Report writing is a very responsible and important task. It is necessary to understand that the role of the report can be decisive during the presentation or business meeting. Reports are usually made in order to express the logical information or news in the most appropriate for the audience form. There are a lot of different types of reports performing various functions. Among them the following types should be differentiated: Proposals, Informational and Analytical Reports. In order to understand their functions, it is important to analyze each of them and find differences and similarities between their presentations.
Informational reports are usually used in order to present the information in the most organized and objective way. People use this type of report in case of providing certain information covering a subject in a neat package. Informational reports do not need much time for writing; people who have no possibility to search for information by reading a lot of books and articles use these reports. The only task is to gather the necessary basic information and write a report. Informational reports are very often instructional. They may contain, for example, the device description or the principles of work. The information may be devoted to the theory of the necessary topic but presented in the briefest and instructional way. Informational reports provide the following benefits:
- Informational report writing does not take a lot of time to make it and gather necessary information;
- Such reports are instructive and that is why they are functional and easy to understand.
Thus, it is important to stress that informational reports are very convenient in writing and usage. They are widely used by companies in order to present instructive information about the latest innovations or news. (Jones, 2005)
Another type of report is Proposal. Proposals differ a lot from informational reports in their form and functions. The purpose of a proposal is to make and persuade the reader to do something. Proposals are widely used at presentations and business meetings. In contrast to informational reports proposals have a strict structure having the plan of the report. The basic composition of such reports contains:
- Introductory part;
- The body of the proposal;
- Concluding part;
Writing a successful proposal is a very important and complicated task. Proposals help to increase the volume of sales or make important deals which can be beneficial for the companies. The main features of the proposal are the following:
- Proposals are considered to be persuasive because they are aimed at convincing the readers;
- They are informative because they educate the audience;
Proposals are to be written in a proper way otherwise they would not perform the main function of persuading the customers or the partners. It is important to present the information in a logical way; the order of informational importance should be descending. It means that the most significant information should be provided from the very beginning of the report. One of the most important elements of the proposal is to establish the problem and the audience it is aimed at. The readers are to understand why this very project is of more importance than all the others. Thus, proposals are to involve the readers in the significance of the problem explaining and persuading the audience that they should take part in the project by all means providing them with appropriate reasons for it. (Reid, 2002)
The third type of report to analyze is the Analytical report. Analytical reports have some features of proposals and informational reports. Their main function is to examine an issue and recommend an appropriate solution to the problem. Their purpose is close to that of one of the proposals. Analytical reports are considered to be professional documents written by experts. The structure of the analytical reports is the following:
- Memo;
- Title page;
- Summary of the problem (it contains a brief description of the problem and possible solution to it)
- Contents (it is required in case of a long report);
- Table of figures (if the report contains charts or line drawings);
- Glossary of unfamiliar terms (in order to allow reader understanding them clearly);
- Body part;
- Concluding part;
- Recommendations and appendices; (Jones, 2005)
It is important to stress that analytical reports require definite professional skills for writing them appropriately. The person who is to write such a report has to be completely involved in the problem and be aware of the possible ways of its solution. Experts writing analytical reports are to use special professional methodologies of the company in order to show its position and view on the problem. Analytical reports, as well as informational ones, present the information in a logical way educating the audience as to the main aspects of the problem and the ways of its solution.
The analysis of the report types helped to see the main differences in their forms and structures. All of them are aimed at the presentation of the information but for the fulfillment of the different functions. It should be noted that the simplest form of writing is an Informational report. It takes little effort and time to gather information write the report. The main common feature between the proposal and the analytical report is their function of persuading the audience. These two types are rather complicated in structure and writing process. They require special skills and knowledge of the theme of the problem in order to influence the reader and explain the main aspects of the issue.
Thus, the analysis provided above gave an opportunity to see the value of the reports in the information presented. It was shown how the basic reports should be written and what skills people should have to write them. The report analysis managed to illustrate the main differences and similarities of the Informational and Analytical reports and Proposal. It was shown that the main differences lie in the functions of the reports and their structure. The similarities can be found in the way the information is presented, its significance, and its role in problem resolution. One of the most important factors in the general report writing process is to show the deep knowledge and understanding of the topic or problem the report is devoted to.
References
Reid, Alice. (2002) Proposal Writing. Delaware Technical and Community College.
Jones, Peyton. (2005) Writing Technical Reports. Washington, AS Press.