11 Professional Writing

Clear Communication is a key element of professional writing, and a skill that employers value. Being able to write clear, effective research reports will position you as articulate and well-informed.

Business Writing: Clear, direct and brief

Business writing must flow well. Because people are busy and distracted, you must be brief, clear and direct.

• Use few adverbs or adjectives
• Organize your ideas and make sure they progress logically
• Keep sentences and paragraphs short
• Use lots of space between paragraphs
• Proofread your writing, and if possible have someone else proofread it also to make sure that your grammar, punctuation and formatting are correct.

How to Write a Research Report

Most business reports are research reports — reports that start with a thesis or topic statement, present key points supported by evidence, and conclude with recommendations. Because people are busy, they tend to scan, not read closely, so reports must be clear, brief, and well-organized. Businesses depend on these reports and their recommendations, so research sources must be valid and current.

The Parts of a Research Report

1. Thesis statement
2. Overview
3. Key Point 1, with supporting evidence
4. Key Point 2, with supporting evidence
5. Key Point 3, with supporting evidence
6. Summary
7. Recommendations/Next Steps
8. Bibliography

Thesis Statement: What is this report about?

The thesis statement is the report’s foundation. It tells the reader what your report is about, and provides a clear path for the reader. The thesis statement starts with your main recommendation, followed by three key reasons. It looks like this:

[Recommendation] because [Reason 1], [Reason 2], and [Reason 3]

Here are three different thesis statements:

We should hire three new customer service representatives because they will decrease customer wait times, increase sales, and keep the store tidier.

Trello is the best task management app for our company because it’s online, easy to use, and stakeholders can see and share all parts of the project.

I will seek work as a digital marketer in the video game industry because I have 3 years of experience in digital marketing, a great professional network of people in video game companies in Vancouver, and my strengths and career goals are consistent with the local industry’s needs and practices.

Overview: Provides context and why it’s important

The Overview starts in a new paragraph after the Thesis Statement. The Overview provides background information that the reader needs to know, but only information that’s absolutely necessary for the reader to understand the report.

For example, from a report stating the need to replace an electrical power system in Vancouver:

Overview

We’re providing the clean, renewable power Vancouver needs, but our electricity system serving downtown is aging and needs upgrades. We need to replace our aging Dal Grauer Substation on Burrard Street with a new substation in the West End. Dal Grauer has been in-service since 1953, is nearing end of life, and needs to be relocated and rebuilt close to the areas and neighbourhoods where electricity is being used, with the space to accommodate future growth when needed. We’ve approached the VSB to re-visit our proposal of a new West End Substation at their Lord Roberts Annex property which would result in an out-of-sight underground substation, topped by a playing field and allow for construction of an adjacent elementary school after the substation is complete.^[1]

Here’s a longer example, from a report on the livability of Vancouver:

Overview

Since 1887 the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade has been recognized as Western Canada’s leading business association. Two years ago, the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade partnered with the Conference Board of Canada – the foremost independent, objective, evidence-based, not-for-profit applied research organization in Canada – to release our inaugural Greater Vancouver Economic Scorecard 2016. Scorecard 2016 benchmarked Greater Vancouver as a region against 19 comparable metro regions around the world. The seven challenges identified in that report signalled the priorities that we recommended that civic and business leaders address to strengthen Greater Vancouver’s attractiveness and competitiveness. Two years later, the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade has again commissioned the Conference Board of Canada to produce a new Scorecard.

Scorecard 2018 is the follow-up report, checking in on Greater Vancouver’s progress against the same 19 metro regions that were examined in 2016. This is a ranked guide with report card letter grades on several significant indicators that comprise attractiveness and competitiveness across economic and social dimensions. The source data gathered by the Conference Board to calculate Greater Vancouver’s performance and rankings in Scorecard 2018 are as current as possible (in some instances this will involve statistics from 2016 and 2017).

For Scorecard 2018, the Conference Board analyzed six additional indicators, for a total of 38: 22 economic indicators and 16 social indicators. These were added to provide a fuller picture of the region, particularly in the social realm. The indicators on which Greater Vancouver is benchmarked against those other city regions illuminates, sometimes in very stark terms, where we sit. The seven challenges identified in Scorecard 2016 resurface in Scorecard 2018, and they are considered throughout the new report. The call for improved regional coordination in Scorecard 2016 inspired the focus of our Special Lens in Scorecard 2018.

