T 306 managing complexity a systems approach Project

T 306 managing complexity: a systems approach Project Report

The 3 parts of the report • Report to your tutor – 2000 words – Contains systemic terminology – Contains the methodology chosen and its analysis – Shows chain of reasoning – You can use the Project Support CD for help

The 3 parts of the report • Report to the client – – 500 words Should take the form of a brief summary Should use a plain language Should include an indication of the direction of any future work and further analysis of research needed – Should have a very clear, convincing conclusion, with no technical terms or complicated diagrams and conceptual models

The 3 parts of the report Your Project Log You have to submit: • Your project plan chart originally submitted for TMA 5 • 10 -12 weekly summaries of your log Should be no more than 200 words each • A final overall summary of your log Should be no more than 1000 words

Writing the report CONTENTS - Optional if short in length, but reflect main paragraph numbers 1. 0 Introduction 1. 1 This Report is written as advice on Report Writing 2. 0 Objectives 2. 1 The Report provides 2. 2. 1 The basis of a process that will develop through the rest of the course 2. 2. 2 It is targeted at providing a basis on which thinking on any relevant topic can be clarified 2. 2. 3 It is intended to give an indication of a basic layout, but wide variations are acceptable, provided there is adherence to consistent rules

Writing the report 3. 0 Summary 3. 1 A Summary must be concise and a Report must be of relevant length 3. 2 A report MUST have Objectives and Conclusions 3. 3 A report SHOULD have a Discussion of the key issues with evidence for the Conclusions drawn stated or referred to in Appendices and/or References 3. 4 A report should delete all NICE TO KNOW items from the body and relegate them to Appendices

Writing the report 4. 0 Discussion 4. 1 “Current Situation”, “Facts”, “Issues” are all reasonable headings for the Discussion, there are, of course, many more to suit the topic 4. 2 Questions often give good guidance on how to answer, USE THAT GUIDANCE 4. 3 Layout should be indented paragraphs 4. 4 Give the Report plenty of margin space and gaps and several line spaces between sections

Writing the report 5. 0 Recommendations and/or Conclusions 5. 1 The Recommendations can be an Action Plan and the Conclusions can be an informed comment of the reasons or consequences of why the recommendations must/should be carried out 5. 2 Rigorously asking yourself again and again about the Objectives, keeps the mind focused on the real issues. In real life, the Objectives can be challenged at early stages of the work. This is not recommended in a TMA 5. 3 Separating your investigative findings into MUST KNOW, SHOULD KNOW & NICE TO KNOW from the Reader’s or the Role’s perspective is an excellent discipline that keeps your work relevant and concise References certainly and Appendices perhaps