Don’t write business reports like stories

Writing a chronological narrative puts conclusions and recommendations at the end, which busy readers might not see (especially if your story is boring!).

Here are 𝘁𝘄𝗼 better ways to structure a report.

If you are writing a short report or an email on a single topic, try the 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺–𝗰𝗮𝘂𝘀𝗲–𝘀𝗼𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻. First you describe the problem/issue, then explain why it has occurred before stating your recommended action(s).

For longer reports there is the 𝘁𝗲𝗹𝗲𝘀𝗰𝗼𝗽𝗲 approach. This puts the most important information first.

1️⃣ Start with the summary, conclusions, and/or recommendations.

2️⃣ Follow this with analysis of the issues, context and evidence.

3️⃣ All the background material, the methodology, research findings, processes, etc comes last (possibly in appendices or in a separate document at the end of a hyperlink).

Save the stories for books and movies. At work, your reader just wants to know how the story ends.