Workshop on report writing in biz and management

Successful managers and leaders analyse information and form meanings that are useful to their organisations; they embody these meanings in attractive designs of reports, speeches, and PowerPoint presentations; and they deliver them in attractive ways so that listeners are convinced of their ideas they want to share.

Research findings support that there is a positive relationship between communication competency and leadership performance, a series of European studies show. Company CEOs today give more attention than before to global standards of communicating, especially writing for impact.

At all organisational levels, it has been estimated that, at least 75 percent of each workday is spent in communicating in one form or another. It seems that every successful person is in the business of communication.

In recognition of the need to sharpen executive communication skills of managers and professionals, the Graduate School of Management (www.gsmedu.com) has introduced a Workshop Series on Report Writing in Business and Management. The first two-day workshop, scheduled for  13 and 14 May  at the World Trade Centre (Level 10, East Tower) will focus on writing management reports such as performance reports, technical reports, user manuals, market reports, policy reports and board papers.

The second in the series, scheduled for 25 and 26 May, will consider effective writing of business reports such as economic reports, competitor analyses, investment proposals, and corporate plans. The third workshop will be on 9 and 10 June and its content will include consultancy report writing, especially feasibility studies, business plans, project analyses and appraisals.

These workshops will be conducted by Prof. Gunapala Nanayakkara, Senior Professor of Management at University of Sri Jayewardenepura and his team including Dr. Mahim Mendis of Open University, Dr. John Meewella of Oulu University, Finland, and Manique Mendis who is journalist and communication specialist. Prof. Nanayakkara’s text book, A Handbook for Academic and Professional Writing in Management will be among the course materials of this workshop exercises. While addressing the basics such as proper use of language in writing, the workshops will illustrate and practice international standards of effective writing – writing reports for desired impact.

Today’s executives, rather unfortunately, do not find opportunity to learn these vital competencies in our traditional educational systems. It is a nightmare for many executives to think of reaching the global standards of writing these various reports in order to satisfy the CEOs of competitive business, large companies and banks, multinational companies, funding agencies and international institutions such as the World Bank. 

This workshop series is most suitable for senior managers of organisations who are responsible for writing reports for management decisions. More specifically, the ones who stand to benefit most will include General Managers/Deputy Managers, CEOs of SMEs, Heads of line Departments/Divisions, Marketing Specialists, Engineers & Project Managers, HR Managers, Bankers/Senior Credit Officers, and Business/Management Consultants (more information, tel. 2330077-8).

These workshops will sharpen such competencies of business writing and enable participants to acquire a mastery of the process of professional and analytical writing, perfect the skills of adopting international standards of presentation, learn to manage knowledge for organisational performance, provide leadership to organisations to build competitive edge through effective written communication, and acquire competencies in writing reports contributing to the growth and diversification of organisations.