Last week I attended a American management Association seminar on this subject. I given enough useful information to warrant updating our online personnel handbook and perhaps developing a quick training session for all interviewing teams. First, heres a quick look at the things I learned.

Avoiding Legal Mistakes

1.How to write recruiting ads that accurately portray job openings and not discriminate.

2.Complying with the Americans with Disabilities Act

3.How to use an employment agency effectively and safe (without risk of legal entanglements)

How to Screen and Interview More Effectively

1.How to sort through résumés more efficient (including looking for telltale signs of false information)

2.We can avoid interview questions that could get us into legal trouble

3.When and how to check criminal records

covering the basic guidelines for much of this already; but a number of specific recommendations and legal concepts should be emphisized and underline.

It will take me a couple of weeks to get the personel handbook updated: but we don’t have any immediate hiring plans anyway so that shouldn’t be too much of a problem unless you think I should complete it sooner and then we can talk about that.

I’ll keep the seminar handouts and my notes on my desk in case you want to peruse them.

After the handbook is updated by me, we can get together and decide whether we need to train the interviewing team members. Although we have a lot of new information, what people need to be aware of can be highlighted and the new sections can be read as schedules allow, although they might be reluctant to do this and we can also talk about that later, at a time of your conveinence that you can select later.

If you have any questions in the mean-time; don’t hesitate to email me or drop by for a chat.

References

1.Molly Selvin, “No Gobbledygook; Company Handbook Is in Plain English,” Seattle Times, 27 January 2008, www

.seattletimes.com.

2.Courtland L. Bovée, Michael J. Houston, and John V. Thill, Marketing, 2d ed. (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1995), 194–196.

3.Legal-Definitions.com, accessed 17 December 2003, www.legal-definitions.com.

4.Lynn Quitman Troyka, Simon & Schuster Handbook for Writers, 6th ed. (Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Prentice Hall, 2002), 481.

5.AllTheWeb.com advanced search page, accessed 27 August 2005, www.alltheweb.com; Google advanced search

page, accessed 27 August 2005, www.google.com; Yahoo! advanced search page, accessed 27 August 2005, www

.yahoo.com.

6.Christina Warren, “Yolink Helps Web Researchers Search Behind Links,” Mashable, 24 July 2010, http://mashable.com.

7.Naresh K. Malhotra, Basic Marketing Research (Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Prentice Hall, 2002), 314–317; “How to Design and Conduct a Study,” Credit Union Magazine, October 1983, 36–46.

8.A. B. Blankenship and George Edward Breen, State of the Art Marketing Research (Chicago: NTC Business Books, 1993), 136.

276 Unit 4: Longer Business Messages

9.Tesco website, accessed 25 July 2010, www.tesco.com.

10.Jakob Nielsen, “How Users Read on the Web,” accessed

11November 2004, www.useit.com/alertbox/9710a.html.

11.Reid Goldsborough, “Words for the Wise,” Link-Up, September–October 1999, 25–26.

12.Julie Rohovit, “Computer Eye Strain: The Dilbert Syndrome,” Virtual Hospital website, accessed 9 November 2004, www.vh.org.

13.Nick Usborne, “Two Pillars of a Successful Site,” Excess Voice, May 2004, www.excessvoice.com.

14.Shel Holtz, “Writing for the Wired World,” International Association of Business Communicators, 1999, 6–9.

15.Holtz, “Writing for the Wired World,” 28–29.

16.Adapted from SXSW website, accessed 27 July 2010, http://sxsw.com; Catherine Holahan and Spencer E. Ante, “SXSW: Where Tech Mingles with Music,” BusinessWeek, 7 March 2008, www.businessweek.com.

17.Adapted from Air-Trak website, accessed 22 June 2012, www.air-trak.com.

11

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Writing and Completing Reports

and Proposals

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

After studying this chapter, you will be able to

1List the topics commonly covered in the introduction, body, and close of informational reports, analytical reports, and proposals

2Identify six guidelines for drafting effective website content and offer guidelines for becoming a valuable wiki contributor

3Discuss six principles of graphic design that can improve the quality of your visuals and identify the major types of business visuals

4Summarize the four tasks involved in completing business reports and proposals

Yuri Arcurs / Shutterstock

No matter complex or technical the content of a report or proposal might be, keep the business needs of your readers in mind.

Focusing on the content of your longer business documents is not only natural but necessary, because doing so helps ensure complete, correct information. However, once you have the technical content in place, you need to stand back and view the document from the perspective of your audience—the people you expect to read and act on the information. Is your message clear, compelling, and concise? Is it something your intended reader could be expected to read and understand? Follow Tania Menegatti’s example whenever you’re writing and completing reports and proposals: Even with the most complex or technical documents, remember that another human being is at the receiving end of your communication efforts.

