Qualities of a Good Report:
A report
must have the following qualities to be useful to any business:
1.
It
should be based on verified factual information and
valid proofs.
2.
It
should be clear and easy to understand. The
language used should be simple and unambiguous.
3.
It
should be unbiased and impartial. A report which
deliberately tries to distort the facts this way or that is of no value.
4.
There
should be no linguistic or factual errors in it
5.
No duplication of information.
6.
It
should be concise and to the point and should
not contain any irrelevant information which does not have a bearing on the
issue.
7.
It
should have adequate information to enable the
decision makers to take decisions that can benefit their organisation.
8.
It
should not lose focus and be oriented towards producing the best results. There should be
no beating about the bush. No irrelevant information should be included in it.
9.
It
should be well organised and structured so that
it is possible to locate the required information
without much effort and any delay.
10.
It
should conform to the ethical standards of
report writing.
11.
It
should be written in a language which is reader
oriented. A report which the targeted audience is unable to understand
has no value at all.
Types of Reports:
Reports may be
i.
Oral
– Face to face, ephemeral, Save reporter’s time, Take more time of the
receiver
ii.
Written – Permanent, Record, Skimming possible. Time saving. Only relevant parts
may be read.
Written reports may further be divided into two categories:
i.
Formal ii. Informal – Brief,
written like a memorandum
Formal reports can further be divided into three categories:
i.
Informational ii. Interpretive iii. Routine – Progress Report, Lab
Report, Inspection Report, Inventory Report, ACR,
1. Informational – Reports which only provide the required
information and do not include
analysis of the collected data and any conclusions drawn from it are known as
informational reports.
2. Interpretive –
Interpretive reports are reports which include not only the information collected but also an analysis of the data so collected and the conclusions arrived at after the analysis. They may
also include recommendations.
3. Routine – There
are some reports which have to be submitted regularly
and periodically as a part of the conduct of business of an
organisation. Generally, these are submitted on printed forms available for the purpose and are periodical in nature.
Elements of a Report
A long formal report normally consists
of the following elements:
Front Matter
Cover, Frontispiece, Title, Copyright, Forwarding Letter,
Preface, Foreword, Acknowledgements, Table of Contents, List of Illustrations,
Abstract and Summary
Main Body – Introduction, Discussion/Description,
Conclusions, Recommendations
Back Matter – Appendices, List of references, Bibliography,
Glossary, Index, Addenda, Corrigenda
A. Front Matter:
1. Cover – The
cover protects the report from damage. The outside page of the front part of
the cover carries the following information:
i.
Title of the report
ii. Its number if any
iii. Date iv. Classification
Sometimes,
the name of the author and the authority for whom the report has been written is also given on the cover.
2. Frontispiece –
It is generally found in bound reports meant for wide
circulation. It is like a display window meant
to arouse the curiosity of the reader. It is generally a map, photograph, drawing etc.
3. Title page –
It is generally the first right hand page of the
report. It carries all the information given on the
cover. In addition to it, the following information is found on the
title page:
i.
Sub-title
if any
ii.
Name
of the author
iii.
Name
of the authority for whom the report has been written
iv.
Contract,
project or job number
v.
The
name and designation of the approving authority if approval is required.
vi.
Distribution
list if copies of the report are sent to any other persons than the primary
recipient of the report
4. Copyright Notice:- This is a notice given generally at the back of the title page informing
the people that the rights regarding the reproduction of the material in the
report are reserved by the author or the publisher or both and nobody else can
reproduce any part of the matter contained in the report in any form without
the prior written permission of the holder of these rights. Any infringement of these rights is punishable by law and
the person or agency that does so can be sued in a court of law and damages can be claimed for this kind of infringement.
5. Forwarding letter: The forwarding letter may be of one of the following two types:
i.
Covering letter – If the forwarding letter is a
simple covering letter, it only serves as a record of
the fact that the report is being submitted by the author to the
receiving authority. A forwarding letter of this type is not included in the report and remains with the
receiving authority.
ii.
Introductory – If the forwarding letter is of the
introductory type, it contains all the information
given in the introduction in addition to the
fact of submitting the report. When the forwarding letter is of the
introductory type, there is no need for a separate
introduction as it contains all the information to be given in the
introduction. An introductory letter of submission is printed in beginning of
the report.
6. Preface – The
preface is written by the author. In it, he introduces
the report and offers it to the reader. But it does
not give any judgement about the subject matter of the report. However, the
author may express in it the hope that it will be useful to the reader/s and
serve the purpose for which it has been written.
