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Report Writing

2 Part Course  |  Learn how to develop, improve or hone your report writing skills as well as the different styles of reports needed to meet internal, external and even regulatory needs

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A one-day technical report writing course presented over two-half days in a virtual class from 9:30am to 1:00pm UK time

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Technical Report Writing Course: Part One

Introduction to Business Reporting

  • What are the key goals?
  • What does a report achieve?
  • Adding value to the business
  • Making the business more effective
  • Reporting outcomes
  • Getting things done
  • Recommending changes
  • Suggesting courses of action
  • Business report writing course ice breaker - compile a report based on a request from your imaginary boss based on some specific data. Can you reach any conclusions? 

Your Objectives & the Recipient’s Objectives

  • Focus on the recipient
  • What is their style, experience, purpose and expectation?
  • What is the report’s objective?
  • What is the recipients’ knowledge, intentions, and seniority?
  • What is the report meant to achieve?
  • Are there any sensitivities?
  • What is expected of you as the writer?
  • Business report writing training Case Study/Practical Example: Using a specimen example you must decide what must be covered and what can be left out of the main body of the report

The Report Writing Process

  • Managing the process, collecting data, establishing the facts
  • Planning – set realistic and attainable timetables
  • Preparing the structure
  • Business brainstorming with others
  • Testing your report – read it “cold”
  • Enlist a second and honest reader
  • Drafting - Don’t over-elaborate or over-edit
  • Revising – is it too wordy?
  • Business report writing course Case Study/Practical Example- Looking at some real examples of an executive summary and deciding what changes would improve it

The Report Template

  • This session of the business report writing course commences with - objectives, scope, statement of problem or remit
  • Executive Summary
  • Report Body
  • Conclusions
  • Recommendations
  • Supporting papers
  • What order is best for the above?
  • Case Study/Practical Example: You are given a brief section of a report to edit. Can you improve it by doing so?

Technical Report Writing Course: Part Two

Writing the Report

  • The Report Paradox
  • State the objectives
  • Reader-focused structure and style
  • Effective conclusions
  • Recommending solutions
  • Overcoming “writer’s block”
  • Annexes, Appendices, Glossary of Terms etc.
  • This technical report writing course looks at a sample report and considers the options for study/Practical Example

The Executive Summary

  • What is expected?
  • What level of detail?
  • Good summaries
  • Poor summaries
  • Best practice recommendations
  • Technical report writing training Case Study/Practical Example: Compare our own summaries with examples from industry and commerce

Writing Effectively

  • The structure of persuasion
  • How are decisions made; time, recognition, single issues, sensitivities
  • Establishing credibility; using credible data, your qualifications, the goals of the business
  • Overcoming potential sticking points
  • Taking care to deal with “sensitivities” tactfully
  • Avoiding controversial content
  • Saying what you mean but avoiding too much frankness
  • An example which is not very effective. How would you improve it?

Policy & Procedure Writing

  • Overview
  • How do these differ from other reports?
  • Are they mandatory or advisory – if there is a mix, is this clear
  • Defining the scope
  • Who is going to use it?
  • What is the document meant to achieve?
  • Definitions
  • Principles
  • Is it user-friendly?
  • Is it indexed effectively?
  • Do’s & Don’t’s examples

Business Report Writing Course Wrap-up/Common Pitfalls

  • The review process
  • Grammar and punctuation, spelling & typos
  • Proofreading & checking techniques
  • Fused and fragmentary sentences
  • Commonly misused words and phrases
  • Irritating buzz words
  • An example of a report that misses the target as well as an amended version that doesn’t. what are your views and do you agree?

This effective report writing course is delivered by a trainer who had a highly successful, long and varied “fast track” career at Lloyds Bank. This led him to a very senior management position in the bank’s private banking and wealth management division at an early age. He was then “head hunted” to join a merchant bank at the main board director level. He now has over 40 years of experience in the UK banking and financial services sector. A key feature of his duties during these careers was delivering first-class reports and training others to do so. The range of reports included compliance, risk, credit, project finance appraisals and board submissions.

This trainer has been a freelance technical report writing training consultant since retiring, offering professional effective report writing course sessions. He is currently an external Master Trainer at both HSBC and Bank of China; where in addition to report writing, he has delivered major projects on a wide range of topics. He is an accomplished global trainer and has delivered extensive programmes in the UK, USA, South America, Europe, Africa, Asia and the Middle East.

He is a highly adaptive, hands-on and highly sought-after private banking and wealth management facilitator who always receives excellent feedback from delegates. He is comfortable training at any level of seniority and experience, from “black belts” to novices. In addition to his technical report writing course specialism, his expertise includes but is not limited to Risk Management, Trade Finance, Regulatory Compliance, FCC & AML and all aspects of Corporate, Private and retail Banking. He is also a highly experienced soft skills trainer and has completed numerous “train the trainer” assignments.

