Qualities of a Good Reporter

It is necessary for a report to contain following details to be called a good report: | 1. Information collected in the report must be relevant and focused to derive desired results. Pictorial 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 different formats to fulfill the report goals. The ultimate goal is to determine all the issue and make suitable strategies to cope up with these issue or problems. 2. Report should follow the exact predefined goals and objectives. If there is any sort of divergence of related information which does not match the goals then the results are of no use. In fact there is a probability of landing up in making negative or out of focus strategies, which will be very dangerous. 3. The report should always contain the executive summary of the work. This is generally kept before the actual report starts as it shows the summary of the desired business plan. 4. Apart from the actual analysis the report should also depict the reasons of making this report and what advantages and profit it can provide after successful implementation of business plans described inside the report. 5. It should also contain the methodology of the research which shows the overall process adopted to create the report. 6. It 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. 7. The report should contain the description of the questionnaires used in analysis and the way it has been prepared. 8. The methodology used in the interviews should also be elaborated and what was achieved in this should also be described. 9. If 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 efficaciously. The report should also define each and every variable and element used in creating these predictive analyses. 10. The report should be flexible enough to be changed accordingly. The analytical information described inside the report should be maintained in such a way that there is no extra effort labored if any strategy or process it to be changed in future. It should necessarily mould the changes without changing the structure of the report.
Reader-Friendly
Readers are various stakeholders who receive reports generated by M&E. If reports are reader-friendly, they are likely to be read, remembered and acted upon. Following decisions need to be made by CSOs to make their reports reader-friendly: * What do they need to know? * When do they need to know? * How do they like to know?
Easy, Simple Language
M&E reports are meant to inform not impress. Using easy, simple language, be it Urdu or English makes the report friendly on reader. To do this, here are some useful tips:
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* Write only what is necessary * Avoid repetition and redundancy * Give interesting and relevant information * Avoid preaching or lecturing * Compose short and correct sentences
Purposeful Presentation
Each report has some objective(s) to meet. The “objective” comes from analyzing the needs of the reader. A CSO is working for a project that has several donors, and is channeled through an agency that needs to be informed about some specific things going on in the field. CSOs reports are the main pathways or channels of information to the people who decide to fund this and other such projects. Similarly, field reports are the amin vehicles for the management of the CSOs to make decision regarding the project itself. A good report presents facts and arguments in a manner that supports the purpose of the report.
Organized and Well-Structured
Each CSO comes up with a format of internal reporting to suit its requirements. Reporting to donors is done on their prescribed formats. The M&E system should be able to generate information that can be organized using different formats. In the annex, this manual provides some useful formats that can be customized by a CSO.
Result-Focused
In general, all readers are interested in the RESULTS. Therefore, one over-riding principle that CSOs should aim for in all report writingis to report on the results of their activities. This requires some analysis on their part that goes beyond a mere description of their activities.
Result-focused means that description of activities is liked with the project objectives. This aspect must be addressed especially in the project progress reports. According to Phil Bartle, “A good progress report is not merely a descriptive activity report, but must analyze the results of those reported activities. The analysis should answer the question, "How far have the project objectives been reached?"
Timely Prepared and Dispatched
M&E generate “Information Products”, a customized set of information according to needs to a defined group of users. M&E’s information products are time-bound for both internal and external stakeholders. Reports, in suitable formats, need to be timely produced and made available to the readers. It is useful to develop an Information Product Matrix (IPM) like the one described below:
Straightforward
A good report is straight forward, honest description. It contains no lies, no deception, no fluff. It is neat, readable and to-the-point. It is well spaced, has titles and subtitles and is free of language errors.
Solid Writing Capability
If you really want to succeed as a technical writer you should be skilled in information architecture and design, typography, training material development, illustration etc. A good writer should always show his expertise in writing technical documents and reports.
Training
Usually to become a content writer you need to have a Technical Writing Certification or at least Bachelor’s or Master’s degree on Computer Science, Creative Writing, English, Journalism, Chemistry or Engineering.
Language Skills
You should be able to convey your message in short. The more precise your content the more people will consider it to be an effective one. Sometimes, technical contents are meant for non-technical people. In that case the writer must try to understand what the people are looking for and which approach will best suit their purpose.
Teaching Skills
A good writer must have the ability to teach and lead the readers. Thus, through their write-up they should make them understand what you are trying to say.
Concentration Ability
While writing you should always concentrate or else, the writing flow may get disturbed.
Interpersonal Skills
Technical writers need to interact with different people like, editors, project managers, web designers, graphic designers, clients, subject matter experts, engineers, photographers, accountants, programmers as well as marketers. This is why; they should have good communicating skill.
Take Criticism Lightly
Never react rudely if someone criticizes you. Sometimes, clients and editors may give negative feedback but take it lightly. Often they may ask you to rewrite and force you to write according to their instructions. But try to avoid opposing them.
Professionalism
While working they should maintain professionalism and should handle the occupational hazards with dignity.
Experienced
The more you will work, the more you will acquire knowledge from the relevant domain and you will get accustomed with different terminologies.
So, scan through all those points and try to become a good technical writer. For more information, keep an eye on our blog.

Here are the main characteristics of technical writing: * Purpose: Getting something done within an organization (completing a project, persuading a customer, pleasing your boss, etc.) * Your knowledge of topic: Usually greater than that of the reader. * Audience: Often several people, with differing technical backgrounds. * Criteria for Evaluation: Clear and simple organization of ideas, in a format that meets the needs of busy readers. * Statistical and graphic support: Frequently used to explain existing conditions and to present alternative courses of action.

1. Facility with technology
You have to be somewhat technical, although there are many different kinds of technicalese. You may have a bent towards one of the sciences, and can understand the inner workings of cells or atoms. Or you may be web savvy and know how to interpret code. Or maybe you’re just curious about how things work. You can learn technologies you don’t understand, if you have the motivation. I personally enjoy learning about complicated systems. This understanding brings a sense of achievement and knowledge that is rewarding at the end of the day.
2. Ability to write clearly
The essential skill of any technical communicator is to disambiguate (to use a word my father introduced to me the other day). Your core job will consist of taking complicated things and trying to explain them in easy-to-understand ways. You can’t just pass off an explanation you only half understand. Writing about something (as opposed to talking about it) requires you to understand it thoroughly. Avoid passive sentences and long constructions. Go from old ideas to new. Define acronyms and avoid assumptions about what the user knows. Make the reader feel smart.
3. Talent in showing ideas graphically
I underestimated the importance of using Visio until just a few months ago. Any time you can show an idea graphically, you score a hundred points with the reader. Almost everyone is a visual person. People understand better when you can communicate your ideas visually (and I’m not just talking about screenshots here, although they do count for something). It is surprisingly easy to create half-decent diagrams in Visio. They go a long way toward making your writing clear.
4. Patience in problem-solving/troubleshooting
Unless you have patience, you’ll never make it. I think 80 percent of IT work consists of problem solving. What do you do when you can’t figure out how to do something? Do you slam your fist into your keyboard? Do you scream and curse when you can’t immediately figure something out? It’s amazing how you can see a seemingly impossible problem through with patience and persistence.
5. Ability to interact with SMEs
I talked about this in my last podcast on Tech Writer Voices. Interacting with SMEs is one the most overlooked skills in technical writing. You have to be part investigative reporter, part journalist. You can’t be shy about going after certain people to extract information. And you can’t be too proud to ask the “dumb technical questions” that make engineers do double-takes. A lot of this interaction can come about if you’re lucky enough to simply sit near SMEs.