PROGRESS REPORT

Once you have written a successful proposal and have secured the resources to do a project,
you are expected to update the client on the progress of that project. This updating is
usually handled by progress reports, which can take many forms: memoranda, letters, short
reports, formal reports, or presentations. What information is expected in a progress report
The answer to this !uestion depends, as you might expect, on the situation, but most
progress reports have the following similarities in content:
". Background on the project itself. #n many instances, the client $a manager at the
%ational &cience 'oundation, for instance( is responsible for several projects.
Therefore, the client expects to be oriented as to what your project is, what its
objectives are, and what the status of the project was at the time of the last
reporting.
). Discussion of achievements since last reporting. This section follows the progress of
the tasks presented in the proposal*s schedule.
+. Discussion of problems that have arisen. ,rogress reports are not necessarily for the
bene-t of only the client. Often, you the engineer or scientists bene-t from the
reporting because you can share or warn your client about problems that have
arisen. #n some situations, the client might be able to direct you toward possible
solutions. #n other situations, you might negotiate a revision of the original
objectives, as presented in the proposal.
.. Discussion of work that lies ahead. #n this section, you discuss your plan for meeting
the objectives of the project. #n many ways, this section of a progress report is written
in the same manner as the /,lan of 0ction/ section of the proposal, except that now
you have a better perspective for the schedule and cost than you did earlier.
1. Assessment of whether you will meet the objectives in the proposed schedule and
budget. #n many situations, this section is the bottom line for the client. #n some
situations, such as the construction of a highway, failure to meet the objectives in the
proposed schedule and budget can result in the engineers having to forfeit the
contract. #n other situations, such as a research project, the client expects that the
objectives will change somewhat during the project.
FEASIBILITY REPORT
#mportant 'eatures of a 2asic 'easibility 3eport
2elow are the seven elements of a feasibility report:
Introduction 4 5ou need to persuade the decision maker to even consider any sort of
alternative. 5ou need to convince them to even read your report -rst. Tell them what
they will gain personally or as an organi6ation by considering your work.
Criteria/Constraints 4 5ou must speci-cally map out the criteria of what the ideal
outcomes are. This will allow you to make practical and logical decisions. 5ou can
present the criteria in your feasibility report in one of two ways. 'irst, you can separate
the criteria into its own section. This is best when you have a extensive report and you
need to go in4depth with the explanation. &econd, you can incorporate the criteria
throughout your report as the criteria become relevant. 7owever, it is important to
reali6e that whichever strategy you chose make sure that the criteria is introduced early
in the report. #t is also very important to map out the constraints of your suggested
solutions. This will show the audience that you understand and acknowledge the fact
that no solution is perfect. This will also make sure that the audience makes the decision
in their best interest.
Method 4 #t is very important to present facts that are accurate and relevant. 5ou
should state the reliable sources you used and what method they came from
$internet,interview, book, etc.(. Without a credible research method or credible sources
your document itself will lack credibility.
Overview o A!ternative O"tions 4 5ou must underline the key features of each
possible option. 8ake sure they are easy to understand and presented in a friendly
layout. 9eep in mind that the goal is to allow your audience to make the best decision.
Eva!uation 4 This should be the bulk of your report, you must evaluate the options
using the criteria you created. 0dd graphs, charts, etc. to show that you have studied
your options, and have come up with statistics that back up your reasons as to why your
alternative beats the competition.
Conc!usions 4 5ou need to state the conclusion you have came up with. 7ow did you
evaluate the alternatives 0nd then from there, which alternative best -t your
organi6ation.
Reco##endations 4 5ou need to use your experience and knowledge in order to
state which option you think should be adopted.
%ote: 0ll seven element outlined do not need to be included in the feasibility report
depending on audience, circumstance, mission, etc. 0lso the elements do not need to be
in the exact order outlined above. &peci-cally the conclusion should be mentioned more
than just at the end of the report. #t should also be summari6ed in the beginning of the
report and in the case the the feasibility report is long, it can be mentioned in the middle
as well.
:xecutive &ummary
0n executive summary should be included at the beginning of the report. #n )4+ pages, the
main points of the feasibility study are summari6ed for a !uick review by busy
administrators and school board members. The executive summary provides the reader with
an overview of the feasibility study and will help them see the entire picture before they
read the details. &ome decision4makers may only read the executive summary. Thus, the
executive summary should be concise and include the major -ndings of the study followed
by a recommendation.
Feasi$i!it% Re"orts Guide!ines
The Feasibility Report FR! presents the project parameters and de"nes the potential
solutions to the de"ned problem# need or opportunity. $t e%pands on each of these potential
solutions# providing su&cient detail and non'"nancial evaluations to permit the project
leader to recommend to the approving authority all viable potential solutions that should be
further analy(ed in the ne%t phase $nvestment Analysis Report )$AR*!. Further# for those
options which are considered feasible# based upon the non'"nancial evaluations!# indicative
+lass D! cost estimates should be prepared and their estimated duration should be
determined as input to the "nancial analysis of options to be carried out in the Analysis
phase. The FR should also justify why any potential solutions were considered to be non'
viable or considered to be non'compliant with government policy and,or project objectives
and therefore not considered further.