Scorecard 2018 does not include all factors that make a city livable and it is impossible for a single report to fully capture the essence of what makes a region such as Greater Vancouver attractive to people and capital. The indicators selected and their rankings are ones that help our region not only measure itself against competitor cities, but also understand ways to make our region as attractive and as competitive as possible to new people, businesses and investment. The benchmarking undertaken by the Conference Board helps point us in the right direction to leverage our advantages, and to improve or course-correct on indicators where Greater Vancouver performs poorly.

Vancouver is in a global race for talent and investment. To be attractive to new businesses, to retain businesses that have their roots here, and to draw the global workforce, a city region should have a unique identity, function efficiently, be economically competitive, and deliver a high quality of life.^[2]

The Body: Reasons, supported by evidence that proves the reasons

The body of your report provides evidence that supports your recommendation and reasons. Start with the strongest reason and then provide evidence to convince the reader. Then move to the 2nd most important reason and evidence to support it. Finally, write the third reason and provide evidence for it.

• The Body is the longest part of the report
• Divide the body into one Key Point for each reason; give each Key Point a descriptive heading
• Divide each Key Point and supporting evidence into short paragraphs
• Evidence must be valid, current and appropriate. Include citations for all sources, including conversations and social media. Almost every sentence might be cited

Lead the reader carefully. Describe the reasons and evidence so clearly that the reader agrees with your recommendation and believes it to be appropriate and viable.

Summary: Summarize the Reasons and their evidence

The Summary summarizes the recommendation, 3 Reasons and their supporting evidence. It reminds the reader of your reasons and why they’re valid. (Repetition adds clarity and helps convince.)

• No new information is presented in the Conclusion
• The summary is typically 1-3 paragraphs

This is the Summary from the report on Vancouver’s livability:

Summary

The Greater Vancouver region has many of the right ingredients to be an international hub for business, a desirable place to live and thrive, a competitive region welcoming new investments and a city that nurtures industries and sectors that have comparative advantages.

The alternative is a less prosperous scenario that could become reality if, as a city region, province and country, we fail to respond to indications of where Greater Vancouver lags or does poorly.

Greater Vancouver is at risk of becoming an international bedroom/retirement community: a place too expensive to attract investment and retain the needed diverse and talented labour force. It could stagnate as a region where productivity and after-tax incomes remain moderate to low while at the same time marginal tax rates remain high, thus hollowing out the sources of economic activity that provide the foundation for any region’s prosperity. It could become a home to second-tier economic activity, while other centres – including the 19 competitor cities benchmarked here – boast top talent and firms, and leverage their assets to greater advantage than does Greater Vancouver.

It is possible to address the region’s pressing challenges, analyzed extensively in Scorecard 2016 and updated in the Scorecard 2018 performance ratings, but success will require concerted effort by the region’s political, business and civic leaders. A spirit of collaboration and a shared vision for Greater Vancouver’s future are needed to guide relationships with all levels of government. It will take dedicated, collaborative effort to first acknowledge and then work to solve the challenges of housing, transportation, regulatory inefficiency and taxation. However difficult and complex the task, meaningfully addressing these challenges will support wealth creation by growing business activity and attracting new investments to our region.^[3]

Recommendations/Next Steps: Now what?

Recommendations/Next Steps are the final section of your report. They are clear, logical results of the 3 Key Points and their evidence. Typically written in a numbered or bulleted list, Recommendations/Next Steps must be clear, precise and actionable.

Here are two examples:

Next Steps

1. Sales managers meet with Customer Service managers to define skillsets of the new positions
2. Customer Service provides HR with preferred skills, traits and qualifications of potential employees
3. HR recruits and screens qualified applicants
4. Sales, Customer Service and HR representatives interview short-listed applicants
5. Customer Service managers confirm their preferred applicants to HR
6. HR contact, hire and onboard the new employees

Recommendations

• Join 3 networking clubs or events before the end of semester
• Research the qualities of successful LinkedIn profiles
• Update my LinkedIn profile
• Sign up for daily or weekly job posting notifications
• Research 1 possible employer each day
• Do volunteer work that’s related to my industry
• Look for social and career-related Meetups
• Take the Project Management certification

Bibliography: Your sources

The Bibliography is on a separate page following the report. It’s an alphabetical list of your research resources. See the Example Assignment for details

Formatting your Report

Please see the Style Guide for details. Organizations have different style guides for their publications. If your organization doesn’t have style guide, use the one provided here.

  Self-assessment 

  Canadian Workplace Quiz