Producing Effective Written Reports

Although some consulting work may require only a brief verbal discussion or oral presentation to convey the results of your work, most consulting assignments result in at least a brief written

The best report is the one that your intended audience actually reads. If your client throws your report into a corner and forgets about it — because it's too complex, it's untimely, or the results don't match your client's expectations — you have just wasted your time, and your client has wasted money.

Two basic consulting reports

In most cases, you will use two different kinds of written reports to communicate with your clients: progress reports and final report. In some cases — particularly in complex projects of long duration — your consulting projects will use both types of reports. In others — particularly projects that are relatively simple and short in duration — you may need to submit only a final report. In any case, you should plan to allocate approximately 20 percent of your time to the task of preparing and communicating results.

The most important consideration of all is your client's expectation. If your client expects a short report, make sure that you deliver a short report. If your client expects a long, detailed report, make sure that you tailor your format to meet that need.