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report.pdf Sample research report Executive Summary (Summary or Abstract) The aim of this report was to investigate UniLab staff attitudes to personal mobile phone use in staff and team meetings. A staff survey on attitudes towards the use of mobile phones in the staff / team meetings was conducted. The results indicate that the majority of staff find mobile phone use a major issue in staff meetings. The report concludes that personal mobile phones are disruptive and should be turned off in meetings. It is recommended that UniLab develops a company policy banning the use of mobile phones except in exceptional circumstances. Introduction There has been a massive increase in the use of personal mobile phones over the past five years and there is every indication that this will continue. According to Black (2002) by 2008 almost 100% of working people in Australia will carry personal mobile phones. Black describes this phenomenon as ‘serious in the extreme, potentially undermining the foundations of communication in our society’ (2002, p 167). Currently at UniLab 89% of staff have personal mobile phones. Recently a number of staff have complained about the use of personal mobile phones in meetings and asked what the official company policy is. At present there is no official company policy regarding phone use. This report examines the issue of mobile phone usage in staff meetings and small team meetings. It does not seek to examine the use of mobile phones in the workplace at other times, although some concerns were raised. For the purposes of this report a personal mobile phone is a personally funded phone for private calls as opposed to an employer funded phone that directly relates to carrying out a particular job. Methods This research was conducted by questionnaire and investigated UniLab staff members’ attitudes to the use of mobile phones in staff / team meetings. A total of 412 questionnaires were distributed with employees' fortnightly pay slips (see Appendix 1). The questionnaire used Lekert scales to assess social attitudes (see Smith 2002) to mobile phone usage and provided open ended responses for additional comments. Survey collection boxes were located in every branch for a four week period. No personal information was collected; the survey was voluntary and anonymous. Results There was an 85% response rate to the questionnaire. A breakdown of the responses is listed below in Table 1. It can be clearly seen from the results that mobile phones are considered to be disruptive and should be turned off in meetings. Table 1 Personal mobile phone usage in staff and team meetings is… Strongly agree % Agree % Disagree % Strongly disagree % Not a problem 5 7 65 23 An issue 40 45 10 5 Disruptive 80 10 7 3 Phones should be permissible 6 16 56 22 Phones should be turned off 85 10 3 2 Allowed in some circumstances 10 52 24 14 The survey also allowed participants to identify any circumstances where mobile phones should be allowed in meetings and also assessed staff attitudes towards receiving personal phone calls in staff meetings in open ended questions. These results showed that staff thought that in some circumstances, eg medical or emergencies, receiving personal phone calls was acceptable, but generally receiving personal phone calls was not necessary. Discussion / Interpretation of Results It can be seen from the results in Table 1 that personal mobile phone use is considered to a problem; however it was acknowledged that in some situations it should be permissible. 80% of recipients considered mobile phones to be highly disruptive and there was strong support for phones being turned off in meetings (85%). Only 12% thought that mobile phone usage in staff and team meetings was not a problem, whereas 85% felt it was an issue. The results are consistent throughout the survey. Many of the respondents (62%) felt that in exceptional circumstances mobile phones should be allowed, eg medical, but there should be protocols regarding this. These findings are consistent with other studies. According to Smith (2005) many companies have identified mobile phones as disruptive and have banned the use of mobile phones in meetings. Havir (2004) claims that 29% of staff meeting time is wasted through unnecessary mobile phone interruptions. This affects time management, productivity and team focus. Conclusion The use of mobile phones in staff meetings is clearly disruptive and they should be switched off. Most staff felt it is not necessary to receive personal phone calls in staff meetings except under certain circumstances, but permission should first be sought from the team leader, manager or chair. Recommendations It is recommended that UniLab develops an official policy regarding the use of mobile phones in staff meetings. The policy should recommend: • mobile phones are banned in staff meetings • mobiles phone may be used in exceptional circumstances but only with the permission of the appropriate manager or chair Finally, the policy needs to apply to all staff in the company. Business writing Business writing Day 1 Class roll & business vocabulary Feedback – comment box Feedback – feedback file Accepting changes - 1 Accepting changes - 2 CPW.5: Reports (D1) and emails (D2) What