Reports as a learning tool

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Maybe you just opened your mail and received a mail with a recent report as an attachment. What is your immediate response? Probably you download the attachment and keep in view for reading. We really don't read them. Let us be truthful. Annual reports are hardly read by the employee who work there. A report is a written repository of knowledge and latest insights. 
 Today we will look at how to use reports as a learning tool; there are too many unread reports that can be useful for knowledge sharing.
How can you use reports as a learning tool?
1. Always have an executive summary. Who reads a 100 page report? Who says you cannot state in bold the key lesson learnt.
2. Discuss the report outcomes, lesson learned, recommendation and next steps with the team or organisation. It could be a 10 minutes meeting.
3.  Any mail on a finalized report should have the executive summary as the main body aside from the usual "kindly find attached the finalized report on......"
4. Next steps in reports should focus on actionable items not lofty ideas.  What do you do with the "lesson learned"? 
5. Reports are not personal property; share within the team and/or the entire organization as deemed necessary.
6. Reports should be precise and straight to the point. Keep it short and simple.
7. Managers have a role in ensuring that reports are read.
8. Always build on action points from the reports. Make reference to it frequently.
9. Have a brown bag. Institutionalize brown bag meeting for sharing report outcomes.
10. Reports should be written with less jargon and with more clarity. If you are writing a report, think of the person who will read it. Make it interesting to read.
A treasure of knowledge can be in your documents.
You can also send an email to bayus007@yahoo.com
Adebayo


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