1. Planning Reports and Proposals
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
After studying this chapter, you will be able to do the following:
Adapt the three-step writing process to reports and proposals
Explain the value of a work plan in the development of long reports
List the key elements of a business plan
Identify three steps you can take to ensure effective organization of online reports and other website content
Discuss three major ways to organize analytical reports
Explain how to choose an organizational strategy when writing a proposal
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2. Effective Reports and Proposals
Content and Layout
Length and Complexity
Frequency
Audience
Informational
Reports
Proposals
Analytical
Reports communicate information about some aspect of business; proposals combine information delivery and persuasive communication.
Reports fall into three basic categories. Informational reports offer data, facts, feedback, and other types of information, without analysis or recommendations. Analytical reports offer both information and analysis, and they can also include recommendations. Proposals offer structured persuasion for internal or external audiences.
The nature of these reports can vary widely. Some reports will be voluntary, written at your own initiative, and using your own structure. Other reports will be requested by managers or customers, who may specify form and content. You will also write reports for government agencies that follow specific guidelines for content and layout. You may write some reports only once in your career; others you may write or update weekly, monthly, or annually.
Your audience will sometimes be internal, so you can report company information with less potential for misinterpretation. At others times, your audience might include a variety of stakeholders or the news media, which can create additional challenges as you present company information.
Finally, your reports will vary widely in length and complexity. You may write straightforward one-page, memo-format reports, or you may write reports that cover complicated subjects, that run into hundreds of pages, and that involve multiple writers and an array of technological tools.
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3. The Three-Step Process
Analyze Situation
Gather Information
Select Medium
Get Organized
Revise
Produce
Proofread
Distribute
Adapt to
the Audience
Compose
the Message
Planning
Completing
Writing
The three-step writing process is especially valuable for lengthy documents. By guiding your work at each step, the process ensures a methodical, efficient approach to planning, writing, and completing reports and proposals.
Planning business messages. To plan any message, first analyze the situation by defining your purpose and developing a profile of your audience. With that in mind, you can gather information that will meet your audience’s needs. Next, select the right medium (oral, written, or electronic) to deliver your message. With those three factors in place, you are ready to organize the information by defining your main idea, limiting your scope, selecting an approach, and outlining your content.
Writing business messages. Once you have planned your message, adapt to your audience with sensitivity, relationship skills, and style. Then, you are ready to compose your message by choosing strong words, creating effective sentences, and developing coherent paragraphs.
Completing business messages. After writing your first draft, revise your message to make sure it is clear, concise, and correct. Next, produce your message, giving it an attractive, professional appearance. Proofread the final product for typos, spelling errors, and other mechanical problems. Finally, distribute your message using the best combination of personal and technological tools.
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4. Analyzing the Situation
Define
the Purpose
Prepare
the Work Plan
Most report-writing situations are complex, so you must analyze each situation carefully. With a short message, you can change direction halfway through the first draft and perhaps lose only a few minutes of work. In contrast, if you change direction halfway through a major report, you could lose days, weeks, or even months. To minimize that chance, pay special attention to your statement of purpose. In addition, take the time to prepare a work plan before you start writing.
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5. Define Your Purpose Informational Analytical Audience Needs
Audience Expectations
Perceived Problem
Perceived Opportunity
Informational reports often address a predetermined need and must meet specific audience expectations. Analytical reports and proposals are almost always written in response to a perceived problem or a perceived opportunity. To plan effectively, address the problem or opportunity with a clear statement of purpose that defines why you are preparing the report or proposal.
The most useful way to phrase your purpose statement is to begin with an infinitive phrase, such as to inform, to confirm, to analyze, to persuade, or to recommend. This technique helps you pin down your general goal in preparing the report. The purpose statement for an analytical report often needs to be more comprehensive than one for an informational report. Proposals must also be guided by a clear statement of purpose to help you focus on crafting a persuasive message.
Remember, the more specific your purpose statement, the more useful it will be as a guide to planning your report. Once your statement of purpose is confirmed, you are ready to prepare your work plan.
