The essential purpose of this content planning is to create a logical structure to clearly present the key messages of the project report. Through well organised presentation of the key messages and their supporting ideas, the writer is able to either inform or influence the reader as appropriate. If this planning step is missed out then the content is likely to lose its impact as the ideas will not be clearly expressed and as easily understood.
Pyramid Principle
Writing a report is essentially capturing ideas into an easily digestible form for others. Barbara Minto in The Pyramid Principle states "Controlling the sequence in which you present your ideas is the single most important act necessary to clear writing. The clearest sequence is always to give the summarising idea before you give the individual ideas being summarised." This gives rise to the idea of an information pyramid or a pyramid of ideas.
Project Report as a Pyramid of Ideas
Given this logical structure of ideas then:
- Ideas at any level must be summaries of ideas immediately below them
- Ideas in each grouping must be related ideas or the same kind
- Ideas in each grouping must be logically ordered
Logically ordered:
- Deductively (major idea, minor idea and conclusion)
- Chronologically (first, second, third)
- Structurally (logical group such as geographical, types of users, product types...)
- Comparative (logical order such as importance or relative quality such as size)
Pyramid within a Pyramid
It is logically entirely possible for there to be a pyramid of ideas within a main pyramid or multiple levels. Consequently when report writing:
- Always use a top-down approach, starting with the single most important point or the key idea
- Use current situation or problem to consider the target or desired outcome and the proposal for getting there
- Having generated the key ideas and messages then logically structure the ideas into the pyramid structure
Writing a Report
When the ideas have been thought through and structured then the report writing can begin. Focus on:
- Introduction to provide context and background. If trying to influence an outcome then only focus on those points that can be universally agreed upon
- Presentation of key messages and supporting points according to pyramid structure and logical order. If trying to influence an outcome then focus on Situation [as-is state] Target [to-be state] and Proposal [how to get to the to-be state from the as-is state]
- Conclusion or summary. If the project report is becoming lengthy, more than a few pages, then senior management is likely to wish to see an executive summary following the introduction.
Project Reports
Writing a project report can, for a variety of reasons, be dependent on the nature of the project. Using a structured approach to writing the report will help to produce a clear and more effective report. There are also two common project reports, status and summary reports, that are produced during project execution. Any of these will benefit from using pyramid principle. Go here for more information on Minto's Pyramid Principle.
Roger Lever - Early career was in Treasury Banking and this led to my interest in financial investment, especially the stockmarket. Enjoy reading widely ...
