Reports are brief, well-written papers created with a specific audie
nce and purpose in mind,written for a variety of purposes and on a
variety of topics.Reports are frequently communicated orally, in
writing, on television, in movies, or in other media. They are
always written chronologically in the order that events occurred.
Reports are classified based on their purpose and intended
audience. The most basic distinction is between 'informal' and
'formal'.
Starting with informal reports, these are basically short written and
shared within an organisation. Informal reports typically have
more controversial tone and address common problems and issues
with a specific readership within the organization. Informal reports
are used to communicate clearly and quickly in any of the
following formats:- memo, the letter form and the prepared form
report, or a variety of other formats that don't fall under any of the
preceding three categories and are referred to as miscellaneous
reports.
If we categorize the types of informal reports we see
1:- Progress report
2:- Sales activity report
3:- Personnel evaluation
4:- Financial report
5:-Feasibility report
6:-Literature review
7:-Credit report
This sums up the idea of informal reports.
Now moving on to formal reports, such reports are complex
documents that are used at an official level and are the result of
the gathering and analysis of data information.
If we define the various types of formal reports then we find :-
1:-Informational reports
2:-Analytical reports
3:-Recommendation reports
Informal reports are typically written for internal and external
readers within organisations. Most of the time, these reports are
prepared quickly, do not require extensive planning, and contain
little background information. In addition, no supplements are
included in the informal reports, but a crucial step for formal
reports. Informal reports are mostly used to quickly share essential
results and pieces of information with internal team members,
whereas in formal reports, the method for decision-making is
established by summarizing the purpose, analysing the facts,
identifying the results, and articulating the recommendations.
Memos and notices serve as a helpful distinction between the two,
with memos being more personal thus being included in informal
reports while notices being more formal and being included in
formal reports. primary distinction between informal and formal
reports is that formal or complex reports require some level of
investigation, research and must be well-detailed whereas informal
reports do not. Informal reports are typically written for internal
and external readers within organisations. Most of the time, these
reports are prepared quickly, do not require extensive planning,
and contain little background information. In addition, no
supplements are included in the informal reports, but a crucial
step for formal reports. Informal reports are mostly used to quickly
share essential results and pieces of information with internal team
members, whereas in formal reports, the method for decision-
making is established by summarizing the purpose, analysing the
facts, identifying the results, and articulating the recommendations.
Memos and notices serve as a helpful distinction between the two,
with memos being more personal thus being included in informal
reports while notices being more formal and being included in formal
reports.
Although there is no standard report writing format, there are
general sections that ought to be present in both types. Formats
largely depend on the context of the report's topic.
The parts of a report where they would appear are:-
1:-Title page
2:-Acknowledgements
3:-Contents page
4:-Abstract
5:-Introduction
6:-Body
7:-Conclusion
8:-References
Now, if we talk about the importance of reports, we can see that
reports are crucial to the development of both academic and non-
academic sectors in the modern world. A report serves as an
efficient means of communication within an organisation,
providing feedback and information to the intended audience and
also helps with decision making and planning.
So, we’d like to conclude our presentation here.Thank you for your
patience.