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6. Prepare the Work Plan Problem or Opportunity Purpose and Scope
Schedules and
Requirements
Plans for
Following Up
Working
Outline
Tasks to Be
Accomplished
Final Products
or Outcomes
A carefully thought-out work plan is the best way to make sure you produce quality work, on schedule. By identifying all the tasks that must be performed, you ensure that nothing is overlooked. A formal work plan might include the following elements (in particular, the first two items listed below):
Statement of the problem
Statement of the purpose and scope of your investigation
Discussion of tasks to be accomplished
Description of any products that will result from the investigation
Review of project assignments, schedules, and resource requirements
Plans for following up after delivering the report
Working outline
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7. Gather the Information
Priorities
Audience
Purpose
When it comes to finding information, many people make the mistake of rushing into their research without developing a plan. The best way to learn about something new is to browse through materials on your topic. Once you have gathered some preliminary information, use what you have learned to clarify your assignment. When you have a better understanding of your topic and assignment, you are ready to begin your research in earnest: identifying the best sources of information and gathering the details you will need to answer your questions.
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8. Select the Medium Digital Format Media Requirements Feedback
Preferences
Subject
Matter
Hardcopy
Multimedia Format
In addition to the general media selection criteria discussed in Chapter 4, consider several points for reports and proposals.
For many reports and proposals, audiences have specific media requirements (or preferences), and you might not have a choice. You must also consider how your audience wants to provide feedback on your report or proposal. Do they prefer to write comments on a printed document or to use commenting and markup features in software? Consider delivering your report via multiple media, too. Again, the decision comes down to a balance of what is best for both you and your audience.
Whatever you decide, bear in mind that your choice of media also sends a message. A proposal that requests a venture capital investment of $5 million would look unimpressive as a plain-text document. Conversely, a routine operating report dressed up in expensive multimedia will look like a waste of valuable company resources.
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9. Organize the Information
Direct Approach
Indirect Approach
Conclusions and
Recommendations
Overall Findings
Objective Support
Discussion and Support
When an audience is considered either receptive or open-minded, use the direct approach. Lead off with a summary of your key findings, conclusions, recommendations, or proposal, as the case may be. This “up-front” arrangement is by far the most popular and convenient for business reports It saves time and makes the rest of the report easier to follow. For those who have questions or want more information, later parts of the report provide complete findings and supporting details. The direct approach also produces a more forceful report. You sound sure of yourself when you state your conclusions confidently at the outset.
The indirect approach gives you a chance to prove your points and gradually overcome your audience’s reservations. By deferring the conclusions and recommendations to the end of your report, you imply that you have weighed the evidence objectively without prejudging the facts. You also imply that you are subordinating your judgment to that of the audience, whose members are capable of drawing their own conclusions when they have all the facts.
Because both direct and indirect approaches have merit, businesspeople often combine them. However you structure your argument, keep the following points in mind when organizing your report or proposal:
Understand and meet audience expectations.
Select an appropriate format for the task.
Keep it as short as possible.
“Talk” your way through your outline.
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10. Planning Informational Reports
Monitor and
Control Operations
Implement Policies
and Procedures
Demonstrate
Compliance
Document
Progress
Informational reports provide the feedback that employees, managers, and others need in order to make decisions, take action, and respond to changes. Informational reports can be grouped into four general categories:
Monitor and control operations. Managers rely on a wide range of reports to see how well their companies are functioning. Plans establish expectations and guidelines to direct future action. Operating reports provide feedback on a wide variety of an organization’s functions, including sales, inventories, expenses, shipments, and so on. Personal activity reports provide information regarding an individual’s experiences during sales calls, industry conferences, and other activities.
Implement policies and procedures. Policy reports range from brief descriptions of business procedures to manuals that run dozens or hundreds of pages. Position papers outline an organization’s official position on issues that affect the company’s success.
Demonstrate compliance. Businesses are required to submit a variety of compliance reports, from tax returns to reports describing the proper handling of hazardous materials.
Document progress. Supervisors, investors, and customers frequently expect to be informed of the progress of projects and other activities. Progress reports range from simple updates in memo form to comprehensive status reports.
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11. Organizing Informational Reports
Comparison
Importance
Sequence
Chronology
Geography
Category
Spatial
Orientation
Topical
Organization
Most informational reports use a topical organization, arranging material in one of the following ways:
Comparison. Use this pattern to show similarities and differences or advantages and disadvantages between two or more entities.
