Consultancy Report Writing

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Consultancy Report Writing

• Knowledge Engineering 2.4
• Autoveiligheidskeuringen in België
• Vehicle Inspection Testing in Belgium

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Consultancy Reports

• Criteria
• Review of commission purpose, main findings, main
  conclusions recommendations (excl. figures,
  tables, references)
• Follow standard referencing guidelines as
  required in KT/Informatics courses
• Must include executive summary at start (ca. 200
  words) goal, main conclusions, main
  recommendations
• Not simple copy-and-paste from webpages

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Reports

• Answer 5 questions
• Who commissioned the report?
• What were you asked to investigate? And who for?
• How did you go about conducting the
  investigation?
• What conclusions do you draw from the evidence
  you have found?
• What recommendations can you make on the basis of
  the evidence?

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Effective Report Writing

• How much do you write?
• professionals reporting 60-80 of time
• written reports 25-60 of time

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What do professionals write?

• Project proposals / feasibility studies /
  progress reports / final reports
• System reliability reports
• Reports of site visits
• Technical descriptions
• Users guides (explaining procedures)
• Instructions for technical processes / procedures
• Abstracts/summaries (of own others' writing)

• Articles for professional journals
• Business letters, faxes
• Minutes of meetings
• Bulletins for external users
• Briefing notes (for senior managers)
• Form completion
• Questionnaires
• Budget reports
• Legal documents (patent supporting evidence, etc.)

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Readership of reports

• Text A
• technical details first
• important information for reader at end of page

• Text B
• hook reference at start to shared information
• checking repetition of request
• conclusion
• then details

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Readership

• What is important
• is
• what the reader wants or needs in a text

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False assumptions

• Nature of audience
• person addressed is audience
• audience is group of specialists in field

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False assumptions

• dynamic nature
• finite period of use
• author audience always available
• audience familiar with task

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False assumptions

• Day-to-day activity
• audience involved in daily discussions
• audience awaits report
• audience has time to read report

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Help from knowledge of readership

• Shared knowledge - general world knowledge
  domain knowledge
• you have better grasp of what needs saying
• Clear explanation of content is important
• clarity and ease for skim-reading
• Understanding questions readers might ask

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How to get to know your readers?

• What will your report be usedfor?

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How to get to know your readers?

• By what channels will your report circulate?

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How to get to know your readers?

• Who are the people, now and in the future, who
  may need to read it?

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How to get to know your readers?

• What are your readers concerns, goals, values,
  needs?

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How to get to know your readers?

• How will you make it easy for busy readers?

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How to get to know your readers?

• What are the most effective arguments with your
  readers?

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How to get to know your readers?

• What objections might your readers raise?

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Organization of reports

• Two types of readers
• Quick readers
• for main ideas (gist)
• Technical and expert readers
• for details

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Reports

• Possible structures
• S-O-A-P
• S-C-R-A-P
• 5 Ps
• See University of South Australiahttp//www.roma
  .unisa.edu.au/07118/language/reports.htm

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Report Structure

• Cover page
• Title page
• Table of contents
• Preface / Acknowledgements
• Abstract / Summary
• List of illustrations
• List of abbreviations symbols

• Introduction (Commissioner, purpose, description
  of problem, etc.)
• Body of report (arranged logically in headed
  sections)
• Conclusions recommendations
• Appendices

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English matters in reports

• Clear layout
• Clear headings and subheadings
• Effective topic sentences to start paragraphs
• Use of we - you represent a team of people
• Eliminate long, complex, muddled sentences

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Topic sentence

• Constituents expect they will have to cope with
  significantly increased traffic levels in the
  future. As one constituent told us, "We need to
  meet a huge growth in traffic - I think we can
  expect a 75-100 increase by 2010." Many believe
  that accommodating this level of growth while
  avoiding increases in delays will require
  fundamental changes in the way we manage air
  traffic in Europe. From a political standpoint,
  no one wants a repeat experience of the late
  1980s, when reports of tourists and business
  people waiting for hours at airports for delayed
  flights were often reported in the media,
  particularly on television.Gemini Consulting
  (1996). Meeting Europe's Air Traffic Needs.
  Brussels EUROCONTROL.

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Balanced sentence
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Balanced sentence
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Long sentences

• In his Brighton speech, Britains prime minister
  did not promise merely to punish Osama bin Laden
  and his Taliban protectors. He promised to sort
  out the war in Congo. And not just Congo. Mr
  Blair explained his plans to bring democracy,
  good government and prosperity to all of Africa.
  He called also for the defeat of global warming,
  for the creation of a Palestinian state, for
  justice in Northern Ireland, for more free trade,
  for Britain to join the euro (when the economic
  conditions are met), for a melding of the
  American spirit of enterprise with the European
  spirit of solidarity, for the building of
  bridges, for realism but also for idealism, for
  peace but also for a strong defence, for the many
  not the few, for a flexible economy but also for
  fairness at work, for public investment (but not
  for public spending), for the reform but not the
  privatisation of the health service, for equal
  worth but not for equal outcomes, for the
  understanding of Islam but also for the
  understanding of Judaism and Christianity, for
  freedom not only in Britain but also for the
  starving, the wretched, the dispossessed, the
  ignorant, those living in want and squalor from
  the deserts of Northern Africa to the slums of
  Gaza, to the mountain ranges of Afghanistan.
  (The Economist, October 6, 2001. p.44)

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Key points for reports

• What is important is what the reader wants or
  needs in the report
• So identify your likely readers (both immediate
  and ultimate readers)
• Logical order move from generalizations and
  claims to support and details
• Don't make your readers work too hard

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Key points for reports

• Benefits of knowing your readers
• Understanding shared knowledge general world
  knowledge domain-specific knowledge So you
  grasp what needs to be said and what doesn't.
• Explaining content clearlySo write clearly and
  make your report easy to skim-read
• Understanding questions readers might aske.g.
  "What does this sentence mean?", "Haven't you
  got your ideas muddled here?", etc.

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Key points for reports

• Pay attention to the formality of your report
  (study formality of sample consultancy reports)
• Pay attention to the linking language you use
  between points note the role of advance
  indicators

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American British spelling
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American British spelling
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Good luck