1 LEARNING OBJECTIVE

List the topics commonly covered in the introduction, body, and close of informational reports, analytical reports, and proposals.

Writing Reports and Proposals

This chapter focuses on writing and completing reports, along with creating content for websites, collaborating on wikis, and creating graphical elements to illustrate messages of all kinds. All the writing concepts and techniques you learned in Chapter 4 apply to the longer format of business reports. However, the length and complexity of reports call for special attention to several issues, starting with adapting to your audience.

The “you” attitude is especially important with long or complex reports because they demand a lot from readers.

You can adjust the formality of your writing through your word choices and writing style.

Adapting to Your Audience

Reports and proposals can put heavy demands on your readers, so the “you” attitude is especially important with these long messages. In general, try to strike a balance between being overly informal (which can be perceived as trivializing important issues) and overly formal (which can put too much distance between writer and reader). If you know your readers reasonably well and your report is likely to meet with their approval, you can generally adopt an informal tone. To make your tone less formal, speak to readers in the first person, refer to them as you, and refer to yourself as I (or we if there are multiple report authors).

To make your tone more formal, use the impersonal journalism style: Emphasize objectivity, avoid personal opinions, and build your argument on provable facts (see Figure 11.1). Eliminate all personal pronouns (including I, you, we, us, and our). Avoid humor, and be careful with your use of similes, metaphors, and particularly colorful adjectives or adverbs. However, you don’t need to make the writing monotonous. For example, you can still create interest by varying the types of sentences to create a pleasing rhythm.

Take into account that communicating with people in other cultures often calls for more formality in reports, both to respect cultural preferences and to reduce the risk of miscommunication. Informal elements such as humor and casual language tend to translate poorly from one culture to another.

The introduction needs to put the report in context for the reader, introduce the subject, preview main ideas, and establish the tone of the document.

The body of your report presents, analyzes, and interprets the information you gathered during your investigation.

Your close is often the last opportunity to get your message across, so make it clear and compelling.

Help your readers find what they want and stay on track with headings or links, transitions, previews,

and reviews.

Drafting Report Content

You can simplify report writing by breaking the job into three main sections: an introduction (or opening), a body, and a close. Table 11.1 on page 281 summarizes the goals of each section and lists elements to consider including in each as well. You can use this table as a handy reference whenever you need to write a report in school or on the job.

At a minimum, an effective introduction accomplishes these four tasks:

■It helps the reader understand the context of the report by tying it to a problem or an assignment.

■It introduces the subject matter and indicates why it is important.

■It previews the main idea (if you’re using the direct approach).

■It establishes the tone and the writer’s relationship with the audience.

The body presents, analyzes, and interprets the information gathered during your investigation and supports your recommendations or conclusions. The length and content of the body can vary widely based on the subject matter.

The close has three important functions:

■It summarizes your key points.

■It emphasizes the benefits to the reader if the document suggests a change or some other course of action.

■It brings all the action items together in one place.

To serve the needs of your readers and build your reputation as a careful and insightful professional, make sure your content in every section is accurate, complete, balanced, clear, and logical. As always, be sure to properly document all your sources (see Appendix B).

In addition, help today’s time-pressed readers find what they’re looking for and stay on track as they navigate through your documents. First, write clear headings and subheadings that let readers follow the structure of your document and help them pick up the key points of your message. Second, use plenty of transitions to tie together ideas and show how one

Long and somewhat rigorous sentences help give the report its formal tone. For a more consumer-oriented publication, this writing could certainly be simplified.

(continued)

Figure 11.1 Achieving the Appropriate Tone for a Report

This report excerpt (part of the executive summary of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans published by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services) uses a number of techniques to create a formal tone. This is a formal policy document whose intended readers are educators, government regulators, and others charged with using the information to help inform consumers. If the document had been written with consumers in mind, you can imagine how the tone might have been lighter and less formal.

Source: Dietary Guidelines for Americans published by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

A less-formal report might’ve said something along the lines of “Poor diet and physical inactivity are killing U.S. citizens” instead of the more formal (and more precise) “are

associated with major causes of morbidity and mortality.”

This paragraph mentions the troubling statistic that

15 percent of U.S. households can’t afford to meet basic nutritional requirements,

but because the report is presenting dietary recommendations and not public policy statements about economics or other issues, the tone is objective and dispassionate.

280 Unit 4: Longer Business Messages

This is an example of

a sentence that is precise and uses language appropriate for the purpose of this

report. In contrast, a

document aimed primarily at consu-

mers might’ve said “We’ve converted the latest nutritional insights into recommendations for healthy eating.”

