Rogers - Write of Way | Taking Care of Business |

| Progress Reports |

Workers often have to report progress on work assignments. For short projects, you may report progress only one or two times before you complete your work, perhaps in a conversation: Your boss may telephone to ask how many people came to the second session of the parent-education discussion group you just started. If you do write about your progress—for example, you may e-mail your colleague to say that tomorrow you will send the revisions to the article you are jointly authoring—it may be rather informal writing.

You may file progress reports on a regular schedule when you work on a larger project that takes longer to accomplish. As the complexity of the reporting increases, too, you are likelier to write rather than telephone, and you may file a report, not just dash off a casual e-mail. As the person in charge of opening a new storefront drop-in centre for teens on the street, for example, you may have to report in writing on a scheduled basis.

Creating the Content of a Progress Report

Whether your audience is telephoned, e-mailed, or sent formal progress reports, readers want your message to meet two needs: they want just the information they need and they want it expressed in a businesslike tone. As you jot a few notes to plan your report, remember to begin by summarizing your main message, as Blicq and Moretto suggest. You can write the first sentence of your report as soon as you can finish the sentence stem: I want to tell you that . . . .

Figure 1: Example of a Progress Report in Memo Format

Look at the first sentence in figure 1, the progress report for Pat Cummings. Remember: Pat was the sheltered workshop participant who repeatedly harassed another participant. Case worker Kim Chan filed an incident report and banned Pat from attending the workshop for two weeks. Kim has just met for a second counseling session with Pat and his mother to discuss the choices Pat would face if he returned. Pat seems to have come to a better understanding of inappropriate touching. At the second session, Pat said he would refrain from touching anyone who did not want to be touched. Kim has decided that Pat should return to the workshop. That information is the main message of his progress report. Kim thought the hidden words "I want to tell my supervisor that," but he writes as his first sentence only the words that complete that thought: "Pat Cummings should be re-admitted to Shelter Workshop beginning Monday, November 3."

Your reader will expect you to report in the next sentences just the details necessary to support your main message. Think about it. What questions would come to your readers' mind immediately after you summarize your main point? How has your work been going? Do your know when you'll be finished? Are there any obstacles that might hurt your progress? Just imagine the information needs of your audience, and you will quite naturally support your main point.

Look again at the progress report for Pat Cummings. Because Kim analyzed his supervisor's needs, he was sure the supervisor would want a brief account of the incident that led to Pat's suspension. Kim reasoned that his boss would want to know why Pat should be re-admitted. Kim knew the supervisor would want to know the details of how Pat will return to the workshop.

Organizing a Progress Report

Begin a contemporary progress report with a first sentence that summarizes your main point, your main message. Kim's first sentence summarizes the most important development in Pat Cummings' progress in being able to participate in the workshop without abusing the rights of other participants.

Then arrange the support paragraphs logically. Kim's support paragraphs are organized chronologically (see figure 1). Sometimes you will organize the paragraphs to examine the causes of a problem then the effects. For example, you might describe the behaviour of an old piece of equipment, and then the problems it causes workers. Sometimes you will describe a possible scenario and contrast it with the scenario you are striving for. (You may write the support paragraphs more easily if you first review the methods of developing ideas in chapters 6 and 7 in Write of Way: Essay Strategies and Readings.)

Creating Progress Reports that Look Professional

You must report progress via the appropriate document. Kim wrote a memo because he was reporting progress to another member of the same organization. Sometimes you will report progress in a business letter or on an electronic form. Whatever type of document you create, format it with the appearance educated readers expect. (Kim followed the guidelines in the "Memos" section of "Taking Care of Business" on the Write of Way Web site.)

Activity 1: Practice Writing a Progress Report

Pretend you are a caseworker in Haven Residence, the secure group home to which Sherry Lynn was sent after she persistently broke the rules at Haven Group Home, the open-custody group home for young offenders. Both Haven House and Haven Residence are part of Haven Group Homes, Incorporated.

Sherry Lynn was initially sullen and hostile about her new placement. (You must make up the details.) Sometime during counselling, Sherry Lynn began to change. She began to believe that to be free, she had to avoid breaking laws. She became a model resident.

You believe that Sherry Lynn should return to the less secure home, that the next logical step in helping Sherry Lynn to eventually return to the community and choose not to re-offend is to try to live within the rules in a setting where the temptations are more like life on the street. Because this is an internal communication—it's only circulated within the organization you work for—write your recommendations in a memo to Sherry Lynn's former residence supervisor.

Some Concluding Thoughts

When workers write effective progress reports, they help their organization run smoothly. New employees can read progress reports to bring themselves up to date on cases. Those written records are more also more reliable than the memories of colleagues. Sometimes records help settle disputes about what occurred in the past. Occasionally, these records are requested in legal proceedings. Learning to write progress reports is a valuable vocational skill.

Works Cited

Blicq, Ron S. and Lisa A. Moretto. Guidelines for Report Writing. 4th ed. Scarborough: Prentice Hall Canada, 2000.

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