-hen technical studies $nvestigation and Report! have been conducted# they should be
used as input to the preparation of the FR.
RESEARC& REPORT
0uthors
8any people often harbor creative research ideas but few of them gain their way into a
concrete research project proposal nor the actual research publication.8ore often than not,
this is usually due to the fear of how one would come up with a good report write4up.
%early all research project reports follow a similar format of writing.This is because all such
write4 ups are usually reports of what the researcher actually did and the results or
conclusions they came up with.
There are,however, some minor peculiar di;erences between various reports and this result
from the nature of the study carried out.#n this case the research could be in the social
science -eld or a practical study investigating a certain practical scienti-c phenomena.
Thus the !ualities of an excellent polished research project report include:4
". #t must be written easy to understand vocabulary as the aim of the report is to covey the
message in the write4up.
). #t must have clear and short title related to the research problem.
+. #t must give a summary$abstract( of the whole research in the introductory pages of the
write4up.
.. The report must posses the methodology section to show how the research was carried
out.
1. #t must have a discussion of the -ndings and the conclusion section.
<. The report must be easily legible,written with good font type and font si6e even though
di;erent authorities recommend di;erent styles.
=.ensure you reference all work that is not originally yours. This gives acknowledgment to
the original generators of such work.>i;erent styles of referencing exist including 0,0, 8?0
etc depending on the locality and nature of your research write4up.
@. 0void plagiarism at all costs.#t is the A7#BC of intellectual resources.
D.3emember your audience.2e it a ,ostgraduate research dissertation,8asters research
project thesis or a senior -nal year college research project report, write it with the end user
in mind.
# believe this article will go a long way in helping to prepare a great polished research report
for presentation to your professor or project manager.'eel free to add or point out any
clari-cations in this article since not everything has been exhausted.Thank you for your
time. hoping to interact with you in the next articleE..good4luckFF
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The market research is normally outsourced to third party agencies by organi6ations and in
turn they create a professional report to the organi6ation. These reports are preferably
provided to senior oGcials who are the critical decision makers of the organi6ation. 7ence
these reports need to be exclusively eGcient and well formatted and the matter should be
limpid, analytical and directive.
The actual facts must be depicted clearly and it is desirable that the data and results are
furnished in graphical or tabular format which could create a substantially good impression
and is unambiguous to understand. The reports must be essentially capable to compare
related information in the report so that conclusions can be derived potentially and easily.
It is necessar% or a re"ort to contain o!!owin' detai!s to $e ca!!ed a 'ood re"ort(
". #nformation collected in the report must be re!evant and ocused to derive desired
results. ,ictorial and graphical presentation of data and related information help to
understand the details easily. There is a possibility that the collected data in the
report needs to be represented at many places in di;erent formats to ful-ll the report
goals. The ultimate goal is to determine all the issue and make suitable strategies to
cope up with these issue or problems.
). 3eport should follow the exact "rede)ned 'oa!s and o$*ectives. #f there is any
sort of divergence of related information which does not match the goals then the
results are of no use. #n fact there is a probability of landing up in making negative or
out of focus strategies, which will be very dangerous.
+. The report should always contain the executive su##ar% o the wor+. This is
generally kept before the actual report starts as it shows the summary of the desired
business plan.
.. 0part from the actual analysis the report should also depict the reasons of making
this report and what advantages and pro-t it can provide after successful
implementation of business plans described inside the report.
1. #t should also contain the #ethodo!o'% o the research which shows the overall
process adopted to create the report.
<. #t is important that the report contains the possibility of errors in any of the module or
process so that immediate measures could be taken to cope up with these errors.
=. The report should contain the descri"tion o the ,uestionnaires used in analysis
and the way it has been prepared.
@. The methodology used in the interviews should also be elaborated and what was
achieved in this should also be described.
D. #f the information show that some aspects needs to predict the future trends then the
reports should depict that prediction. This prediction should have scale of success so
that the accuracy could be judged eGcaciously. The report should also de-ne each
and every variable and element used in creating these predictive analyses.
"H. The report should be -e.i$!e enough to be changed accordingly. The analytical
information described inside the report should be maintained in such a way that
there is no extra e;ort labored if any strategy or process it to be changed in future. #t
should necessarily mould the changes without changing the structure of the report.
The analytical report creation is very important phase of market research which acts as a
blueprint of the business plan which is to be executed. 2y following the above guidelines
while report generation process can be eGciently taken care of.