Anatomy of a Report

1. A title (page for long reports) – including the main topic or purpose and the type of report.
2. Table of contents – in a logical or chronological order. Not necessary for short reports.
3. A problem statement - the reason, issue, request, or hypothesis for the work effort.
4. TLDR - an executive summary. Consider putting the conclusions and recommendations here.
5. A clause – specifies and presents the methods used for the activity.
6. The main discussion – is broken down into organized sections, including the heading, the sub-heading, and the discussion's body.
7. The conclusions – according to the results and information gathered in the report. Note: this can be above the clause.
8. The recommendations – are from the employee who created the report. Note: this should follow the conclusions and can also be above the clause.
9. Sections for bibliography or appendices – when necessary at the end of the report.

Points to Consider

From: reports your boss will like

1. Less technical details and simple writing in your Analysis Report

• Words should always exist, not just pictures and graphs
• Avoid flowery prose and extra details; to the point (bullets as needed)
• Don’t get bogged down in the weeds or the process, to miss reporting the outcome.

2. Clear description of what you did and why

In this section, don’t be afraid to show the client your knowledge about what you know-tell the story according to the questions you are solving. You should never have more than 3 metrics in a table and data should always be segmented, not aggregated. This makes it easier to read.