This concise, practical book is written for you if your professional success is linked to the quality of the reports you produce. You will learn how to. . . Manage data, minimize discomfort, and master the report-writing process Assure that your reports get read, understood, and acted on-rather than contributing to information overload Develop a communication strategy that enables you to design reports to meet the needs of diverse readers and decision-makers Write reports that are clear, high in skim-value, and rich in content-value Follow a sound approach to report-writing so you will avoid procrastination and use your time productively Allow your readers to find it a pleasure-rather than a struggle-to read your reports Convey your ideas so clearly and persuasively that you gain recognition and influence within your organization Like all the books in the Prentice Hall Guides to Advanced Business Communications series, this book is . . . Brief: summarizes key ideas only Practical: offers clear, straightforward tools you can use Reader-friendly: provides easy-to-skim format

HOW THIS BOOK CAN HELP YOU This book will help you to write user-friendly reports. If you are among those professionals who rely on reports for communicating--or receiving--important information, then this book can help you to: Establish and maintain your credibility as a professional. Understand what effective reports are and how to create them. Plan and execute your projects so that you use your time wisely and efficiently. Identify and gather the information you need, analyze it appropriately, and shape it so that you accomplish your project goals. Design reports that are inviting, attractive, and readable. Create reports that get read and understood--and that convey data, conclusions, and recommendations that get accepted and acted upon. Once you understand the essential report features, as well as the key principles that underlie the preparation and writing of reports, you will be able to make informed choices that will enable you to create virtually any report: of any length, for any purposes, for any audiences, in any field. For as we hope to demonstrate in the pages that follow, a report (to paraphrase Gertrude Stein) is a report is a report. That is, although actual reports may differ in a variety of ways--among them, length, dress, type of information they contain, purpose, and more--in the essential elements they are similar. If you would like information about other kinds of communication in a business or management setting, please see the other books in this Prentice Hall series in Advanced Communication. All of the books in this series are short, professional, and readable. Guide to Electronic Communicationby Kristen DeTienne (Prentice Hall, 2002) Guide to Managerial Communication: Effective Business Writing and Speakingby Mary Munter (Prentice Hall, 2000) Guide to Meetingsby Mary Munter and Michael Netzley (Prentice Hall, 2002) Guide to Presentationsby Mary Munter and Lynn Russell (Prentice Hall, 2002) WHO CAN USE THIS BOOK If you are interested in the success of your organization and are committed to your own professional growth--as well as the professional growth of your colleagues--then you should find value in this book. You should find this book especially useful if you are an MBA-level student who writes reports for any of your courses, a business professional who writes reports, a manager or executive whose staff writes reports for you to read, or a consultant. MBA students:This book is designed to be used as a core text in an MBA-level managerial communications course or as a supplementary text for virtually any MBA-level course that calls for students to create and deliver reports in any function area: finance, marketing, organizational behavior, operations management, technology, consulting, and more. Business professionals:This book is designed to meet the needs of business professionals--in any field--whose success in the workplace depends, at least in part, on their ability to solve problems and communicate their solutions effectively. Managers or executives:This book can help managers or executives who frequently read reports by enhancing their ability to guide fellow employees--subordinates and teammates--as they prepare reports. Consultants:This book should deliver special value for those involved in consulting, whether they are internal or external consultants, working independently or for a large domestic or international consulting firm. The quality of the consulting solutions they deliver to their clients depends in no small part on the quality of reports with which they communicate those solutions. WHY THIS BOOK WAS WRITTEN The thousands of participants in various