FORMAL REPORT COMPONENTS

1. FORMAL REPORT COMPONENTS

2. Basic Format • Total 10-15 pages, including appendices. No penalty for longer reports as long as appropriate writing style maintained. • Single spaced, no indent, left justify only • Page numbers in upper right corner • 1 blank line between new paragraphs • Final report must be bound, with loose letter of transmittal clipped to cover.

3. Headings • Major section headings start a new page, 1 blank line after. • 1 blank line before and after sub-headings. • 3rd level subheadings must be easily distinguished from others • There should be at least one sub-heading on each page (a whole page of text with no sub-heading will be penalized) • No orphan headings.

4. Page 4 HEADINGS Sub-Heading Note how easy it is to distinguish between the major, section heading and the sub-heading. Sub-Heading Note that consistent spacing is used, skipping one line both before and after a sub-heading. Third-level headings. If used should be easy to distinguish from major, section headings and sub-headings.

5. Letter of Transmittal • Announce the topic and explain who authorized it. • Briefly describe the project and preview the conclusions – if the reader is supportive. • Close expressing appreciation for assignment, suggesting follow-up actions, acknowledging the help of others, and offering to answer questions.

6. Title Page • Balance the following lines: • Name of the report in all caps (e.g. Final Report) • Receiver’s name, title, and organization • Team name and team members • Date submitted (month/year) • No page number on title page (page 1 is executive summary)

7. FINAL REPORT XYZ Corporation Jane Smith, VP Marketing Longhorn Consulting Bruce Springsteen, Faith Hill,Huey Lewis, Melissa Etheridge April 2006

8. Table of Contents • Show the beginning page number where each report heading appears in the report (do not put page number range, just the first page number). • Connect headings to page numbers with dots. • Headings should be grammatically parallel • Include major section headings and sub-headings • No page number on TOC page

9. TABLE OF CONTENTS Executive Summary........................... 1 Introduction ....................................... 2 Background Purpose Scope Research Questions Report Organization Research and Analysis...................... 4 Methodology Findings Conclusions & Recommendations..... 6 Appendices........................................ 7 Appendix 1: Survey questions Appendix 2: Client proposal Appendix 3: PowerPoint slides

10. Executive Summary • Include • challenge statement (client focused) • a little background (type of organization, what they do, size, when established) • SMART goal (team focused) • a little research summary (techniques/sources used, research questions if have room) • conclusions and recommendations (all, but summarized)

11. Executive Summary (cont) • This is first page of report (page 1) • Typically 1-2 pages • OK to copy/repeat portions of report in E.S

12. Introduction • Background: Provide a full description of the client and the challenge. • Purpose: Client’s perspective on the challenge/motivation for report (e.g. XYZ’s goal for this project is to....). Include significance of challenge (what difference will it make?). • Scope: Clarify the scope and limitations of report. (include your SMART goal)

13. Introduction (cont) • Research questions: from proposal – your broad, upper level questions/areas of investigation (NOT detailed survey questions). Must include benchmark question. • Preview report’s organization. “The next section presents our research and analysis followed by our conclusions and recommendations.”

14. Research and Analysis • Introductory paragraph for the section (this can also be used for executive summary) • Methodology • For all types of research provide: • Goal for each piece of research (what is your question/hypothesis?) • Data source • For surveys give # surveys distributed, how distributed, how population chosen • For observations give how, when, where observations occurred • Refer to more detailed information in appendix

15. Research and Analysis • Analysis/Research Findings • Goal = supply proof for conclusions • Discuss, analyze, and interpret (don’t just give results, also say what they mean – particularly with benchmarking) • Remember to report on all your research, including interviews with client and personal observations (discuss in methodology too) • Support your findings with evidence • (new) Provide summary paragraph of key findings and their significance at end of section

16. Research and Analysis • Explain all graphs in writing • Arrange the findings in logical segments that follow your outline. Findings should be presented in the same order as discussed in methodology. • Use clear, descriptive headings. • Present “just the facts”, no opinions, no feelings. • At end of section, introduce next section (conclusions and recommendations).

17. Conclusions/Recommendations • Conclusions: explain what the research findings mean in relation to the challenge. • Recommendations: Start with a verb and suggest actions to address challenge. • Enumerate conclusions and bullet related recommendations. • Conclusion answers the question, “why will your recommendation work?” • Conclusions are clearly drawn from the presented research (“based on....”) • (new) Introduce section with challenge statement and significance • Provide a final focus paragraph that relates recommendations back to SMART goal.

18. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS • Based on our survey results and literature review, volunteer retention is increased when volunteers report feeling appreciated. • Initiate a volunteer reward program to recognize hours of service and leadership (see appendix for an example from abc organization). • Based on the experience similar organizations, volunteer retention is increased when volunteers report their skills are utilized and they feel part of the organization. • Introduce an initial interview system to identify the skills of volunteers. • Match new volunteers with a mentor to speed the volunteer assimilation.

19. Appendix • Begin section with a cover sheet that includes a list of all items in appendix • Items should be numbered and titled (e.g. Appendix 1: Volunteer Survey). If difficult to put a number/title on the appendix item, use a cover sheet with the item’s number/title. • Include items of interest to some, but not all, readers (questionnaires, detailed budgets, etc). • Include a reference list showing all the works cited and consulted arranged alphabetically by author/source. For help with reference formatting, you can consult the website EasyBib at http://www.easybib.com/. • Include signed copy of your client proposal. • Include your PowerPoint slides. • (new) Include your team agreement.

20. Format/Content Considerations • Use present or past tense except for conclusions/ recommendations, which may be future tense. • Stay positive (no “problems”)! Any negative information should be “buried” in the findings section and reported briefly, factually. • No “we feel” or “we think” outside of the recommendations – just the facts.