Planning Reports and Proposals
Learning Objectives
After studying this chapter, you will be able to
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Explain the differences between informational reports and analytical reports
Adapt the three-step writing process to reports and proposals
Explain the value of a work plan in the development of long reports
Describe the four major categories of informational reports and provide examples of each
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
Describe the three major categories of analytical reports and provide examples of each
Discuss three major ways to organize analytical reports
Explain how your approach to writing proposals should differ when you are responding to a formal
request for proposals (RFP)
Summary
Key Words
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reports
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information architecture
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hypothesis
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proposals
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statement of purpose
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problem factoring
request for proposal (RFP)
I. Creating Effective Reports and Proposals
Reports are written accounts ً ‫عرض لمجموعة من الحقائق الخاصة بموضوع معيا‬that objectively communicate
information about some aspect of a business.
Proposals are a special category of reports that combine information delivery and persuasive
communication.
Reports fall into three basic categories: informational reports, analytical reports, and proposals. These
vary from one-page trip reports to detailed business plans and proposals that run hundreds of pages.
II. Applying the Three-Step Writing Process to Reports and Proposals
The three-step writing process described in chapters 4 through 7 can be applied to long reports as well
as brief business messages. This chapter is on the planning step and covers the usual four phases:
analyzing the situation, gathering information, selecting the right medium, and organizing your
information.
The complexity of many reports and the amount of work involved require that you pay special attention
to your statement of purpose, which explains why you are preparing the report and what you plan to
deliver in the report. In addition to a statement of purpose, you should prepare a work plan to help you
coordinate and monitor your undertaking. It can range from a relatively simple list of the steps to a
more formal and detailed statement of exactly what is to be done and when. A more formal work plan is
likely to include the following”
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Statement of the problem or opportunity (for analytical reports and proposals)
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Statement of the purpose and scope
Discussion of tasks that need to be accomplished
Description of any products that will result from your investigation
Review of project assignment, schedules, and resource requirements
Follow-up plans
Working outline
The next step after you have analyzed the situation and determined the best way to proceed is to start
collecting the information you’ll need. Prioritize your needs up front and focus on the most important
questions.
Select the medium for your report based on the needs and expectations of your audience and the
practical advantages and disadvantages o of the choices available to you. Consider how your audience
wants to provide feedback to you and whether you should present it in a form that can be frequently
updated? Bear in mind that your choice of media also sends a message.
When organizing your message, consider whether you will use the direct or indirect approach. The
direct approach is by far the most popular and convenient for business reports. On the other hand, the
indirect approach gives you a chance to prove your points and gradually overcome your reader’s
reservations. Meet your audience 's expectations, select an appropriate format, and keep your report as
short as possible. Use informative (“talking”) rather than descriptive (“topical”) headings when you
compose the outline.
III. Planning Informational Reports
Informational reports provide the information that employees, managers, and others need to make
decisions, take action, and respond to changing conditions. Most informational reports can be grouped
into four categories:
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Reports to monitor and control operations. They provide data that enable managers to see how
well their companies are functioning. Examples of monitor/control reports are business plans,
operating reports and personal activity reports.
Reports to implement policies and procedures. They provide information about organizational
guidelines, approved procedures, and other organizational decisions. Policy reports range from
brief descriptions of procedures to manuals that can run up hundreds of pages. Position papers
describe an organization’s official position on particular issues.
Reports to demonstrate compliance. These confirm that an organization is abiding by required
or regulated standards.
Reports to demonstrate progress. These range from simple updates in memo form to
comprehensive status reports.
In most cases the direct approach is used. Most informational reports use a topical organization,
arranging material in one of the following ways:
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comparison
importance
sequence
chronology
spatial orientation
geography
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category
A business plan is a type of informational report that can be relatively informal if you are starting on a
small scale and using your own money or formal and comprehensive (covering up to 13 different points)
if you are trying to persuade others to invest in it.
Many company websites functional as informational reports. When planning website content, be aware
of the unique nature of online communication: web readers are demanding, reading online can be
difficult, the web is a nonlinear, multidimensional medium. Professional website designers use the term
information architecture to describe the structure and navigational flow of all the parts of a website.
III. Planning Analytical Reports
The purpose of analytical reports is to analyze, to understand, to explain – to think through a problem or
an opportunity and figure out it affects the company and how the company should respond. Analytical
reports fall into three basic categories:
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Reports to assess opportunities. These assess risks and required decisions and actions in order
to take advantage of an opportunity.
 Reports to solve problems. Managers often assign troubleshooting reports when they need to
understand why things are not working properly and what needs to be done to fix it. Failure
analysis reports study events that happen in the past with the hope of learning how to avoid
similar problems in the future.
 Reports to support decisions. Feasibility reports explore the ramifications of a decision that is
about to be made. Justification reports explain a decision that has already been made.
If you determine that the nature of the report is analytical, then the next step is to define the problem
specifically. To help define the problem your report will address, consider these questions:
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What needs to be determined?
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Why is this issue important?
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Who is involved in the situation?
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Where is the trouble located?
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How did the situation originate?
 When did it start?
One you have defined the problem, the next step is to engage in problem factoring –identifying a
cause/effect relationship. This inference or speculation of the cause is called a hypothesis, a potential
explanation that must then be tested.
Several organizational strategies are available to you, depending on whether your audience is receptive
or skeptical.
I. Focusing on Conclusions
When writing for audiences that are likely to accept your conclusions, use the direct approach. Be sure
to support your conclusion with solid reasoning and evidence.
II. Focusing on Recommendations
A slightly different approach is useful when your readers want to know what they should do in a given
situation (as opposed to what they should conclude). Use the direct approach, and unfold your
recommendations in five steps:
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Establish the need for action in the introduction by briefly describing the problem or
opportunity.
Introduce the benefit(s) that can be achieved if the recommendation is adopted, along with any
potential risks.
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; if necessary, also
explain how risks can be minimized.
Summarize your recommendations.
III. Focusing on Logical Arguments
When readers are skeptical or hostile to the conclusion or recommendation you plan to make, use an
indirect approach that logically supports your conclusion or recommendation. The two most common
logical approaches are the 2 + 2 = 4 approach and the yardstick approach.
The 2 + 2 = 4 approach convinces your readers that everything adds up to your conclusion or
recommendation. The main points in your outline are the main reasons behind your conclusions or
recommendations. The yardstick approach uses a number of criteria to decide which option to select
from two or more possibilities. 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.
IV. Planning Proposals
The specific format for proposals are innumerable, but they can be grouped into two general categories.
Internal proposals request decisions from managers within the organization, such as proposals to buy
new equipment or launch new research projects. External proposals request decisions from parties
outside the organization; examples include investment proposals, grant proposals, and sales proposals.
The most significant factor in planning a proposal is whether the recipient has asked you to submit a
proposal. Solicited proposals are prepared in response to a request by either an external organization or
an internal component, usually managerial, of your own organization. Proposals solicited by external
organizations, such as the government, often take the form of a request for proposal (RFP), a formal
invitation to submit a bid for contracted work and a detailed explanation of when and how the work
must be done.
Unsolicited proposals offer more flexibility but also offer a challenge because recipients aren’t expecting
to receive them. Rather, you must persuade the reader that there is a need and that you can fulfill it.
The indirect approach is often the best choice for unsolicited proposals.
Regardless of its format or structure, a good proposal of any type explains what a project or cost of
action will involve, how much it will cost, and how the recipient will benefit.
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Read the "Guide for Writing a Funding Proposal" by S. Joseph Levine at
http://www.learnerassociates.net/proposal/. List the topics that Dr. Levine says should be covered in a funding
proposal.