7. Foreword – The
foreword is a kind of introduction to the report
written by someone other than the author, who is
an expert in the field which the report is
related to. It may be called an assessment of
the value of the report by a person who is regarded as
an authority on the subject.
8. Acknowledgements – It is that part of the report in which the author expresses his sense
of gratitude to all the people who have helped
him in any way in preparing the report. The people who have provided the
information required, the authors whose works he has referred to or cited in
the report, the people who have assisted him in collecting the information, in
typing its contents, in printing it or in any other way are thanked in this
section.
9. Table of Contents – The table of contents gives the names of the chapters of the report
and their page numbers. Sometimes, only the first page is given and sometimes,
the first and the last page both are given.
10.
List of Illustrations – A separate list of illustrations
(tables, charts, graphs, maps etc.) is given if there is a large number of
them. It gives the number, the title and the page reference of the
illustrations.
11.
Abstract and Summary – Most reports contain a brief
account of the contents of the report in the form of a summary or abstract.
The summary gives the substance of
the report without the illustrations. It
contains in a nutshell the important findings,
the method of analysis, the important conclusions and the major
recommendations.
The abstract is a condensed summary of the contents of the report. It is shorter than the summary. It is
approximately two to five percent of the original
or five to ten percent of
the summary.
Some reports
contain only the summary and some only the abstract. There are some which contain both. Whether a report should have both or only one of
the two depends on the requirements of the primary
recipient of the report.
B.
Main Body of the Report
The main
body of the report is divided into four parts, three of which are always
there in every report and the fourth is
included only if the authorising authority wants it.
1.
Introduction - The introduction is the starting
point of the report. It includes the following types of information:
i.
Why the report is being written. Authorisation for writing the report and the terms of
reference. What the author has been asked to do.
ii.
Topic of the report.
iii.
Historical and technical background – A very brief account of the work that
has already been done on the topic by other people.
iv.
Scope and limitations of the study -What new
ground the present report is going to cover and what
it does not propose to do. The scope refers to the
aspects of the subject that have been dealt with
in the report and the limitations tell the reader about the aspects that lie outside the scope and have not
been covered in the report.
v.
Methods of collecting data used for the study and the sources of
information
vi.
How the material has been organised.
vii.
Definition of special terms and symbols.
2.
Discussion or Description
This is the major part of the report. It may be
divided into sections and sub-sections.
It presents the data collected in an organised
form, discusses the significance of the data,
analyses the data and gives the results.
3. Conclusions – This
part states the logical inferences drawn and judgements formed on the basis
of the analyses of the data. In other words, it gives the findings of the report. The conclusions must be supported by what has gone before. If their number is large, they may be itemised
and numbered in the decreasing order of importance.
4. Recommendations – Recommendations are not found in every report. They are given only if the
authorising authority has asked for them. Sometimes, the authority may reserve
the right to decide what action has to be taken and the recommendations, if
given without having been asked, may be taken as an insult to the authority.
C. Back Matter
1, Appendices – During the course of the report, the author may refer to several
documentary sources. It is not always possible to include their full text in
the report. Besides, there may be many readers who are not interested in
reading them. But some readers may want to read them. These documents are given
in this part for the benefit of such readers.
2. List of references – In this part, the author lists all
the works which he has referred to in the
report. It includes the name(s) of the author(s),
the year of publication of the book or the
article, the name of the publisher or the
journal along with its number, and the page(s) where
the referenced information is to be found. It may be noted that this
list is given in an alphabetic order and includes only the sources which have actually been accessed
by the author and referred to in the report.
3. Bibliography - Bibliography is the
alphabetically arranged list of the books or other written sources which
contain information on the topic. Bibliography differs from the list of
references in one important respect and that is that it may contain even those
titles which have not been actually accessed by the author and referred to in
the report but which deal with the topic of the report. Another important
difference is that it does not give the page or pages where the relevant
information is to be found.
4. Glossary – The glossary lists the
technical terms and other difficult words used by the author which the reader
may not be familiar with and explains their meanings. What should or should not
be included in the glossary depends on who is going to read the report.
5. Index – The index is a quick guide to
the material and its purpose is to help the reader to locate the information he
wants easily and quickly. All the topics and sub-topics dealt with in the
report are listed here alphabetically and the page number or numbers where they
occur are given.
6. Addenda – If after the printing of the
report, it is found that something which should have been included in it but
has, somehow, been left out is inserted at the end under the head of addenda
which means an item which has been added afterwards.
7. Corrigenda – Corrigenda means a list of corrections. Even after the most careful proof
reading, some typographical errors may be left in the report. A list of these
errors may be given at the end along with the page number and the corrected
version under this head.
1.
