Planning Reports and Proposals Prentice Hall 2008 Business
Planning Reports and Proposals © Prentice Hall, 2008 Business Communication Today, 9 e 1
Effective Reports and Proposals • Informational • Analytical • Proposals © Prentice Hall, 2008 Business Communication Today, 9 e 2
Three-Step Writing Process • Planning • Writing • Completing © Prentice Hall, 2008 Business Communication Today, 9 e 3
Analyzing the Situation • Define the purpose • Prepare the work plan © Prentice Hall, 2008 Business Communication Today, 9 e 4
Defining the Purpose • • • Inform Persuade Recommend Confirm Analyze Summarize © Prentice Hall, 2008 Business Communication Today, 9 e 5
Preparing the Work Plan • Statement of the problem • Statement of the purpose and scope • Discussion of tasks to be accomplished • Description of final products or outcomes • Review of schedules and requirements • Plans for following up • Working outline © Prentice Hall, 2008 Business Communication Today, 9 e 6
Gathering Information • Focus on the audience • Plan carefully • Establish priorities © Prentice Hall, 2008 Business Communication Today, 9 e 7
Selecting the Medium • Hardcopy • Digital format • Multimedia © Prentice Hall, 2008 Business Communication Today, 9 e 8
Organizing the Information • Direct approach • State conclusions and recommendations • Introduce findings • Include support • Indirect approach • Introduce findings • Discuss support • State conclusions and recommendations © Prentice Hall, 2008 Business Communication Today, 9 e 9
Organization Considerations • Understand meet audience expectations • Use a task-appropriate format • Keep it as short as possible • “Talk” your way through the outline © Prentice Hall, 2008 Business Communication Today, 9 e 10
Planning Informational Reports • Monitor and control operations • Implement policies and procedures • Demonstrate compliance • Document progress © Prentice Hall, 2008 Business Communication Today, 9 e 11
Organizing Informational Reports • Topical organization – Comparison – Importance – Sequence – Chronology – Spatial orientation – Geography – Category © Prentice Hall, 2008 Business Communication Today, 9 e 12
Creating Business Plans • • Summary Mission and objectives Company and industry Products or services Market and competition Management Marketing strategies © Prentice Hall, 2008 Business Communication Today, 9 e 13
Creating Business Plans • • Design and development plans Operations plan Overall schedule Critical risks and problems Financial projections Financial requirements Exit strategy © Prentice Hall, 2008 Business Communication Today, 9 e 14
Website Content • Online communication is unique – Web readers are demanding – Reading online can be difficult – The Internet is a nonlinear medium – The Internet is multidimensional – Websites have multiple purposes – Internet audiences are diverse © Prentice Hall, 2008 Business Communication Today, 9 e 15
Information Architecture • Vertical hierarchy of pages • Horizontal division of pages • Internal and external links © Prentice Hall, 2008 Business Communication Today, 9 e 16
Organizing the Site • Plan navigation first • Let readers be in control • Break information into “chunks” © Prentice Hall, 2008 Business Communication Today, 9 e 17
Planning Analytical Reports • Assess opportunities – Market analysis and due diligence • Solve problems – Troubleshooting and failure analysis • Support decisions – Feasibility and justification © Prentice Hall, 2008 Business Communication Today, 9 e 18
Defining the Problem • • • What needs to be determined? Why is this issue important? Who is involved in the situation? Where is the trouble located? How did the situation originate? When did it start? © Prentice Hall, 2008 Business Communication Today, 9 e 19
Organizational Strategies • Receptive audiences – Direct approach • Focus on conclusions • Focus on recommendations • Skeptical audiences – Indirect approach • Focus on logical arguments © Prentice Hall, 2008 Business Communication Today, 9 e 20
Organizing Analytical Reports • Logical arguments • Feasible recommendations • Bottom-line conclusions © Prentice Hall, 2008 Business Communication Today, 9 e 21
Focus on Conclusions • Advantages – Ease of use – Bottom-line driven • Disadvantages – Possible resistance – Oversimplification © Prentice Hall, 2008 Business Communication Today, 9 e 22
Focus on Recommendations 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Establish the need for action Introduce benefits List steps needed to get benefits Explain each step more fully Summarize your recommendations © Prentice Hall, 2008 Business Communication Today, 9 e 23
Focus on Logical Arguments • 2 + 2 = 4 approach – – Problem or opportunity Main reasons behind conclusions Main reasons behind recommendations Support reasons with evidence • Yardstick approach – – Problem or opportunity List alternatives List decision-making criteria Evaluate alternatives against criteria © Prentice Hall, 2008 Business Communication Today, 9 e 24
Planning Proposals • Internal – Funding – Management support – General projects • External – Investments – Grants – Sales © Prentice Hall, 2008 Business Communication Today, 9 e 25
Organizing Proposals • Solicited – Direct approach – Interested audience • Unsolicited – Indirect approach – Uninterested audience © Prentice Hall, 2008 Business Communication Today, 9 e 26
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