From the following tips, you will learn what you need to do to organize key ideas and spell them out clearly, as well as to avoid major mistakes.

Ask questions

Such advice may seem strange, because, after all, the task of the report is to provide information, rather than request it. But in fact, asking questions is a must.

To achieve the maximum effect from the report, it is necessary to understand for whom the report is written and what these people want to know. This will help make the report more concise and concentrate on what will be interesting for the addressee. For example, if you need to write a report on the status of adding new functions on the company’s website for a manager, you must first find out his expectations. Make a  visit to 24×7 com for the best results now.

• Why is this feature important?
• What are the expected results?
• How much detail is it necessary to present information?
• What is critical, and what can be neglected?

Most likely, the manager is more interested in knowing how this will affect sales and how much it cost, but the technological part should be left to specialists. Will this be the beginning of a larger project to improve the site and interact with customers on the network, or is it just a single initiative? It is important to understand the expectations and background.

Perhaps the requirements and expectations are already known to you. Or it seems that they are known. If in doubt, ask directly. The more clarity there is at the beginning of writing a report, the easier it will be to have a process.

It is also worth finding out what form the potential recipient of the report prefers. Most companies have their own reporting standards, which simplifies the task. Someone uses specialized software, like StatusPath or Reportify. But if there are still no such standards, it is better to find out at least an approximate form and size of this report.

Focus on results, not actions

At the time of writing the status report, there is a natural desire to describe in it everything that has been done on the report object. However, this is not worth it. Such an approach leads to a simple listing of the actions performed. This may seem important to you, but does not make any difference to your leadership.

For example, when launching a new functionality on the site, it was necessary to hold meetings and negotiations with a contractor, to solve technical and organizational tasks. And no matter how much I want to talk about this manual – this is not what he wants to hear. It will be a waste of him and your time. It’s just not worth it. Instead, tell us about the advantages of this function, what effects can be. It is best to provide a report with some data and graphs. If there are first results or predictions, attach them.