Unit: 5Business Communication

Reports and Proposals

• In this chapter we will focus on other documents that you will probably need to write at some point.

• The most common of these is email, which, as you will see, is much less formal than written letters.

• Each of the three document types is introduced by an example document and is followed by a guide to writing that particular type of document.

How organizations use reports and proposals

• Reports are like bridges, space, and spanning time.

• Companies usually utilize them to offer a formal, places, verifiable link among people, times.

• Some reports are employed for internal message; others are vehicles for corresponding with external communication.

• Most of the organizations serve as a permanent record keeping; others solve an immediate problem or response a passing query.

Planning business reports and proposals

• A well-written business proposal should include long-term objectives in order to obtain quality goal, cost effective, understandable, and take morale values into consideration.

There are some important points you need to keep in mind while writing report and proposal are as follows:

• Customer satisfaction/ quality of product and service

• Market share. Profit Margin, Sales, Labor Costs, Production Costs

• Various new products and services, Reliability of research, Research and Development cost.

• Head office location, Business expansion plan, Exit strategy

Six general objectives:

– To monitor and control operations– To assist implement policies and

procedures– To comply with legal or regulatory

requirements– To assess new business or funding

opportunities– To document work performed for a

client– To guide decisions on specific issues

To monitor and control operations

• Most of the application for business proposals and reports is to monitor and control the functions of the company.

• Since supervisors can not be everywhere at one point of time, they usually rely on proposals and reports to find out what is going on to the functions under their control.

• Monitoring and control mainly emphasize on information.

To assist implement policies and procedures

• Other general use for business reports is to assist put organization policies and procedures into consideration.

• Such as reports for monitoring and controlling functions, reports that imply policies and procedures are essential since supervisor cannot be everywhere at one point of time.

To comply with legal or regulatory requirements

• The regulation of business by government agencies needs another general type of report: the compliance report.

• All compliance reports are composed in reply to regulations of one sort or another, most of them imposed by government agencies.

• The regulatory agency provide instructions on how to compose compliance reports, and the significantly thing is to be loyal, accurate, reliable.

To assess new business or funding opportunities

• A proposal is an attempt to obtain products, plan, or project approved by outside business or authority clients.

• It usually called a sales proposal. Such proposals spells out precisely what the seller will offer under particular terms and conditions.

To document work performed for a client

• One an organization gets the contract; the engineers can not easily put their pens away and forget about composing.

• Definitely, their writing days have just begun.

• They need to document their work as well.• • Reports that document client work vary in the

relationship with the client.

To guide decisions on specific issues

• The most attractive business reports are those that assist the supervisor in your organization take major decisions. Before replying to problems or opportunities, most of the managers study the advantages and disadvantages of substitute such as research reports, troubleshooting reports, and justifiable reports.

Writing business reports and proposals

• Direct order: This approach usually saves your time and

makes the report easier for the writer to comprehend by providing readers the main idea initially.

• Indirect order: The indirect approach assist in overwhelm

the conflict by with-holding the key idea until later in the proposal and report.

Essential points to remember

• A report is usually divided into four parts:

• Terms of references• Procedure• Findings• Conclusions• Recommendations

– Terms of reference: This part provides background facts on the reason for the report. It often comprises the person appealing the report.

– Procedure: The procedure gives the precise steps taken and techniques used for the report.

– Findings: The finding figure out the problems made at the time of course of the report inquiry.

– Conclusion: The conclusion gives rationale conclusions on the basis of findings.

– Recommendation: The recommendation state activities that the composer of the report feels have to be taken on the basis of findings and conclusion.

Revising business reports and proposals

• Once you draft the final version of the reports and proposals revise it carefully, and eliminate unnecessary points.

• Potential business investors always want to search credible facts and figures quickly, although being convinced of prospective market growth and lucrative all the times.

Effective business reports and proposals

• In order to make you’re your report and proposal attractive and effective, you need to keep in mind few things.

• Your final version is always depending on the nature of your company.

• After reviewing you need to make sure the arrangement, formatting style, and alignment.

The three fundamental of official report:

• Prefatory: It include cover, title page, title fly, letter of acceptance, letter of authorization, letter of transmittal, table of content, list of illustration, Executive summary.

• Text: It comprises of introduction, body, summary, conclusion, recommendations, and notes.

• Supplementary parts: It includes Appendixes, bibliography, and Index.

Today we discussed:

• Reports and Proposals• Planning business reports and proposals• Six general objectives• Writing business reports and proposals• Revising business reports and proposals• Effective business reports and proposals

List of References:

• J.Michael Sproule, communication Today (Glenview, I11.: Scott, Foresman, 1981), 329

• John S. McClenahen, “ Managing more people in the’ 90s,”industry week, 20 March 1989,30,31.

• David lewis, the secret language of success (New York: Carroll and Graf, 1989), 67, 170.