affective report writing

8/13/2019 affective report writing

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INTRODUCTION

A documentcontaininginformationorganizedin a narrative, graphic,

or tabularform, prepared onad hoc, periodic, recurring, regular, or

as requiredbasis. Reports may refer to specificperiods, events, occurrences, or

subjects, and may be communicated or presented in oral or written form.

A good report should be readable, interesting and well presented. Naturally the

treatment will vary greatly according to the nature of the work done;

nevertheless certain standards are generally applicable.

F

ive Important Steps to Report Writing

Define the problem

Gather the necessary informationAnalyze the information

Organize the information

Write the report

The cover page and Acknowledgement are the starters of the report. Next in

line come the Contents. For most people, the contents list is a summary of

the chapter and section headings, together with a page index, and is

normally written when the document is already complete. However, thecontents list is the one place in the document where overall structure can be

examined.

The Executive Summary should be concisely written and should present the

proposed report clearly. The main body of the report should be organized into

logical parts or sections that follow along in an orderly manner. Care must be

taken while choosing the illustrations (form, quality & size). Just as a good

image can strengthen an issue or point a wrong comparison graph or a poorquality (resolution) image can reduce its impact.

Each figure and table must be numbered and given a brief caption that

adequately explains the information displayed without unnecessary

duplication.
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Your conclusion can go beyond the confines of the assignment. Synthesize,

don't summarize: Include a brief summary of the paper's main points, but don't

simply repeat things. Propose a course of action and a solution to the issue.

Distribution of responsibilities and functions during the execution and later(for operation & maintenance) is very important for the report to be called

actually successful. Thus calls for the importance of a proposed management

structure.

Appendices are useful for presenting raw data, questionnaire forms, theoretical

background or any material that is necessary for the reader but does not fit

appropriately in the main body of the report.

It may help to decide very early on in your report about the major sections

(main headings) to be used. Then systematically build up the contents of each

section (using sub-sections) as your work progresses. Check that your

presentation is in a logical sequence and the sections are coherent.

With a technical document, it is often beneficial to write the technical chapters

first i.e., the core material, leaving the introduction, discussion and conclusions

& Proposals for the end. Critical assessment should be made of your results

giving proper rationale to all the assumptions taken.

As for format, reports range from a simpler format with headings to indicate

topics, to more complex formats including charts, tables, figures, pictures,

tables of contents, abstracts, summaries, appendices, footnotes and references.

A report can contain information in a variety of forms. These include text,

figures, tables and pictures. In cases where several options are available for

representing a particular piece of information, the author can choose

appropriately to make the document a less daunting prospect to the reader

through visual balance. In most cases, however, the appropriate choice of

medium is dictated by the type of information to be communicated.


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Text is the `filler' and provides the bridge between the figures, tables, pictures

and references. Having completed the major chore of writing the document,

you may consider that your work is complete. It is worth taking that extra

small amount of time to ensure that your document is professional and is free

from grammatical and spelling mistakes.


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ANATOMY OF REPORT

OVER PAGEC

Attaching a cover letter to a Report is expected if you're an outsidindependent contractor hired to write the report for a client. But even if

you're an employee of a company and wrote the report for your boss, a

cover letter is an appreciated finishing touch to the project. When preparing

a cover letter for a report, follow a standard format and include some basic

information.

The cover page is the first impression and it should be the best.

T he cover page should have the following features:

Name of the report / Title

Name of the Organisation / ULB who has made the report

Date (Month, Year)

A typical format of the cover page is shown in

Project Title

Date (Month, Year)

Graphic

Submitted by:

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TITLE PAGE

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The Title Page is the Cover Page without graphics.

In addition to the cover page the report may have the title page. It provides

the same set of information but without graphics. The major differences

ith respect to the cover page are:wNo Graphics

Details on the report submitted to *

Details on the report submitted by *

(* in case these are not provided on the cover page)

The figure 8.4 shows the typical layout of the Title

Page.

report Title

Date (Month, Year)

Submitted to:

Submitted by:


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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Acknowledgements are made to remember all the support obtained from

other departments, organizations and individuals. It is a way of

establishing a relationship with them

This section is used to thank and acknowledge the support and helpprovided by various departments, officials and independents. The name ofthe people is mentioned as per their seniority in department and position.Figure shows a sample acknowledgement page.