This business report writing course will cover the following:
  • Develop, improve or simply hone your report-writing skills as required.
  • Hit the ground running on project report writing when you return to your normal work roles.
  • Practise completing several aspects of a report as well as the different styles of report needed to meet either internal or external and even regulatory needs.
  • Empower you with confidence that you are already a competent report writer; practice is now needed.
  • Writing a sharp business report (e.g. commercial, financial) for either internal or external recipients (know your audience).
  • Technical report writing training emphasises the importance of the executive summary.
  • This effective report writing course teaches you a shortcut to begin writing reports and avoiding writer's block.
  • Identify and justify the key conclusions and recommendations.
  • Understand that a clear and concisely written report is often the most effective.
  • Recognise what can be removed or left out including unnecessary detail which probably should be moved to an Appendix.
  • This effective report writing course teaches you to apply common sense and logic to convey what is important. Explaining why it is important, what the report reader needs to do and when.
  • Remember at all times to ask the “so what” question to avoid too much information and detail.

  • Redcliffe Training has been established for over 20 years and we are proud of our first-class reputation for delivering effective report writing course sessions.
  • Our course director is not an academic teacher from a textbook. He is a hands-on practitioner with years of report writing experience - both good and sometimes not-so-good. He will bring this vocational experience into the process to bring the learning points alive and make them more relevant.
  • We recognise that some delegates find different styles of report writing more challenging than others. We have designed this business report writing course so that it breaks the process down into easy-to-follow stages. We review each stage as we complete it and brainstorm any areas where our efforts could be improved.
  • Having fun as well as learning new skills is a prerequisite for this business report writing training course. Active participation is encouraged and all delegates will get the opportunity to practise report writing in a non-threatening environment.
  • Redcliffe is pleased to have been appointed as Master Trainers to two of the world's biggest banks so we are always at the cutting edge of reporting requirements in practice. We are well aware of the main challenges and difficulties and we tackle these very early on.
  • This technical business report writing course contains several highly interactive and very enjoyable case studies to enhance the learning points. All delegates report that these are a high point.
  • We are always judged by our results which speak for themselves and the feedback received from previous delegates has always been excellent.

This technical report writing course is a ‘must know’ for:
  • All report-writing or report-creating staff looking for either a refresher or an opportunity to hone their report-writing skills
  • Managers and Team Leaders who review reports and are responsible for coaching staff on improving report writing skills
  • Compliance & Risk Officers
  • Internal Audit Staff

As this is such a critical skill in almost all industries, anyone likely to be exposed or invited to participate in reporting formally to key stakeholders will gain valuable insight with this technical report writing course.

Effective report writing is one of those essential skills that look easy until you try to create one for the first time. We know what we want to say but how do we say it concisely and how do we extract an executive summary, recommendations and conclusions if we still can’t decide where to start?

This effective report writing course deals with these issues from the very outset and provides useful and effective suggestions for overcoming these initial barriers.

High-quality report writing requires both practice and experience. There is no shortcut. However, the journey for some is harder than it should be, as the pressure of most working environments means that not enough attention is paid to the “basics”. This highly technical report writing training addresses this challenge and offers practical solutions.

There is no doubt report writing is both an essential skill and an invaluable communication tool for both the individual and the business. But it takes practice to become good at effective report writing and it helps enormously if you understand what matters and what matters less for both the individual and the business that employs them. The ability to create succinct, cogent and effective reports is extremely important and is a prerequisite skill for all levels of management and supervision.

Our technical report writing course will take delegates through the process of report writing and will concentrate on the key skills needed to create effective business reports as quickly as circumstances dictate. We will write a report in stages as we proceed through the various sub-topics. We will highlight examples of good practice as well as poor practice and will concentrate on the key requirements for any business report; namely a strategic overview, an executive summary, a list of recommendations and/or a set of conclusions together with enough detail – but not too much – to support the recommended outcome.

  • I will definitely follow the ES guidelines in the future.
  • I will be primarily guided by the guidelines regarding the structure of the report, as well as who the report is intended for.
  • Really helpful in report writing techniques, intuitive exercises and thought provoking questions.
Number of places:
Part 1

£ 595.00

13 May 2024 Virtual class 09:30-13:00 UK Time
14 November 2024 Virtual class 09:30-13:00 UK Time
Number of places:
Part 2

£ 595.00

14 May 2024 Virtual class 09:30-13:00 UK Time
15 November 2024 Virtual class 09:30-13:00 UK Time

Discounts available:
Virtual Class

  • 2 places at 30% less
  • 3 places at 40% less
  • 4 places at 50% less
  • 5 places at 55% less
  • 6+ places at 60% less
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