Importance. Build from the least to most important; or, start with the most important and progress to the least important.
Sequence. A process or procedure can be arranged sequentially, discussing steps or stages in the order in which they occur.
Chronology. When investigating a chain of events, organize the study according to what happened in January, in February, and so on.
Spatial orientation. To describe a physical object or a physical space, move from left to right, top to bottom, outside to inside, or whatever order makes the most sense.
Geography. If location is important, organize the study according to geography, perhaps by regions of the world or areas of a city.
Category. If asked to review several distinct aspects of a subject, look at one category at a time, such as sales, profit, cost, or investment.
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12. Creating Business Plans
Products or
Services
Market and
Competition
Management
Marketing
Strategy
Summary
Mission and
Objectives
Company and
Industry
The most important report you may ever write is the business plan for a new company. A formal plan is an absolute necessity when you want to persuade other people to invest in or join your organization. It should cover these points:
Summary. You must summarize your business concept: describe market potential for your product or service, highlight things that will distinguish your firm from the competition, summarize your financial projections and how much money investors can expect to make on their investment, and indicate how much money you will need and how you will spend it.
Mission and objectives. Explain the purpose of your business and what you hope to accomplish.
Company and industry. Give full background information on the origins and structure of your venture and the characteristics of your industry.
Products or services. Give a complete but concise description of your products or services, focusing on their unique attributes. Explain how customers will benefit from using them.
Market and competition. Provide data that will persuade investors that you understand your target market and can achieve your sales goals. Be sure to identify the strengths and weaknesses of your competitors.
Management. Summarize the background and qualifications of the key management personnel in your company. Include résumés in an appendix.
Marketing strategy. Project sales volume and market share, and outline a strategy for identifying and contacting customers, setting prices, providing customer service, advertising, and so forth. Whenever possible, include evidence of customer acceptance, such as advance product orders.
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13. Creating Business Plans
Risks and
Problems
Financial
Projections
Requirements
Exit Strategy
Design and
Development
Operations
Plan
Overall
Schedule
Design and development plans. If your product requires design or development, describe the nature and extent of what needs to be done, including costs and possible problems. For new or unusual products, you may want to explain how the product will be manufactured.
Operations plan. Provide information on facilities, equipment, and personnel requirements.
Overall schedule. Forecast important milestones in the company’s growth and development, including when you need to be fully staffed and when your products will be ready for the market.
Critical risks and problems. Identify all negative factors and discuss them honestly.
Financial projections and requirements. Include a detailed budget of start-up and operating costs, as well as projections for income, expenses, and cash flow for the first few years of business. Identify the company’s financing needs and potential sources, if appropriate.
Exit strategy. Explain how investors will be able to cash out or sell their investment, such as through a public stock offering, sale of the company, or a buyback of the investors’ interest.
A complete business plan obviously requires a considerable amount of work. However, by thinking your way through all these issues, you will enjoy a smoother launch and a greater chance of success in your new adventure.
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14. Organizing Websites Demanding Users Difficult Reading
Non-Linear Format
Multidimensional
Most of what you have already learned about informational reports applies to website writing, but the online environment requires some special considerations:
Web readers are demanding. Most visitors will not bother to dig for information. They scan navigation buttons, headings, images, and hyperlinks, looking for possibilities. If nothing looks promising, they are gone.
Reading online can be difficult. For most people, reading on a computer monitor is more difficult than reading from the printed page. In fact, studies show that reading speeds are about 25 percent slower on a monitor than on paper.
The web is a non-linear, multidimensional medium. Readers of online material move around in any order they please; there often is no beginning, middle, or end. As a web writer, you need to anticipate the various paths your readers will want to follow and make sure you provide the right hyperlinks in the right places.
In addition, many websites perform more than one communication function and have more than one purpose. Each individual purpose must be defined carefully, then integrated into an overall statement of purpose for the entire website.
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15. Information Architecture
Site Navigation
User Control
Information “Chunks”
Many websites are intended for multiple audiences. Website designers use the term information architecture to describe the structural and navigational flow of all parts of a website. This architecture enables audiences to enter and explore the site.