EXAMPLE

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

We sincerely acknowledge the valuable inputs and supportrendered by the following individuals:

Shri D. Rajagopalan, IAS, Principal Secretary, Industries &Mines, GoG

Ms. Gairi Kumar, IAS, Industries Commissioner, IC, GoG

Shri. Arvind Aggarwal, IAS, Ex. Industries Commissioner, IC,GoG

Shri P.K.Pujari, IAS, VC & MD, Gujarat IndustrialDevelopment Corporation (GIDC)

Smt D. Thara , IAS District Collector, Ahmedabad.

Shri R. J. Shah, Principal Chief Industrial advisor, IndustriesCommissionerate, Gandhinagar

Smt Shobhna Ben Desai, D S, Industries & Mines department

Shri G. I. Desai, Dy. Commissioner of Industries (Infra),Industries Commissionerate

Shri C. B. Desadia, Joint Industries Commissioner, DIC,Ahmedabad


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TABLE OF CONTENTS

contents page gives a list of all sections of the report , with major and

minor headings and the member of the page on which each section

begins.

The most people, the contents list is a summary of the chapter and section

headings, together with a page index, and is normally written when the

document is already complete. However, the contents list is the one place in the

document where overall structure can be examined.

Early organisation of the contents list is certainly not a trivial problem and may

take up to a few days to draft. The level of detail should go down to (probably)

sub-subsections, where the final level contains one key idea and takes up, at

most, two to three paragraphs of text. It may even be useful to title each

paragraph, though this may not appear in the final contents list as a formal

eading.hAgain, it is important to stress that laying out the contents list is not easy.

However, some hard work at this stage will save a lot of grief later on and is

pro-active in ensuring good structure. A badly structured document inherits its

own inertia and will be very difficult (and laborious) to correct at a later stage.

However, if one finds it difficult the table of contents can be prepared

manually also. Care should be taken while formulating the Contents page:

1.After the chapter name up to two levels of headings are sufficient (giving

ore sub-subsections in the contents page will make it loosem2.Page numbers should be written on the right side of each heading. However,

this should be done at the end after the report is complete (as this may changeuring editing).d

3. Alternatively, one can even write the range of page numbers against the

chapter name .


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LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS (TABLES / FIGURES / MAPS)

ACTIONS SPEAK LOUDER THAN WORDS . IN A REPORT THE

TABLES / FIGURES / MAPS AND ANY FORM OF ILLUSTRATIONSPLAY THE ROLE OF ACTIONS.

Care must be taken while choosing the illustrations (form, quality & size). Just

as a good image can strengthen an issue or point a wrong comparison graph or

a poor quality (resolution) image can reduce its impact.

It may even be useful to title each paragraph, though this may not appear in the

final contents list as a formal heading. Again, it is important to stress that

laying out the contents list is not easy. However, some hard work at this stage

will save a lot of grief later on and is pro-active in ensuring good structure.

Each figure and table must be numbered and given a brief caption that

adequately explains the information displayed without unnecessary

duplication. A reference to each figure or table must be made in the main body

of the report, e.g. For the convenience of the reader, you should put each graph

and table as close as possible to the relevant text in the report.


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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The most important results and recommendations of the report should besummarized for the convenience of the readers in the form of an executive

summary.

Executive summary of the report should be about 500 to 1000 words long

including the purpose of the study; the methodology used; and a summary of

the major findings, conclusions and recommendations. The summary should be

concisely written and should present the proposed report clearly.

Following outline can help one formulate a concise and good executiveummary:s

Introduction to the report area

Need of the report

Main objectives

Brief of Methodology and various analysis done

Existing Situation

Issues of concern and identified problems

Recommendations & Proposals

Concluding Remarks (if any) and the road ahead


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The Main Body

The main body of the report consists of existing situation, analysis,

issues identified, recommendations & proposals, cost estimates and

implementing structure.

The main body of the report should be organized into logical parts or sections

that follow along in an orderly manner. The sections ahead outline the various

parts of this main body of the report.

Introduction

P roject Objective, Purpose and Scope/ Limitations, Assumptions, and

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Methods

This chapter should describe the history of the proposed report and explain

how it fits into the national sector strategy and the long-term development

rogram. Plus municipal responsibilities and roles of stakeholders involved.pThis chapter briefly explains the reasons for the report and how it was prepared.

Preferably, the introductory chapter will contain information about:

-

The report Origin

A description of how the proposed report idea was developed.

-

The Organization and Management of the Study

An explanation on the how the whole analysis (methodology/ framework etc)

was carried out.

- Scope and Status of this Report

An explanation of how this report fits in the overall process of report

implementation.


