CMN 124 Lecture 7: Informal Reports

• School: Ryerson University
• Department: Communication
• Course: CMN 124
• Professor: John Burry

Document Summary

Reports allows managers and co-workers to stay informed, review opinions, plan, and make decisions. Reports must be accurate, complete, objective, selective, and structured. Select and include information necessary for actions to be taken or decisions to be made. Consider the reader"s needs and background knowledge. Organize the material logically for the reader. Outline the criteria for options and conclusions. Use clearly distinguishable headings and sub-headings to organize data. Use white space and avoid a cluttered format. Include a title page, cover letter, table of contents, and abstract. Are based on extensive research or study. Are distributed to external or internal superiors. Indirect: purpose, recommendation, facts/findings, summary, purpose/background, facts/findings, conclusion, recommendations. Uses clear references (pronouns and proper names) and unbiased language. Two main types: functional headings (ex: intoduction, findings, summary, descriptive or talking heads" (example: new policy on e-mail) Formatted so that there are 2 subheadings in a section. Detail the purpose of the report or reason for the report.