In a less-formal report, the authors might’ve written “One of our basic premises is that nutrient needs should be met primarily through consuming foods” or even “You should meet your nutrient needs by eating food, not by taking supplements.” However, to maintain a formal tone, they avoid both first and second person usage.

Look for ways to use technology to reduce the mechanical work involved in writing long reports.

thought is related to another. Third, include preview sections to help readers get ready for new information and review sections after a body of material to summarize key points.

Finally, make the process as easy on yourself as possible by taking advantage of all available productivity tools. For example, the size and complexity of many reports make templates and style sheets particularly helpful. If you include graphics, spreadsheets, or database records produced in other programs, make sure you know how your writing software handles the file connection. You might have the choice to maintain a “live” connection with these included files, so that any changes in the original automatically show up in your report. And be sure to explore your multimedia options with electronic documents. Video clips, animation, presentation slides, screencasts (recordings of on-screen activity), and other media elements can enhance the communication and persuasion powers of the written word.

Establish the context, identify the subject, preview main ideas (if using the direct approach), establish tone and reader relationship.

■Authorization. Reiterate who authorized the report, if applicable.

■Problem/purpose. Explain the reason for the report’s existence

and what the report will achieve.

■Scope. Describe what will and won’t be covered in the report.

■Background. Review historical conditions or factors that led up to

the report.

■ Sources and methods. Discuss the primary and secondary sources consulted and methods used.

■ Definitions. List terms and their definitions, including any terms that might be misinterpreted. Terms may also be defined in the body, explanatory notes, or glossary.

■ Limitations. Discuss factors beyond your control that affect report quality (but do not use this as an excuse for poor research or a poorly written report).

■ Report organization. Identify the topics to be covered and in what order.

Identify the problem you intend to solve or the opportunity you want to pursue.

■ Background or statement of the problem. Briefly review

the situation at hand, establish a need for action, and explain how things could be better. In unsolicited proposals, convince readers that a problem or an opportunity exists.

■ Solution. Briefly describe the change you propose, highlighting your key selling points and their benefits to show how your proposal will solve the reader’s problem.

■ Scope. State the boundaries of the proposal—what you will and will not do.

■ Report organization. Orient the reader to the remainder of the proposal and call attention to the major divisions of thought.

Body:

Present relevant information and support your recommendations or conclusions.

■ Explanations. Give complete details of the problem, project, or idea.

■ Facts, statistical evidence, and trends. Lay out the results of

studies or investigations.

■Analysis of action. Discuss potential courses of action.

■Pros and cons. Explain advantages, disadvantages, costs, and

benefits of a particular course of action.

■Procedures. Outline steps for a process.

■Methods and approaches. Discuss how you’ve studied a prob-

lem (or gathered evidence) and arrived at your solution (or collected your data).

■ Criteria. Describe the benchmarks for evaluating options and alternatives.

■ Conclusions and recommendations. Discuss what you

believe the evidence reveals and what you propose should be done about it.

■ Support. Give the reasons behind your conclusions or recommendations.

Body:

Give complete details on the proposed solution and describe anticipated results.

■ Facts and evidence to support your conclusions. Give

complete details of the proposed solution and anticipated results.

■ Proposed approach. Describe your concept, product, or service. Stress reader benefits and emphasize any advantages you have over your competitors.

■ Work plan. Describe how you’ll accomplish what must be done (unless you’re providing a standard, off-the-shelf item). Explain the steps you’ll take, their timing, the methods or resources you’ll use, and the person(s) responsible. State when work will begin, how it will be divided into stages, when you’ll finish, and whether follow-up will be needed.

■ Statement of qualifications. Describe your organization’s

experience, personnel, and facilities—relating it all to readers’ needs. Include a list of client references.

■ Costs. Prove that your costs are realistic—break them down so that readers can see the costs of labor, materials, transportation, travel, training, and other categories.

Close:

Summarize key points, emphasize benefits of any recommendations, list action items; label as “Summary” or “Conclusions and Recommendations.”

■ For direct approach. Summarize key points (except in short reports), listing them in the order in which they appear in the body. Briefly restate your conclusions or recommendations, if appropriate.

■ For indirect approach. If you haven’t done so at the end of the body, present your conclusions or recommendations.

■ For motivating action. Spell out exactly what should happen next and provide a schedule with specific task assignments.

Close:

Summarize key points, emphasize the benefits and advantages of your proposed solution, ask for a decision from the reader.

■Review of argument. Briefly summarize the key points.

■Review of reader benefits. Briefly summarize how your

proposal will help the reader.

■ Review of the merits of your approach. Briefly summarize

why your approach will be more effective than alternatives.

■ Restatement of qualifications. For external proposals, briefly

reemphasize why you and your firm should do the work. ■ Request. Ask for a decision from the reader.