Step one
Determine why you are writing the report. Is it to be informative, or perhaps to persuade the reader? If you have been asked to compile the report, ensure that you find out exactly what the purpose is from the person who assigned it to you.
Step two
Who are you writing for? It's very difficult to write a report when you don't know who its intended audience is, so make this your second order of business. Determining who you are writing for will help you establish the tone (and language use) and also inform how the report will flow.
Step three
Ask yourself, "What is this report about?" This is the point where you will begin to collect and analyse all the information that is to be included in your report. Once you have done this research and analysis you will be able to actually write the report.
Step four
How should the report flow? Always ensure that your report flows in the most logical fashion. This may be partially determined by deciding who the audience of the report will be.
Step five
Revise, edit and review. Now that you've got your report laid out in a logical way you can begin to edit. Remember that often less is more, and you will want to cut away any unnecessarily wordy sentences etc. Also double-check that the way you've written is aimed at your target audience, with all jargon and technical terms explained.
Staff Training presents Report Writing Training nationwide. Contact info@StaffTraining.co.za or call (021) 839 3021 for more information.