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THE REPORT AREA AND THE NEED FOR A REPORT

The report Area, Background/History of the Problem, Need of the report

Why?

This chapter explains why a report is needed. The following sections should be

dealt with in this chapter:

-

The report Area

Description of the report area in terms of its location, District, Taluka and the

report area. Maps / Figures explaining the relationship of the report area with

surrounding important areas is important.

-

The issue of Concern & The need for the project

This explains the need of the project. It is like an introduction to why the report

is important and needs to be taken up e.g.. a DPR on construction of an STP

will talk about the increasing sewage in the city and the existing inefficient

reatment system.tThis is the key section of this chapter. In this section conclusions are drawn

about the need for a report in light of existing situations, standards and issuesof concern. Basically in this section it is summarized why the existing systems

cannot cope with present (and projected) demands for services.

- Objectives

Objectives that the report should achieve should be expressed both as general

evelopment objectives and operational objectives.dGeneral development objectives include aspects such as expected

mprovements, improved living standards, institutional improvements etc.iOperational objectives for the report concern improvements in existing systems

and coverage. Each objective should be quantified (to the extent possible), and

a schedule for achieving these objectives should be presented.


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RECOMMENDATIONS

Proposals, suggestions, recommendations

What needs to be done

The final suggestions and recommendations are put together to form this

chapter. This is the chapter what everyone (who looks at the report) is

interested in. Introductions and conclusions can be the most difficult parts of

report to write. While the body is often easier to write, it needs a frame around

it. An introduction and conclusion frame your thoughts and bridge your ideas

for the reader.

Your conclusion is your chance to have the last word on the subject. Theconclusion allows you to have the final word on the issues you have raised in

your paper, to summarize your thoughts and to demonstrate the importance of

your ideas. It is also your opportunity to make a good final impression and to

end on a positive note.

Your conclusion can go beyond the confines of the assignment. Synthesize,

don't summarize: Include a brief summary of the paper's main points, but don't

simply repeat things that were in your paper. Propose a course of action and asolution to the issue.

Here the proposals given should also be phased out over time e.g. which roads

should be widened and strengthened in the first 2 years, 5 years, 10 years so on

and so forth.


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WRITING EFFECTIVELY AT THE SENTENCE LEVEL

The entire goal of writing is to produce clear text with unambiguous meaning.

Contrary to popular belief, it is not an easy task. Your writing should be free ofmistakes in spelling, punctuation and grammar. Blatant mistakes jar your reader

out of your report to think about you in unflattering terms. More subtle

mistakes work against you more subtly by forcing your reader to expend

more effort just to understand what you meant to say. Good spelling,

punctuation and grammar are not important in themselves. When they serve

your purpose of communicating clearly the substance of your report, they are

invisible.

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Maximize the effectiveness of your written presentation

Demonstrate your

familiarity with the

roblemWrite effectively at the sentence level:

void passive voice.p AEstablish your

modeling expertiseAvoid dangling participles.

void mixing tenses.AAvoid unexplained terminology or notation.

Avoid ambiguous phrasing.Maximizeeader insightrMinimize

reader effort

Avoid forcing reader to

repeatedly read text for

understanding

Figure : The primary purpose of writing well at the sentence

level is tominimize reader effort by not forcing him/her torepeatedly read text for understanding.


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Avoid the passive voice

The active voice X did Y is usually preferable to the passive voice Y

was done by X or Y was done. The latter form of the passive (where you

omit the agent X) is particularly dangerous because it results in ambiguityconcerning the agents identity. In a consulting environment, both you and

your client may perform actions, and sloppy use of the passive voice may

obscure who is acting. For example, consider the following sentences from a

ypothetical report report:h

On the first day of our trip, the assembly floor was visited by team

members to collect time-study data. Initially, molds were placed on a

conveyor belt followed by a retail box.

The passive voice is particularly likely to creep into lists or headings fromwhich you have omitted the agent for brevitys sake. The passive voice isoften essential for lists and headings, but if you must use it, try to use the form"Y was done by X" in which the agent is identified. Suppose, for example, thatin a clients quality control procedure, a quality control officer (QC) rejects oraccepts a lot of manufactured items prior to shipping by counting defects in asample taken from the lot. To evaluate this procedure, your team has done afull count of the defects in both accepted and rejected lots

Using Appendices

In reports that have a substantial technical component, it is often a good idea

to include one or more appendices. Again, this strategy minimizes reader

effort by providing a top-down strategy and allowing him/her to avoid

echnical detail should he/she desire. Items that go into an appendix include:t

1. Background material and data. Examples include excerpts from

previous studies, data previously collected by the client, and

architectural drawings2. Computer input or output. A computer program or your input to a

simulationor optimization package may be listed, as well as the

output from such packages. However, if these are very long, they

should be included on a disk instead.

