Informal Reports
About Informal Reports
Everything that you've learned so far in this course will come into play in the following lessons, as we discuss the different types of reports businesses use – and that you may be asked to write.In this lesson, and the ones that follow, we will provide descriptions of the various types of reports by instructing you on how and when they are used. This information will be followed by the compartments used in each type of report, along with basic instructions for each compartment. You can then combine this information with what you've learned so far in this course to create any of the report types we will cover.
About Informal Reports
Informal reports are written to one person or to a group of people, usually within the same company. They can be written as memorandums, using a company memo template – or even a letter. Because informal reports usually focus on one subject and can be written as memorandums, they are also short. In fact, informal reports can be as short as just one page in length. They can be used to evaluate products, record events or meetings, update co-workers on the status of a project, etc. In this lesson, we will learn to write incident, field trip, and inspection reports.Report Appearance and Format
Before we move forward with the different types of informal reports, let's take a few minutes to discuss the format and appearance of reports.There are four formats that you can choose from whenever you write an informal report. Which format you choose will be based on what your company requires, as well as your audience.
- A memorandum can be used when the report is written by one person in a company to another person in the same company. It's the most informal format.
- A letter is used when the writer of the report is from one company and the recipient is from another company. Letters are more formal than a memorandum, but less formal than other informal report formats.
- A titled document has the report's title and the author's name centered at the top of the first page. The report starts right beneath it. It's also known as a semi-formal report format.
- A bound document has a cover and title page that comes before the actual report. Different sections of the report each have their own separate page. This format is known as a formal report.
In this lesson, as well as the one that follows, we will be discussing informal reports. You can use either the memorandum or letter format for an informal report.
The Memorandum Format
Your company may have a memorandum template that you are required to use; however, the top of a memorandum is usually formatted, as shown in the illustration below.
The Letter Format
If you write a report using a letter format, it should look something like this:
Note that the summary statement immediately begins after the salutation in an informal report, when you use the letter format.
At the end of a report written using the letter format, you would sign your name. Be sure to include your title.
When using the letter format, you should always be sure to use company letterhead, as well as print the report on a higher quality paper.
You can use either a memorandum or letter format with any of the report types in this lesson, or the lesson that follows. We will discuss titled and bound documents in later lessons, when we talk about semi-formal and formal report types.
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