To organize your site effectively, keep the following advice in mind:
Plan your navigation first. Do not make the mistake of writing a traditional report and then adding some links to make it a website. To help users navigate your site effectively and efficiently, plan the structure and navigation before you write.
Let your readers be in control. Help your readers get oriented by starting with a homepage that clearly points the way to various sections of the site. Then, offer plenty of descriptive labels, subheads, and other devices that let readers create their own paths through the site.
Break your information into “chunks.” Help readers scan information by breaking it into self-contained, easily readable “chunks” that are linked together logically. Doing so lets you to provide comprehensive coverage that is still easy to consume online. Consider offering longer sections as downloadable PDF files.
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16. Planning Analytical Reports
Assess
Opportunities
Solve
Problems
Support
Decisions
Market Analysis
Due Diligence
Troubleshooting
Failure Analysis
Feasibility
Justification
The purpose of analytical reports is to analyze, to understand, or to explain; that is, to think through a problem or an opportunity and explain how it affects the company and how the company should respond. Analytical reports fall into three basic categories:
Reports to assess opportunities. Every business opportunity carries some degree of risk and requires a variety of decisions and actions in order to capitalize on the opportunity. You can use analytical reports to assess both risk and required decisions and actions. For instance, market analysis reports are used to judge the likelihood of success for new products or sales. Due diligence reports examine the financial aspects of a proposed decision, such as acquiring another company.
Reports to solve problems. Managers often assign troubleshooting reports when they need to understand why something is not working properly and how to fix it. A variation, the failure analysis report, studies events that happened in the past, with the hope of learning how to avoid similar failures in the future.
Reports to support decisions. Feasibility reports explore the potential ramifications of a decision that managers are considering, and justification reports explain a decision that has already been made.
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17. Challenges of Analytical Reports
Persuasion
Responsibility
Investigation
Writing analytical reports presents a greater challenge than writing informational reports for three reasons. First, you are doing more than simply delivering information—you are also investigating a problem in order to present your conclusions. Second, when your analysis is complete, you need to present your thinking in a compelling and persuasive manner. Third, analytical reports often convince other people to make significant financial and personnel decisions, and these reports carry the added responsibility of the consequences of such decisions.
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18. Defining the Problem What needs to be determined?
Why is this issue important?
Who is involved in the situation?
Where is the trouble located?
How did the situation originate?
When did it start?
In some cases, the problem or opportunity you address may be defined by the person who authorizes the report. In other cases, you will have to define it yourself. To help define the problem that your analytical report will address, answer these questions:
What needs to be determined?
Why is this issue important?
Who is involved in the situation?
Where is the trouble located?
How did the situation originate?
When did it start?
Not all of these questions apply in every situation, but asking them helps you define the problem being addressed and limit the scope of your discussion. With a clear picture of the problem or opportunity in mind, you are ready to consider the best structure for your report.
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19. Methods of Organization
Focus on Conclusions
Focus on Recommendations
Focus on Logical Arguments
Indirect
Direct
Audience Attitude
Receptive
Skeptical
Preferred Strategy
To create powerful analytical reports, consider your audience’s likely reaction before choosing the most effective organizational strategy:
Receptive audiences. When you expect your audience to agree with you, use a structure that focuses attention on conclusions and recommendations (a direct approach).
Skeptical audiences. When you expect your audience to disagree with you or to be hostile, use a structure that focuses attention on the rationale behind your conclusions and recommendations (an indirect approach).
The three most common structural approaches for analytical reports are (1) focusing on conclusions (direct), (2) focusing on recommendations (direct), and (3) focusing on logical arguments (indirect).
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20. Focus on Conclusions Advantages Disadvantages Easy to Use
Bottom-Line Driven
Possible Resistance
Oversimplification
When writing for audiences that are likely to accept your conclusions—either because they have asked you to perform an analysis or they trust your judgment—consider using the direct approach, by focusing immediately on your conclusions. This structure communicates the main idea quickly, but it does present some risks. Even if audiences trust your judgment, they may have questions about your data or your methods. Moreover, starting with a conclusion may create the impression that you have oversimplified the situation. To give readers the opportunity to explore the thinking behind your conclusions, support them with solid reasoning and evidence.
