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What Differentiates Between a Report and a "Good" Report?
Home » Management » The Art of Good Reporting » What Differentiates Between a Report and a "Good" Report?Most people assume that a report will be dry and filled with an endless stream of statistics and data; however, it is not necessary that a report be boring to be effective. A good report will not only deliver the necessary and requested information, but also be engaging and interesting. Depending on the audience of the report, it could even be entertaining.
Boy Scout leaders are required to complete reports of all activities, classes taken and unexpected incidents (good and bad) that happen while their troop is at camp each year. One such leader decided that his troop’s experience at camp had been so unusual that it warranted a particularly entertaining report. Normally, these reports are one or two pages, but this leader’s opus was five pages long, and so entertaining that it made its way up to the council leadership very quickly after camp was over. Because of its entertainment value, it was read over and over, and shared with others.
Managers may be focused on business most of the time, but humor and creative writing can be an effective way of getting your point across. It is important to remember that the humor must be appropriate and inoffensive, and the creativity must be restricted to the writing, and not manipulation of the data within the report.
The art of good reporting requires that the document must be easy to read and understand, it must fulfill the purpose for which was written, and it must be appropriate to the audience that will read it. The information in a good report will be factual and accurate. It will not be slanted or manipulated to fulfill personal goals, and it will be complete, yet concise enough to read quickly.
Good reports will be engaging, thorough, and unbiased. They will be well organized, using headings and subheadings to make retrieving small portions of data possible at a glance. The art of good reporting does not prohibit an entertainment value, but that value must be appropriate to the subject of the report, and the audience that will read and take action on the information contained therein. But the final word on good reporting is that while a report may be ‘good to read,’ it must also contain the actionable information requested by management so that appropriate decisions can be made.
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- What is Reporting?
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- What are the Elements that should be Included in a Business Report?
- What Stands in the Way of Good Reporting?
- What Differentiates Between a Report and a "Good" Report?