EES-Siyakha

Report Writing
Day One and Day Two

Report writing is an essential skill for both the individual and the business. For the individual, it is a career skill that can make a huge difference to how they are perceived within their field. For the business, the ability to communicate clearly both internally and externally is a key indicator for success.

In this activity-based workshop, you gain the skills to quickly create effective business reports. Reader-focused, persuasive documents result in greater business efficiency, increased profitability and a higher level of employee satisfaction.

This workshop is structured so that your own templates can be integrated into the workshop flow and the workshop can be customised to your exact business needs.

You will learn how to:

Plan your reports to target your readers and achieve your objectives

Produce convincing recommendation reports that are easy to read, understand and act upon

Use the structure of reports to appeal to different groups of readers

Improve your understanding of your documents by structuring information in a way that is helpful to your readers

Increase your confidence in delivering a successful report that enables the business to makes a meaningful decision

Become a more powerful and persuasive writer

Activity-based training

In this workshop you will carry out exercises that will focus on specific issues related to creating reports. This activity-based experience can be customised to include exercises to deal with reports from your own business. These exercises include:

Analysing and prioritising the audiences for your report

Selecting and implementing an idea generation technique

Developing criteria and explaining alternatives to form the recommendation section of a report

Developing a reader-focused structure for report information

Signaling with sentences to get your message across to the reader

Writing a great executive summary

Using checklists to focus your revision process

Writing a short report

Workshop Outline

First Class Business Writing: The Value to your Organisation

Adding value to the public image of your business

Making your business more effective

Increasing your profitability

Focusing on your Readers and your Objectives

Focusing on your reader – getting your message across

Understanding your readers needs

Determining the report objective

Looking at the Report Writing Process

Managing the process

Planning your process

Pre-writing

Collecting and organising information

Preparing your structure

Outliner tools

Testing your structure

Drafting your report

Revising your report

The Report Template

Looking at the front matter of your report – objectives, scope of work, statement of problem and remit

Executive summary

Report body

Conclusions

Recommendations

Writing your Report

The report paradox

Building a pyramid of information

Stating your problem

Reader-focused structure and style

Dovetailing your information with your readers requirements

Adopting the style that works for your readers

Effective conclusions

Recommending your solution

Developing criteria

Explaining alternatives

Overcoming writers block

Back Matter

Annexes, appendixes and appendices

Glossary of terms

Creating your Executive Summary

Identifying the levels of interest of your readers

Aligning your reader’s levels of interest with your executive summary

Looking at good and bad executive summaries

Creating a great executive summary

Writing Persuasively

The structure of persuasion

Looking at how decisions are made

How long does a decision take?

Familiarity and recognition

Single-issue decision making

Return on Investment

Establishing credibility

Addressing potential reader objections

Using data from multiple credible sources

Your professional qualifications

Aligning your message with the beliefs of the business

Accuracy

Saying what you mean

Avoiding Common Pitfalls

Reviewing your Writing

Critical elements in grammar and punctuation… and why they are critical

Indispensable editing techniques

Spelling and typographical errors

Checking and amending your document

Proof reading tips

Fused and fragmentary sentences

Homophone and homonyms

Commonly misused words and clichés

Time Management

Avoiding deadline doom

Minutes and Meetings
Day Three

Accurate minutes of meetings are an essential for any successful organisation. If you are the one who has to record and write the minutes, you are probably well aware of how challenging this process can be.

This programme will help you to:

Appreciate the importance of a clear agenda in running an effective meeting and taking the minutes

Anticipate and manage common problems that can arise when setting up an agenda

Obtain background information and gain an understanding of discussion items so you can take better notes

Gain the confidence to clarify and confirm points during the meeting

Listen effectively to distinguish between the relevant and irrelevant, as well as the need-to-know and nice-to-know
Know the factors to consider in deciding what to record and include in the minutes

Understand how various sections of minutes can be labeled

Use language correctly to convey your meaning accurately and clearly

Learn how to use the reported speech correctly, as required in writing minutes

Write concise sentences and paragraphs so that your minutes are easier to read

Workshop Outline

Preparing the Agenda

The importance of a Notice and Agenda to the smooth running of a meeting

How agenda items can help you take better notes

Overcoming common problems in setting up a clear and accurate agenda

Taking Notes Effectively

Preparing yourself for efficient note-taking

Working with the chairperson before and during meetings

Clarifying and confirming points professionally and confidently

How to actively listen for main points and actions

Differentiating between relevant and irrelevant details

Distinguishing between the need-to-know and nice-to-know, and knowing what to record

Preparing Accurate Minutes

Types of meetings, and different types of minutes you may need to prepare

Accepted ways of labeling different sections of minutes

The ideal time frame for compiling and distributing your minutes

Using attachments appropriately and effectively

The Right Way to Write Minutes

Using language effectively to make your minutes clear and accurate

Being specific and focused when presenting your points

Making your minutes reader-friendly by using sentences and paragraphs effectively

Portraying discussions accurately by using correct tenses