Business Writing Writing for Business

Which one of the following two is a proposal? A Proposal vs. a Report Which one of the following two is a proposal? Your manager informs you that the company is looking for a new office space for its third branch and asks you to evaluate Villagio and Landmark malls in terms of rent, convenience and distance from the center of the city.

Villagio Landmark

Your customers have been complaining about the crowds and lack of parking spaces in the newly opened branch of Villagio Mall, and as the Branch Manager, you have decided to explore other alternatives.

Can you think of more here? Proposal Written to persuade To: Management, Supervisor, Board, etc. Subject: a new project a new business plan hiring new staff Incentives for staff Can you think of more here?

Report is written to inform aims at presenting features of a project, assignment or any given aspect of an operation. can be detailed or brief depending on the nature of the work completed or still underway. can be written to inform on the progress, completion and/or outcome of a unit of work.

What does it take to persuade? Clarity of language and conciseness Avoid verbosity and obscurity. Compare these two: The Management realistically needs to reconsider its stand as well as its decisions on the import and distribution of these woodcutters from this company as there has been extreme client dissatisfaction reported to our Customer Service Section regarding the poor quality of these cutters. The management should revise its decision on the import of these woodcutters as the first step in addressing the dissatisfaction our clients have expressed regarding the inefficacy of our products.

Proposal Planner Key questions: What are its objectives/goals? What are its problems/opportunities? What are the results/outcomes? What are the methods/strategies? What does it involve/costs?

Remember, your objective is to persuade Objectives/Goals Remember, your objective is to persuade Whom do you want to persuade? Identify your audience. A CEO A Manager A Committee, etc. What action do you want them to take? Approve Hire Grant, etc.

Problems/Opportunities Even though your business is expanding, the Marketing Department is functioning with a limited number of staff. Therefore, the Department is currently short of staff and unable to address the growing needs of current customers. The current staff is overworked; as a result, staff in general is demotivated and therefore there is very little creativity and morale is low. Provide strong evidence to support your claim.

Projected Results/Outcomes Workload will be distributed fairly among staff, so employees won’t be overworked and demotivated. With the right number of staff, the department will be able to better address customers’ needs by covering new target areas. The quality of marketing services will also be improved when there is a sufficient number of staff who professionally contribute to the targets of the department.

Methods/Strategies HR will advertise the vacancy via local newspapers. A committee of three will be set up and five applicants will be short-listed: Interviews will be held with the five selected applicants. The committee will select two and notify HR to process hiring.

[attach cost-break down] Costs Salaries, insurance, health care of two more staff members. Advertising fees in local newspapers. A two-day training course for the newly employed staff Over-time payment for a staff trainer [as the training will take place on a weekend] Refreshments. [attach cost-break down]

Planning a Business Report Purpose – follow up on the new project Audience – members of the organisation, stakeholders, media Main message – discuss outcomes and suggest next course of action Structure

A business report may contain: a covering letter or memorandum a title page an executive summary a table of contents an introduction findings and discussion conclusions recommendations a list of references appendices

Sample Cover Letter/Memorandum Remind the reader of their request for the report and restate the purpose of the report. Indicate future actions to be taken. Acknowledge any assistance.

Sample Title Page Title Names of all the authors. Date of submission. Include date of completion as well if the two are far apart.

Executive summary A detailed abstract Summarizes the report for your reader, mentioning the outcomes of the new project as well as the recommendations

Table of Contents Starts on a new page Includes all heading, subheadings, figures, and tables Note: Heading and subheadings should be descriptive of the content they relate to.

Introduction

Findings and Discussion Main part of the report Gives information, analysis and evidence that support your conclusions and provides justification for your recommendations Should be subdivided into logical sections with descriptive headers and a number Should not exaggerate or manipulate the data

Consider Your Landmark-Villagio Report You have to recommend the best place for a new office space. In the findings and discussion section, show a clear analysis of all the pros and cons. Explain any analytical framework used (eg. SWOT, cost benefit analysis). Use diagrams if appropriate.

Conclusion and Recommendations Interpret and summarise the findings. Relate the conclusions to the report. Do not introduce new material. Recommend specific actions to solve the issue at hand and describe how they may be implemented. Announce the order of the recommendations, such as most important to least important or in no particular order of importance. Avoid words such as maybe and perhaps. Use bullet points and lists.

References and Appendices References must be provided in-text and in a list of references at the end. Your organisation may request a style. If not, use APA. As appendices, include material you referred to during research. Also include transcripts (if available) and questionnaires. Label appendices as APPENDIX A, APPENDIX B, and so on. Present them in the order in which they appear in the report.

While writing, remember to: use effective headings and subheadings; structure your paragraphs well; write clear sentences with plain language; keep your writing professional; use white space and well-chosen fonts; number your pages; and use footnotes, tables, figures, and appendices appropriately.

Practice Worksheet 1 You are the Head of a Customer Service Department. You put forward a proposal to introduce ‘flexitime’ an alternative working shift in three of the company’s branches starting in September 2017. Make sure to address all the six key areas in your proposal. [Refer to slide 8]

Practice Worksheet 2 The College of Business ( CBE) at QU wants to make this workshop on Proposals and Reports mandatory for all first year students. Using the given template write the executive summary of a report on this workshop for the Dean of the college. Mention what was covered in the workshop, method of delivery, usefulness, and who might benefit from this workshop. Remember to clearly mention if /why you would recommend making this workshop mandatory.

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