3. Raw data. You may wish to provide detailed tables or graphs

showing the numbers that you summarized in the Analysis


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section of the report.

4. Derivation of analytical expressions. If you took an expression from

a bookor article, simply citing it is enough; but it you derived the

expression and it is not obvious, you should give the derivation in a

appendix.

5. Tedious calculations. You may not want to interrupt the readers

train ofthought by including, say, the details of a long present-value

computation. Instead, simply say the present value of Alternative 3

is $352,000 (see Appendix A for details) and let the interested

reader consult the appendix for the complications involving taxes,

depreciation and the like.

If you have several of these items to include, put each in a separate

appendix. Identify the appendices by letters A, B, C, and so forth.

Using References and Citations

A References section is not always necessary, but should be included if you citeresults from books or articles. In the main text of your report, you should cite

your sources in a uniform way, and in the references section, your list ofreferences should have a uniform style. In one style, book titles may be bolded,

journal articles italicized and authors names listed "last,-first". In another style,book titles might be italic, journal articles quoted, and authors names listed first-last. You can adopt any style as long as you use it consistently. There are style

books in all libraries, and on the internet, but you can also adopt a style from atextbook or article. Most journals have an Instructions to Contributors sectionwhich appears annually, in which citation and reference style for that journal aredescribed. Appendix 1 contains examples of citation and reference styles. If youuse one your readers are more likely to have seen, your style will seem invisibleto them


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CONTENT FORMATION

It may help to decide very early on your report about the major sections (main

headings) to be used. Then systematically build up the contents of each section

(using sub-sections) as your work progresses. Check that your presentation is in a

logical sequence and the sections are coherent.

Writing Sequence

With a technical document, it is often beneficial to write the technical chapters first

i.e., the core material, leaving the introduction, discussion and conclusions &Proposals for the end. This is especially important when some results are still not

available and the time has come to begin writing your document. Even in cases

where all results are available, leaving the introduction until the end allows a better

perspective to be had on the document as a whole.

Justif ication and rationale

For each idea presented, you should establish some rationaleor motivation for its

undertaking and any assumptions made must bejustified.

Remember to mention the source of all information used in the report. Also the

standards & guidelines relevant to the report and report area should be mentioned

and rationally used for giving the proposals.

Similarly, critical assessment should be made of your results giving proper

rationale to all the assumptions taken.

Logical Structure

Logical structure means the natural unfolding of a story as the reader progresses

through the document. This is achieved by going from the general to the specific,

with the background material preceding the technical expose, which should lead

logically to the conclusions.

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Everything should support the conclusions and naturally lead up to them.

Remember this when constructing your contents list.

What is the problem you are trying to solve? What is the approach (your

methodology) you are taking? What is important about this work? Basically youwant to motivate what you are doing and why you are doing it.

Background & Context

Describe related work and background on the subject / area / report you are doing

your work in.

Results, Proposal & Future Work

What is the overall design of what you are doing? Why did you take this approach?

What alternatives did you consider? What issues came up during the development

of the report design? Did you have to make any changes in your design? How do

you plan to implement the project? Based on the results and evaluations what work

can be done in the future? This section is often included as a separate chapter.

Discussions and Conclusions

What is important about your project? What summary statements can you make?

What did you learn in this project?

The last section of each report report should be Summary'' and a sumup of the

conclusions of the project.

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MULTIMEDIA AND VISUAL BALANCE

A report can contain information in a variety of forms. These include text,

figures, tables and pictures. The following subsections contain some

information regarding the appropriate use of each. However, choosing different

means of representation can also be used to give visual balance to the document,

for example by breaking up long sections of text with equations, tables or

figures. In cases where several options are available for representing a particular

piece of information, the author can choose appropriately to make the document

a less daunting prospect to the reader through visual balance. In most cases,

however, the appropriate choice of medium is dictated by the type of

information to be communicated.

The example here shows the same set of information in a Table, Chart and a

Map.

