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Workshop title: Business Report Writing

Aim: To help participants to produce well written persuasive work within the time constraints of a typical business environment

Designed for: Managers and staff who have to write effective reports for colleagues, clients or senior management

Objectives: By the end of the workshop, participants will be able to:

•  appreciate the differences between academic and business writing
•  choose language and grammar that makes writing easy to read and understand
•  alter their writing to change the tone of a document
•  collect thoughts and ideas quickly and effectively for writing preparation
•  plan a structure that is logical and easy for the reader to follow
•  present a document with layout which is pleasing to the eye and aids understanding
  

Method: This workshop will be highly participative, using practical exercises of writing and editing written material in order to develop skills and confidence during the two days. Each participant receives a workbook and set of notes for them to use back at their work

Length: Two days

Preparation: All participants are asked to read and assess a given report before the workshop in order to identify the key areas of good business writing. Each participant should also discuss with their sponsoring manager the relevance of the workshop objectives to their job as well as their personal objectives

Follow-up: Participants write their own plan based on the written work produced during the workshop and the feedback received from the trainer and their colleagues. This should then be discussed with their sponsoring manager at the workshop debrief so that it can be supported and actioned

Facilitator: Shân Dobinson is a management consultant with a wide range of companies, charities and Christian organisations

Workshop Content: Business Report Writing

Introduction and objectives

•  The role of reports and papers written in the company and the importance of having to learn to write for business
•  Those factors which encourage people to read in a business environment

Language as a communicator

•  Words and phrases which can be the biggest stumbling block to effective business writing
•   How to pace information in terms of sentence length and construction
•   Reviewing writing to see how easy it is to read and how clear it is to understand

Writing preparation

•  Brainstorm and order thoughts and ideas through the use of mind patterns
•  The purpose of particular reports in terms of reader-oriented aims
•  Different styles and tones in business writing and how each is achieved

Structure and layout

•  Guidelines for a logical, clear structure to help the reader and the writer
•  The importance of overall presentation for writing to be read and provide guidelines on how this can be achieved
•  The role of diagrams, charts, tables and graphs in making writing appealing and understandable

The writing process

•  The need for a planned and structured approach to business writing through drafts and proof reading