About Formal Business Reports
The main objective of formal business reports is to communicate information and research in a professionally written style and format using recognized conventions. Such reports are typically used by decision-makers to plan departmental and organizational projects. These documents often report on research findings, offer recommendations or proposals to solve problems, and assess feasibility; indeed, they can be used to address a variety of purposes depending on context and need. Formal (also known as long) reports contain many components, including front and back matter, that aid the reader in understanding the context and content of your document.
1.1 Your Audience
In college, your audience is your business communication professor. However, in the workplace, your audience may not only be your immediate supervisor, but also secondary readers who might be decision-makers. Write with the understanding that your document may be shared with readers you may not have anticipated. Doing a good audience analysis as part of the document planning process will help you to plan for potential readers and to adapt the content and approach so as to best address their needs and achieve your goal. Assessing such factors as role, knowledge, interest, language, demographics and culture, along with attitude will help you make decisions about various document elements, including content, language, and approach.
1.2 Report Length
Unless otherwise directed by your professor, for college courses expect your final report to be about 10-12 pages of single-spaced text in 12-point, sans serif font, with margins of not less than one inch. If a printed copy is required, pages are printed single-sided with one-inch margins all around; a serif font may be used for printed copies. Pages are to be numbered as described in Section 4: Formatting Your Document.
1.3 Report Style
Adapting the language to suit the audience and content will help to create a document that is readable. Overall, using plain and professional language that is understandable to a broad audience will ensure that your document successfully communicates the necessary information.
Write your report in a formal style, avoiding colloquial or slang expressions, and avoiding first-person references (I, we, me, us). Sentences such as “I followed up with our clients” should be expressed as “Our clients received follow-up messages,” which makes use of a concise, active, and direct style. Use passive verb constructions at times to avoid the first person when communicating negative news, but use active constructions in most other cases; e.g., “Clients responded through our new online portal,” is a construction in which the actor precedes the verb.
Writing style, spelling, punctuation and the report format will constitute a significant portion of your marks. See the rubric provided by your professor for the distribution of marks. For information about writing styles as well as report formatting, consult your assigned textbook and course materials.
