Reference no: EM133475057

Homework: Work Plan for Business Report Paper

Applying the Three-Step Writing Process to Reports and Proposals

Selecting the Right Combination of Media and Channels

In addition to the general media and channel selection criteria discussed in Chapter 5, consider several points for reports and proposals. First, for many reports and proposals, audiences have specific media requirements, and you might not have a choice. For instance, executives in many corporations now expect to review performance reports in conjunction with a dashboard, a customized graphical presentation of key performance parameters (see Figure 12.3). Second, consider how your audience members want to provide feedback on your report or proposal. For example, do they prefer to write comments on a printed document or edit a wiki article? Third, will people need to be able to search through your document or update it in the future? Fourth, bear in mind that your choice of medium and channel sends a message. A routine sales report dressed up in expensive multimedia will look like a waste of valuable company resources.

Your major project is a full-scale, formal analytical Business Research Report. The first step in writing your business report is developing a Work Plan for Business Report. This is the outline of your report and meant to keep you on track with your research. Each week, we will master components of the full report so that you will be prepared for the larger submission.

Your initial work plan homework is intended to help you begin to develop your ideas and outlines for your written business report. It specifies the who, what, where, when, why and how of your project. The goal of the document is to save you time when writing your report as well as help you organize, research, and write your report; however, as you begin to research and write your report, you are not constrained by your work plan and can make changes as needed as you continue the process of writing the report.

As part of the Participation Discussion, you shared your report topic with the class. Your workplan should match with the topic you shared in the discussion and should look like the one from your textbook (Figure 12.2 on page 358 in your text ), provided below.

Instructions:

Upload your Work Plan as a Word or PDF file. Remember, your work plan should look like the one provided in Figure 12.2 on page 358 in your text and include all sections of the work plan:

Statement of the problem (report topic)
Purpose and scope of work sources and methods of data collection
Preliminary outline
Task homework and schedule (look at business report due date and work backwards)

Moving Forward

As you begin to research and write your report, you are not constrained by your work plan and can make changes as needed. I will also redirect, if needed, to ensure your report is off to a great start. As discussed in Chapter 12 of your book, a formal work plan is a vital tool for planning and managing complex writing projects.:

The preliminary outline helps guide the research; the report writers may modify the outline when they begin writing the report. As you begin to research and write your report, you are not constrained by your work plan, and can make changes as needed as you continue the process of writing the report. Page 358 of your textbook shows a preliminary outline to help guide research.