Planning the Project/Report

1
Planning the Project/Report
2
Planning the Project/Report

• Position
• Problem
• Possibilities
• Proposals

3
Position

• Analyse your audience
• Primary reader (request/authorise the report)
• Secondary reader(s)
• Consider background information needed for
  readers
• Define scope and limitations

4
Scope and Limitations

• Scope - the boundaries of your investigation
• Limitations - anything which hinders or limits
  the quality of your research/findings of the
  report

5
Example 1

• TriTech - Travel entertainment expenses are
  eating into profits
• VP of Administration asks Director of Accounting
  Services to investigate

6
Position

• Who is the report for?
• Primary reader VP of Administration
• Secondary readers Companys CEO President of
  Administration

7
Position

• What do the reader(s) need in terms of background
  information?
• TriTechs company philosophy
• reasons for authorisation of report
• authoriser of the report

8
Position

• Scope Travel and entertainment expenses by
  employees in the last two years
• Limitation(s) Precise financial impact of
  cost-saving measures difficult to project due to
  fluctuations in airfares and hotel rates

9
Problem

• Problem statement defines what you are
  investigating
• Problem is usually defined by the person
  authorising the report
• Purpose statement defines the objective of the
  report

10
Problem
1. Identify the problem
do we spend on T E?

• What

• Why

are T E expenses so high?

• How

can T E expenditure be reduced?
11
Problem

1. Develop a purpose statement

• To analyse

the T E budget

• To evaluate

the impact of recent changes

• To suggest

ways to tighten control
12
Possibilities

• Consider all possibilities
• Make sure the possibilities are relevant
• Be mindful of biased thinking
• Else
• Conclusions and recommendations will be
  invalid if the actual causes of the problem are
  not identified in the report.

13
Example 2

• Company X - organised training programme for its
  staff
• Report to evaluate employees attitude towards
  the programme

14
Possibilities
1. Identify all relevant issues
15
Possibilities
2. Formulate hypotheses Hypothesis - an
unproved theory, proposition, etc., tentatively
accepted to explain certain facts or to provide
a basis for further investigation.
16
Possibilities

• Formulate hypotheses
• Workers level of job satisfaction is higher
  after taking the class.
• Workers are dissatisfied with the selection
  procedures to identify participants.
• Workers dislike class times.
• Workers believe programme is too long.

17
Proposals
List tentative solutions to the problem
(based on the hypotheses)
18
Proposals
Hypothesis - Workers are dissatisfied with
the selection procedures to identify
participants Proposal - Allow workers to
volunteer for the programme
19
Proposals
Hypothesis - Workers dislike class
times Proposal - Continue class times
after working hours, but offer incentives eg.
leave in lieu or shopping vouchers
20
Proposals
Hypothesis - Workers believe programme is too
long Proposal - Revise and shorten
programme based on staff input
21

• Introduction
• background/problem
• purpose
• scope limitations

Position
Problem
Possibilities
Findings
Conclusions
Proposals
Recommendations