Office Memorandum
(Memo or Office Memo)
Office Memorandum also known as office memo or simply memo is a short written document
used for exchange of information in a business organisation. The word memorandum
actually means a short note to help memory.
1. It is used for internal communication only and is never used for
communication with any person outside the organisation..
2. But within the organisation, it can
move in any direction – upward, downward, horizontal
or diagonal. It can be used for exchange of information within a department or between different
departments of the organisation.
3. It is very brief.
It contains only the necessary information and nothing besides that. You have to be to the point and
not include anything else.
4. It does not contain two elements always
found in a letter – the salutation and the
complimentary close.
5. The language
is simple, direct and easy to understand. Normally, the language is informal,
even conversational. However, it depends on the direction of the communication. One has to use formal
language if one is communicating with a senior. There is no attempt to use ornamental language.
6. Personal feelings are not included in a memo. Emotional
appeals are never made. Only the information required is given or asked
for.
7. A memo is used normally for the
following purposes:
I.
To
convey routine information.
II.
To
submit periodical reports.
III.
To
communicate change of rules in the organisation.
IV.
To
issue instructions to the staff.
V.
To
confirm a decision taken on the telephone.
VI.
To
call explanation of an employee for any act of misconduct or indiscipline.
VII.
To
give or withdraw permission to do something.
VIII.
To
give or ask for some information.
8. Format of the memo:
A memo is generally written in the
following format. Business organisations generally use a printed proforma for
this purpose.
Name of the organisation
Reference No………………..
Date ………….…
To:
From:
Subject:
Body (It contains the details of the
information sought or supplied). If there are many different pieces of
information, they are given in different paragraphs which are numbered.
Signature
Designation
Enclosures:
Copy to:
Note 1: (If
any documents are attached with the memo, they are listed under the heading
enclosures.)
Note 2: Similarly,
if copies of the memo are sent to any people other than the person it is
addressed to, their names are given under the heading copy to.
If there are no documents attached
and the copy of the memo is not to be sent to anybody except the addressee, these
two elements (enclosures and copy to) are not included in the memo.
Advantages:
i.
It
is inexpensive. It is delivered by hand.
ii.
It
is convenient to use.
iii.
It
is quick. There is no delay.
iv.
It
helps to keep a record of the information
exchanged between the people in the organisation.
v.
It
can help the organisation to fix responsibility in
case of anything going wrong.
Notice and Circular
Both notice
and circular are written documents used for internal communication in business
organisations. They are used to communicate information to the people working
in the organisation instead of using the oral mode of communication because the
become a permanent record for future use and help to fix responsibility in case
anything goes wrong as a result of not paying heed to the information given
through them. Moreover, they are a convenient way of providing and seeking
information and insuring that the information has been communicated to those
who need it.
Although the notice are quite similar in
nature in the sense that they are both used for providing and seeking
information internally, they are used in different situations.
Circular - A circular is used when information
is to be communicated to a small group of people or some selective individuals.
The circular is sent to them individually and their signatures are obtained on
it as a token of having received the information. For example, when the head of
an organisation wants to have a meeting with the heads of departments, he
informs them by means of a circular.
Notice: A notice is used when a piece of information
is to be communicated to all the people working in the organisation or a large
number of them. It is not circulated among the individuals who are to be given
the information for the simple reason that it is neither possible nor advisable
to take it to everyone. So it is displayed on the notice board. The people
working in the organisation are expected to visit the notice board at least
once daily and read whatever notice might have been put up there.
When
information about a holiday or a change in office timings of the employees is
to be communicated, a notice is displayed on the notice board. Similarly, if
there is a change in the leave rules or provident rules, it is communicated
through a notice.
Format for
a notice
Name of the organisation
Reference No…………………. Date …………………..
Notice
Subject of the notice
Message
Signature
Name
Designation
A similar format is used for a
circular.
Writing a
Short Report
A short report is not written like a long and exhaustive report. It does
not contain all the elements that are found in a long report.
A short report makes use of either the letter format or the memo format.
The body of the report is, however,
divided into the same four parts – the introduction, the discussion or
description, the conclusions and the recommendations. The recommendations are
given only when they have been sought by the authorising official. Most of the
time, the authorising authority reserves the right to decide what sort of
remedial action needs to be taken. Giving recommendations without having been
asked may be taken as an affront by the authority.
Advice to students: - In the examination,
sometimes the paper setter clearly specifies which of the two formats is to be
used – the letter format or the memo format. In
that case, students have to follow the direction and use the format that has
been specified. At other times, the paper setter may not specify the format to
be used and leaves the choice to the student. If that is the case, students are
free to use either of the two formats.
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