctly. As
always, check that you have not inadvertently or deliberately plagiarised or copied anything
without acknowledging it.
Finally, ask yourself:
“Does my report fulfil its purpose?”
Only if the answer is a resounding ‘yes’ should you send it off to its intended recipient.
Types of Business Letters
The term “business letters” refers to any written communication that begins with a salutation,
ends with a signature and whose contents are professional in nature. Historically, business
letters were sent via postal mail or courier, although the internet is rapidly changing the way
businesses communicate. There are many standard types of business letters, and each of them
has a specific focus.
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Sales Letters
Typical sales letters start off with a very strong statement to capture the interest of the reader.
Since the purpose is to get the reader to do something, these letters include strong calls to
action, detail the benefit to the reader of taking the action and include information to help the
reader to act, such as including a telephone number or website link.
Order Letters
Order letters are sent by consumers or businesses to a manufacturer, retailer or wholesaler to
order goods or services. These letters must contain specific information such as model
number, name of the product, the quantity desired and expected price. Payment is sometimes
included with the letter.
Complaint Letters
The words and tone you choose to use in a letter complaining to a business may be the
deciding factor on whether your complaint is satisfied. Be direct but tactful and always use a
professional tone if you want the company to listen to you.
Adjustment Letters
An adjustment letter is normally sent in response to a claim or complaint. If the adjustment is
in the customer’s favor, begin the letter with that news. If not, keep your tone factual and let
the customer know that you understand the complaint.
Inquiry Letters
Inquiry letters ask a question or elicit information from the recipient. When composing this
type of letter, keep it clear and succinct and list exactly what information you need. Be sure
to include your contact information so that it is easy for the reader to respond.
Follow-Up Letters
Follow-up letters are usually sent after some type of initial communication. This could be a
sales department thanking a customer for an order, a businessman reviewing the outcome of a
meeting or a job seeker inquiring about the status of his application. In many cases, these
letters are a combination thank-you note and sales letter.

Letters of Recommendation
Prospective employers often ask job applicants for letters of recommendation before they hire
them. This type of letter is usually from a previous employer or professor, and it describes the
sender’s relationship with and opinion of the job seeker.
Acknowledgment Letters
Acknowledgment letters act as simple receipts. Businesses send them to let others know that
they have received a prior communication, but action may or may not have taken place.
Cover Letters
Cover letters usually accompany a package, report or other merchandise. They are used to
describe what is enclosed, why it is being sent and what the recipient should do with it, if
there is any action that needs to be taken. These types of letters are generally very short and
succinct.
Letters of Resignation
When an employee plans to leave his job, a letter of resignation is usually sent to his
immediate manager giving him notice and letting him know when the last day of empl
As far as formatting of a letter goes, given below is the standard format of any business
letter:
 Letterhead: Most companies have a specific letterhead that you will need to
type letters on. This may make it necessary to adjust the margins so that words are
not printed onto the letterhead area.
 Name and address: Always try to have the name of someone that the letter
should go to, even if you have to call to find it out.
 Date: This is the date that the letter was written. It should be written out, such
as January 15, 2018.
 Reference: This gives a short description of what the purpose of the letter is.
For example, one might write "lost invoice" or "account number 23654" or
something like that.
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 Salutation: If you do not know the person, use a more formal one, such as Dr.
Brian Lowden.
 Subject matter/body: Single-space and left justify for modified block and
block style letters. Have one blank line between paragraphs. The first paragraph
should have a friendly opening and state the purpose of the letter. The subsequent
paragraphs should support the purpose you stated in the first paragraph.
 Closing: This should be "thank you," "sincerely," or something similar.
 Signature: This is the actual signature of the person the letter is from, which
may be different from the person who wrote the letter.
 Typist initials: These are the initials of the person who typed the letter. These
are not the initials of the person who it is from. If they are both the same person.
then this line is not necessary. Usually the first initials would be that of the writer,
and the second initials are of the typist and are in lowercase. For example: JW/sc.
 Enclosures: List here anything else you may be sending, such as a brochure,
samples, etc.
Each of these areas has a proper place, depending on which type of letter you are creating.
What goes in each area also may vary, depending on whom the letter is being sent to and who
is writing it. There are three main styles of business letter: block, modified block, and semi-
block styles. Each is written in much the same way, including the same information, but the
layout varies slightly for each one
Sample Modified Block Style Letter
Sender's name
Sender's address
(1 space)
Today's date
(drop down four lines)
Recipient's business name
Attention: person it's going to
Recipient's address
(drop down two lines)

Dear Name:
In this type of modified block letter, all the paragraphs line up at the left margin. You
do not need to indent at all. The margins should be set to 1-1.5" all the way around the page. If
you are using company letterhead, you will need to account for that in figuring the margin where
the letterhead is placed on the page.
You only need to single-space between sentences. Leave an extra open line between paragraphs.
Sincerely,
(drop down four lines)
Signature here
Add name,
Add title
[Identification initials]
Enclosures:
cc: Name
Name
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Report writing in business communication

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