DENSITY GROWTH AREA IN SQ TOTAL PERSON / RATE FAMILY SEX

NAME KM POPULATION SQ.KM (%)1991-2001 SIZE LITERACY RATIO WPRKUDATHINI 78.3 12247 156 23.3 5.6 55.1 933.8 42.5THIMMALAPURA 15.8 1958 124 35.6 5.6 46 998.0 51.7BUVVANAHALLI 3.0 1147 384 34.2 5.9 50.1 662.5 47.9DHARAMSAGAR 13.2 1554 118 19.1 5.5 48.7 153.7 54.0GADIGANUR 14.6 4513 310 23.5 5.8 39.8 136.2 49.0UPPARAHALLI 15.2 1776 117 26.6 6.9 44.4 991.0 55.4KOTTIGINAHAL 10.5 425 41 25.4 6.9 59.9 200.8 54.3CHIKKANTAPUR 14.7 1094 74 25.6 5.9 59.4 1033.5 56.2KURREKUPPA 21.7 10817 499 27.8 5.3 56.6 911.8 53.9NAGALAPUR 4.5 1538 339 31.1 5.4 47.1 912.9 52.3DAROJI 39.7 8851 223 14.9 5.6 41.5 991.2 39.8S.BASAPUR 8.8 1371 156 17.0 6.0 51.7 1004.4 48.0TALUR 13.6 3371 248 36.4 5.8 42.3 938.5 48.0TORANGAL 25.1 6324 252 43.9 5.4 62 865.5 41.6VADDU 13.0 5652 435 121.0 5.4 67.3 819.1 43.8

Y.HALLI 12.5 488 39 9.4 6.6

59.5983.7

50.2

KODALU 21.4 1616 76 18.9 6.1 45.3 970.7 55.4BELLARY DISTRICT 8450 1320290 240 22.41 5.4 45.28 969 45.4KARNATAKA 1,91,487 34889033 276 17.52 56.87 965 44.5

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FIGURES CHARTS OR GRAPHS

A chart or graph is a type of information graphic or graphic organizer that

represents tabular numeric data and/or functions. Charts are often used to make it

easier to understand large quantities of data and the relationship between different

parts of the data. Charts can usually be read more quickly than the raw data that

they come from.

``A picture tells a thousand words''? There is great substance in this statement, and

nowhere more obvious than in Detailed report Reports. Use figures liberally to

communicate specific results (graphs) and show an overview of the system being

described through block diagrams, etc. Where possible, put multiple plots on thesame axes, so that comparative conclusions can be drawn (e.g. comparison of

growth rate in past few decades) (See Figure). Ensure that each figure has a

number and a title, so that it can be referenced from the text.

Certain types of charts are more useful for presenting a given data set than others.

For example, data that presents percentages in different groups (such as Existing

Land Use Distribution) are often best explained in a pie chart. On the other hand,

data that represents numbers that change over a period of time (such as "Population

Growth from 1990 to 2000") might be best shown as a line chart or a Bar Graph.

Tables

A table is a set of data elements (values) that is organized using a model of

horizontal rows and vertical columns. The columns are identified by name, and the

rows are identified by the values appearing in a particular column subset

which has been identified as a candidate key. Tables are an excellent means of

giving an overview of numerical results or providing information in a form which

lends itself to comparison. Again, ensure that each table has a number and a title,

so that it can be referenced from the text.

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Pictures / Images/ Diagrams/ Flowcharts

The text that is written in the report should be supported by relevant pictures. This

is especially important to put across the existing situation and to highlight the

issues of concern.

Also, existing organization structure of system followed can be well explained

with the help of a diagram or flowcharts. Such flowcharts can also help illustrate

the proposed systems and structures for better and faster understanding.

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FORMATTING THE REPORT

As for format, reports range from a simpler format with headings to indicate topics,

to more complex formats including charts, tables, figures, pictures, tables of

ontents, abstracts, summaries, appendices, footnotes and references.cThis section outlines the basic features and procedures of formatting. It also

outlines some very basic procedures of the software Microsoft work (which is

most frequently used for report making).

M

argins

Page margins are the blank space around the edges of the page. In general,

you insert text and graphics in the printable area inside the margins.

However, you can position some items in the margins for example,

headers, footers, and page numbers.

Add margins for binding. Use a gutter margin to add extra space to the side top

margin of a document you plan to bind. A gutter margin ensures that text isn't

obscured by the binding.

Header and Footer

Headers and footers are areas in the top and bottom margins of each page in a

document. (See figure 8.15)

Generally the Header and Footer contain the data like, Chapter number, name of

the Chapter, Name of the Project, Name of the Organisation, Month & Year and

page number.

