Reporting Made Easy
Written reporting Basics
A practical introduction for teams to make reports 'stick'
Reports are critical to communicating evaluation findings and recommendations for action and use. Writing them requires time and energy. And sometimes for little gain and considerable pain! Ineffective reporting is a major contributor to the continued underuse and misuse of evaluation findings.
Written Reporting Basics is a four session (4-6 week) flexible course designed to support teams to produce impactful reports through practical tools and strategies. We help you embed a toolkit of easy-to-apply "tricks" to improve the content, structure, and design of your reports.
A visual toolkit will engage and motivate your team in 'doing' reports. Regular coaching from experienced evaluation facilitators, a package of easy-to-follow facilitator resources and working in a small group will make effective communication through written reporting a breeze.
TOOLKIT OF ACTIVITIES
What you get
TEAM RESOURCES
FACILITATOR RESOURCES
REGULAR, EXPERT TRAINING SUPPORT
How it Works
INTRODUCTION TO COURSE FACILITATION
Receive the Reporting Basics Team Toolkit and Facilitator materials.
Participate in a live online session where you will meet the evaluation coach (Dr. Samantha Abbato) and the other facilitators (Maximum of 8). This includes an overview of how the course and coaching will work for the 4 weeks of sessions.
Approximately weekly commitment is:
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90-120 minutes preparation, coaching, and debriefing
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90-120 minutes team facilitation.
*Additional toolkits are available if you need more for your team.
SUPPORT FOR EACH SESSION AND TOPIC
Participate in group coaching for each of the 4 sessions and topics. Be guided through the materials for each session using a Facilitator's Guide - including a 20-minute video presentation, a PowerPoint Slide Pack and instructions for team activities. All activities are designed so you can support your team to work on increasing the quality and impact of written reports.
Designed Activity Sheets and Activity Templates will provide direction for applying the topic to your situation. These will be provided in the course toolkit as well as online formats to give you and your team flexibility.
FACILITATE YOUR TEAM AND BUILD CAPACITY
Each week, you will be supported to give your team a presentation on the topic. You can choose from a 20-minute video or use an annotated PowerPoint slide pack to present.
Follow the instructions provided in the facilitator's guide, on the Toolkit components, and the online activity platform to support your team in participating in an activity.
Team reward is to build reporting capability whilst working on their current reports.
Additional facilitator reward is roughly 90% retained learning by teaching (compared to 5% from attending a presentation on the topic.
PARTICIPATE IN LIVE VIDEO CONFERENCES
Two scheduled video conference sessions for facilitators are provided.
The video sessions offer:
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A Q&A session on the topics covered
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The opportunity to present your team's work,
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Networking opportunities with other facilitators participating.
In addition, you will be able to access coaching twice weekly via coaching "office hours" on Zoom with any questions along the way. You can opt for working with your team on an online platform where the evaluation coach can provide feedback on the activities you complete with your team.
Our coaches monitor facilitators' discussion boards daily, to ensure you get all the support you need.
Training outcomes
TEAM/ORGANISATION OUTCOMES
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Consistently apply strategies, tools, and tricks for report impact
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Shorter and more focused reports
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Use design principles and checklists for stakeholder engagement
PARTICIPANTS' OUTCOMES
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Knowledge of communication and use-focused principles
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Understanding of key elements of report content and structure
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Ability to use simple templates and checklists to improve reporting
TEAM FACILITATORS' OUTCOMES
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Participant objectives (above) at a deeper level
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Ability to guide a team in using tools for impactful reporting
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Increased facilitation skills for report writing
The Sessions and Topics
What others are saying...
01
focusing with purpose AND key message
After discussing the principles of effective communication for action and use, we introduce the team to practical templates to identify priority stakeholders, articulate key messages, and use the information to focus reporting.
02
mapping report content
Understand the essentials of evaluation report content, from the critical to the nice to know. We break-down each component of the report and guide you in identifying what to include for rigour and credibility. Plan the reader's journey by Building a heading map and skeletal report.
03
establishing a sticky report structure
Learn the tricks of report structuring for engagement and communicability. Use the "Rule of Three" poster and tool to hone your messages and check for evidence to support them. Restrict yourself with 1,3,25. Learn question/answer structure to align with your readers.
04
introduction to design for engagement
After an introduction to design principles for reader engagement, be guided in using a checklist to transform the report. Turn written information into pictures and stories to strengthen the report.
Are you ready for it?
The Written Reporting Basics (RME-1) training package is ideal for your team if you:
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Have identified the need for increasing the impact of your written reports
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Want to improve the content, structure and communicability of your reports
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Want to rapidly increase your knowledge and skills in impactful report writing by being supported in facilitating a basics course
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Your team is ready to come together to further their skills in written reporting.
Contact us to take steps to build evaluation capability and organisational strength.