do you know about Business reports? Purpose? Character? Structure? Length? Audience? Business writing principles Your group will research business writing principles online and You will summarise your findings in (4-8 principles/key points) on a single PPT slide You will then talk us through your findings… Research project Group 1: General Planning Know your audience Language & tone Sentence structure Paragraph structure Group 2: Layout & formatting Order of information Headings Underlining/Bolding Indenting White space Research project Group 3: Design Proximity Alignment Consistency Contrast Group 4: Legal/ethical Discrimination Copyright & IP Privacy Business reports Specialised genre of writing that has specific rules or at least guidelines… Specific purpose – to identify/examine/analyse an issue, event or review of project etc. Specific character: concise, clear & focused Specific structure: standard sections Specific audience: e.g. colleagues/management What is the central message? Often it is a solution to a problem… Short report: an example Scan the overall structure of the report Identify the content and the purpose of each section Business report structure Executive summary (summary with specifics!) Introduction (e.g.: context, overview, recommendations) Methods (how did you get your information & how did you process it? sometimes part of introduction) Results/Findings (what your research has uncovered) Discussion (personal analysis of results/findings) Conclusion (incl. recommendations, if any) References (if applicable) Appendices (relevant information not included in the main body) Executive summary Intended to summarise the whole report Must include specifics so as to be useful Intended to give a meaningful overview so that the reader does not have to read the rest of the report to get the gist of it This section is usually written last, as it summarises all the other sections of the report Introduction Aim, scope (what is included & excluded) and limitations Background or context (details of problem addressed) Can include recommendations/suggested solution (if there is no Executive summary) Can include description of report structure Can include Methodology (if there is no separate section covering this) Sample introduction [Aim, scope and limitations] The aim of this report is to describe the professional field of psychotherapy: its background, size and the job opportunities it offers in Australia. It does not include the field of counselling or psychology, but it does include the specialisation of addiction, as well as mood and eating disorder treatment. [Background or context] New psychotherapists find it difficult to understand the opportunities in their chosen industry; this report will make it easier for them to feel confident looking for work…. … [Suggested solution] The report describes the psychotherapy industry as growing steadily and offering diverse employment opportunities for new graduates, but also identifies threats in the form of competition from psychologists who have a very strong union and are well recognised by health insurance companies. [Report structure] The report consists of sections focussing on the industry history, key facts, growth forecasts, jobs available and qualifications needed. Sample introduction; cont. Results/Findings Here is where you find the key information that your research has uncovered. In short reports this is usually one section made up of 2-3 paragraphs, in longer reports it usually consists of a number of sub-sections with headings Do not analyse the information – simply report it… Can include tables and graphs as a way to summarise a lot of information in an efficient manner Discussion This is where you analyse your Results/Findings You need to show personal initiative and opinion in this section – what do the Results/Findings mean or suggest? Content will depend on the purpose and audience of the report – what are you trying to achieve with this report? Could also highlight limitations of the report Do not introduce NEW FACTUAL INFORMATION here… Conclusion Given your Results/Findings and your Discussion, what does it all mean? What do you see as the way forward? Can include solutions, recommendations re: actions to be taken, further research to be carried out. Often a reflection of the introduction, but goes deeper… includes what you have discovered. Business Writing Assessment 2: Business report Individual assessment done in class/at home You are to write a 600-1,000 word research report on an industry in which you would like to work. Due 11:55pm Friday after end of module Assessment 2: Business report Collated from at least 3 referenced sources Organised with: Cover sheet (name, class, subject, assessment number & topic), Business report structure: use standard sections Include at least one graphic (e.g. graph, table, diagram) Reference list Appendices (optional) Contents of your report: Brief industry description, context and overview of your chosen industry Where did you source your information from? What skill & qualification does your industry require? Who are the main employers (e.g. government, in-house accounting departments, consultancies providing service-for-fee)? What are the main roles and specialisations (e.g. auditor, book-keeper, management