Though there is no set format of the header and footer and can be made to look as

per the writers perception, the following format shows general outline of the

features, their formatting and placement.

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Page Numbering

Normally the Page numbers are provided on the bottom right corner of the page as

a part of the footer. Microsoft Word provides two ways to add page numbers. In

either case, the page numbers appear in the header or footer at the top or bottom of

the page. The steps below show how to add Page Numbers in Microsoft Word

(Also Refer Figure 8.18).

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HEADINGS

The following things should be kept in mind when forming headings of the

document:Hierarchy of Headings:

There should be hierarchy of headings in any documents and accordingly their

formatting should be done e.g. Heading 1 can be the chapter, heading 2 the

sections and heading 3 the sub sections. Care should be taken to avoid excessive

use of minor headings.

Font Size:

The size of font selected for the headings should be in their order of hierarchy from

largest to smallest for heading 1 to further. Care should be taken that no heading

font size should be smallest than the body text.

Heading Fonts:

One should be careful while choosing the font for a heading. It should be legible

and not contrasting to the other fonts used in the document. Also care should be

taken not to use more that 5 fonts in one document.

F

ormatting text using Styles:

A style is a set of formatting characteristics that you can apply to text, tables, and

lists in your document to quickly change their appearance. When you apply a style,

you apply a whole group of formats in one simple task.

Table of ContentsA table of contents is a list of the headings in a document. You can use a table of

contents to get an overview of the topics discussed in a document.

You can create a table of contents using the built-in heading styles and outline-

level formats in Microsoft Word. After you've specified the headings to include,

you can choose a design and build the finished table of contents. When you build a

table of contents, Word searches for the specified headings, sorts them by heading

level, and displays the table of contents in the document.

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THE CAPITAL DILEMMA

Avoid excessive use of capital letters. One recommendation is to only use capitals

for proper nouns (such as place names, company names, etc) and in places where

acronyms are being defined, e.g., Urban Local Body (ULB). Acronyms should be

defined at the first point of usage and the acronym can then be used freely. Try to

avoid the use of capitals for emphasis, use boldfacing or italics instead. Capitals

can be used effectively to differentiate between different section heading levels,

such as in this document i.e., the next level up uses capitals to start each word in

the subsection title. However, if you wish to do this, or differentiate between

different heading levels in a different way, make sure you are consistent in the way

you do this.

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DOS AND DONTS OF REPORT WRITING

This section is intended to provide practical advice on writing guidelines that

followed when writing a report. These guidelines are common errors of English

that people make.

Acknowledgement

While writing the acknowledgement, name the people in hierarchy of position and

epartment i.e.d

General Manager, Deputy General Manager, report In-charge, so on and so

forth, and

Central Government Department, State Government Departments, District

level Departments, so on and so forth.

Illustrations

Tables and figures are good additions to any report. A useful writing methodology

is to determine the set of tables and figures you plan to use first then ``talk around''

them in your text. Each table and figure you use should have a caption. Captions

for tables always go above the table and captions for figures always go below the

figure. A simple rule to remember is table at top, figure at foot.''

Writing

Re-check any sentence in which you repeat the same word more than once. This

situation is often an indication that one of the repeated words can be dropped or the

sentence should be rewritten.

Header & Footer

There should be no Header on:

The Preamble/ Preface

The First page of every Chapter (1, 2, 3 and so on), Contents, List of

Tables/ Figures/ Maps

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There should be no header & Footer on:

The Cover Page

The Title Page

Acknowledgement Page

Project Team Page

AVOID THE PASSIVE VOICE

The active voice X did Y is usually preferable to the passive voice Y was

done by X or Y was done. The latter form of the passive (where you omit the

agent X) is particularly dangerous because it results in ambiguity concerning the

agents identity. In a consulting environment, both you and your client may

perform actions, and sloppy use of the passive voice may obscure who is acting.

or example, consider the following sentences from a hypothetical report report:F

The passive voice is particularly likely to creep into lists or headings from whichyou have omitted the agent for brevitys sake. The passive voice is often essentialfor lists and headings, but if you must use it, try to use the form "Y was done by X"in which the agent is identified. Suppose, for example, that in a clients quality

control procedure, a quality control officer (QC) rejects or accepts a lot ofmanufactured items prior to shipping by counting defects in a sample taken fromthe lot. To evaluate this procedure, your team has done a full count of the defectsin both accepted and rejected lots

Documents

affective report writing