What Activity Should Be Reported

Date: 04/01/2004

Last month we said that what you report and in what manner depends on your company’s management style. Busy managers like oral reports. Giving reports orally without planning what you are going to say and how you are going to say it can do more harm than good. It is a good idea to write out what you intend to give orally. Read over what you have written to see how it sounds and if it is accurate and covers enough detail. It will help force you to think about what you say before you say it and help avoid mistakes. It will help you be aware of necessary research you may need to do to check facts. The worst thing you can do is to give alleged facts and figures that are found to be inaccurate. It will throw doubt on everything you say.

Although busy managers like oral reports, there are those that prefer a written report that they can study and think about. Others want the oral report but want the written report for review later.

Not only do written reports help you plan what you are going to say, they also help avoid oral mistakes. They are important documentation for reference purposes, and for distribution to members of management or others who can’t attend a live meeting. They help those who may need to take action based on your information.

Written reports are documented evidence of what you said. Memory of oral reports may be faulty. The words on a written report cannot be questioned. The facts can, but not the written words. A report sent by e-mail or an e-mail attachment is acceptable, but the same planning is necessary for the same reasons. It is too easy to send electronic mail without carefully checking what you are saying.