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21. Focus on Recommendations
Establish the need for action
Introduce the overall benefits
List the required steps
Explain each step more fully
Summarize the recommendations
When structuring a report around recommendations, use the direct approach as you would for a report that focuses on conclusions. Then, unfold your recommendations using a series of five steps:
Establish the need for action in the introduction by briefly describing the problem or opportunity.
Introduce the benefit that can be achieved, without providing any details.
List the steps (recommendations) required to achieve the benefit, using action verbs for emphasis.
Explain each step more fully, giving details on procedures, costs, and benefits.
Summarize your recommendations.
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22. Focus on Logical Arguments
Hostile
Readers
Skeptical
Indirect Approach
Rational Approach
2 + 2 = 4
Approach
Yardstick
When readers are potentially skeptical or hostile, consider using the indirect approach to build logically toward your conclusions or recommendations. The two most common logical approaches are the = 4 approach and the yardstick approach.
The = 4 approach is so named because it convinces readers of your point of view by demonstrating that everything adds up. The main points in your outline are the main reasons behind your conclusions and recommendations; each reason is supported by the evidence you collected during your analysis. Because of its natural feel and versatility, the = 4 approach is generally the most persuasive and efficient way to develop an analytical report for skeptical readers.
The yardstick approach is useful when you need to use a number of criteria to evaluate one or more possible solutions. These criteria become the “yardstick” by which you measure the various alternatives. With this approach, you begin by discussing the problem or opportunity, then list the criteria that will guide the decision. The body of the report then evaluates the alternatives against those criteria. The main points of the outline are either the criteria themselves or the alternatives. This approach is particularly useful for proposals when the audience has provided a list of criteria the solution must meet.
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23. Planning Proposals Internal Requests External Requests
General Projects
Project Funding
Management Support
External Requests
Sales Proposals
Investment Proposals
Grant Proposals
Although the specific formats for proposals are innumerable, they can be grouped into two general categories:
Internal Proposals. Used to request decisions from managers within the organization, internal proposals may include funding proposals, which request funds and management support for new projects, and general project proposals, which request permission to take action on specific projects.
External proposals. Used to request decisions from parties outside the organization, external proposals include investment proposals, which request funding from external investors such as venture capitalists; grant proposals, which request funds from government agencies and other sponsoring organizations; and sales proposals, which suggest individualized solutions for potential customers and request purchase decisions.
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24. Types of Proposals Solicited Unsolicited Requested (RFP)
Audience Initiated
Not Requested
Writer Initiated
The most significant factor in planning any proposal is whether the intended recipient has asked you to submit a proposal. Solicited proposals can be requested by both internal and external parties. They feature a formal invitation to bid on the contract, called a request for proposals (RFP), which includes instructions that specify the exact type of work to be performed or products to be delivered, along with budgets, deadlines, and other requirements.
Unsolicited proposals are created by organizations attempting to obtain business or funding without a specific invitation from a potential client. Such proposals may also be initiated by employees or managers who want to convince company insiders to adopt a program, policy, or idea. With an unsolicited proposal, the writer makes the first move. Even so, an unsolicited proposal should not come as a surprise; rather, it should be the summation of an ongoing conversation with the recipient. However, the audience may not be aware of the problem, so an unsolicited proposal must first convince readers that a problem or opportunity exists.
With virtually any proposal, keep in mind that you are always competing for something—money, time, management attention, and so on.
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25. Organizing Proposals Solicited Unsolicited Expected Direct Approach
Unexpected
Indirect Approach
Just as with reports, your choice of structural approach for proposals depends on whether you expect your audience to be receptive. In general, your audience may be more receptive with solicited proposals since the problem and the solution have already been specified in the RFP. In such cases, use the direct approach to compose your proposal and focus on your recommendation, stressing how your solution is unique and why it deserves careful consideration.
The indirect approach may be a better choice for unsolicited proposals. When writing unsolicited proposals you must first convince the audience that a problem exists and establish your credibility if you are unknown to the reader.
Regardless of its format and structure, a good proposal explains what a project or course of action will involve, how much it will cost, and how the recipient or organization will benefit.
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