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ICML training courses > Business writing > Report writing
Report Writing Course
Reports are a vital source of information in your organisation. You need to ensure they are accurate, objective and — most importantly — well-written. If the important facts and figures are obscured by bad structure, information overload or language that’s hard to read, how can you possibly make the best decisions going forward?
Annual reports, progress reports, contact reports, technical reports and more: whatever documents your employees regularly create, our report writing course ensures they are crafted to be an asset.
Tailored Report Writing training program – virtual or in-house delivery – Melbourne – Sydney – Brisbane – Adelaide – Perth – Hobart – Darwin – Canberra – all regional areas – Asia – and anywhere else
Audience
Our report writing training courses are designed for anyone who writes reports. We adapt the course content to suit whatever reports your organisation produces and we train your teams’ report writing skills accordingly.
Course outcomes
Upon completion of this report writing training course, your employees will be able to:
- Identify the key elements of a successful business report
- Identify the purpose of the report and how to best deliver information
- Effectively plan content before writing their report
- Structure ideas in the most logical and accessible manner
- Make better use of headings and subheadings for skimming
- Identify and convey key messages
- Construct correct, concise and highly readable sentences
- Tailor their language and writing style to their target audience
- Use facts, figures, tables and graphs to better convey information
- Effectively engage readers with language and tone
- Write an impactful executive summary review
Have questions about the information we cover in our courses? Call 1300 655 098 and speak to one of our training experts!
Delivery
We provide report writing courses to organisations all across Australia. The content can be delivered either through an in-person workshop at your office or via our online training programs.
All ICML training facilitators are certified in COVID-19 Infection Prevention and Control Training by the Australian Department of Health. We adapt our courses and class size to suit your organisation’s COVID regulations
To ensure your employees get the most from our course, we implement your organisation’s style guide, formatting, and any other document specifications.
We use participants’ own documents as case studies, allowing them to improve their skills and see how to apply the concepts in their real-world context. This will also help the instructor better assess your employees’ current writing ability and what areas to focus on during the training program for the best outcomes.
All work used during exercises and group discussions will be anonymous. Participants will be given opportunities to receive feedback on their writing skills and apply report writing techniques throughout the course.
Training courses tailor-made for your organisation
We know that a one-size-fits-all approach isn’t best when it comes to effective training courses. That’s why we tailor each aspect of our courses to suit you and the way you work.
We can change the number of training sessions in a series, the topics and writing techniques covered, the difficulty level based on existing knowledge, the exercises used, and more based on your organisation’s purpose and unique requirements.
Not sure what you need? One of our lovely team members will be happy to help design a program that works for your people.
What makes a good report?
There are a lot of bad writers out there. And, if our jobs aren’t necessarily working on the written word all day, we can usually get away with it.
But when it comes to writing a business report, our writing skills are front and centre. If your employees are tasked with writing essential reports for the operation of your organisation, make sure they are set up for success.
Business writing should be simple, concise and clear. It’s all about communicating a message. Reports aren’t read for fun; your reader will scan through and pick out the information and ideas they need.
Structure is absolutely essential here, both the overall composition of the document and the individual sentences. It shouldn’t take forever for readers to find what they’re looking for; you need to make sure your report is easy to navigate. And remember: when it comes to a report, size isn’t a good determiner of worth. Use the least number of words required to meet your aim and you’ll be set.
Of course, words aren’t the only thing you’ll need to consider — half our brain is dedicated to interpreting visual information. This means the layout and accompanying visuals you include in a report are crucial for communicating with your audience. Graphs, charts, infographics: all of these can be used to better demonstrate the information to readers.
These are just some of the factors that contribute to better report writing. It takes time, experience — and, of course, the right training.
Everything you need for better business reports.
Business reports are essential for any organisation, regardless of what sector you’re in. Not only do they play a key role in major decision making, but they also help to document spending, sales, budgets, meetings, and other important activities.
Basically? A business report is a reflection of your organisation. You want it to be perfect.
Writing a better business report is all about having the right knowledge and experience to articulate your ideas to readers. We take participants through the process step by step — everything they need to know to improve their written communication skills.
We understand our participants have different learning styles and come from different backgrounds: human resources, project management, leadership, and more. Our course facilitators are trained to effectively support your people as needed and ensure that the content is accessible for everyone.
Whether you need a simple refresher on report writing or are new to the game, we guarantee you’ll leave the course equipped with all the tools you’ll need to write valuable reports.
Book a training course with us today!
Ready to see how we can improve your employees’ report writing skills? Get in touch with our team today!
Some of the management course topics we can include in a tailored program:
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- advanced communication skills
- rapport building
- how to create a culture of trust
- emotional intelligence for leaders
- influencing and persuasion skills
- influencing without using formal authority
- stakeholder management
- listening skills for leaders
- dealing with different personality and behavioural styles
- identifying and adapting their leadership style
- developing their leadership brand
- getting into the habit of big picture thinking and acting
- delegating
- adapting their leadership to the will and skill of team members
- coaching as a leadership skill
- conflict management skills
- conflict mediation
- setting goals; for self, team and organisation
- creating performance monitoring systems
- giving feedback that motivates
- giving constructive feedback
- managing difficult, or courageous conversations
- performance management and addressing underperformance
- understanding team dynamics
- Lencioni’s ‘Five Behaviours of a Cohesive Team’
- Identifying Belbin’s team roles
- creating motivated high-performance teams
- strategic leadership skills training
- leading change
- creating a cultural shift
- building a resilient organisation
- talent management
- succession planning
- the legal and leadership aspects of termination and redundancy
- time management for leaders and executives
- planning for senior managers
- creating and communicating vision of department or organisation
- organisational values and culture
- decision making and behavioural economics
- creative problem-solving and critical thinking
- finance for non-finance managers
- financial acumen
- DISC, MBTI, HBDI, LSI, Facet5 and many more instruments and tools.
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Report Writing training testimonials
One of the best training modules I have completed for career development so far.
Lynne ran the course extremely well. Kept it informative and interesting without overloading with too much information.
An excellent session and the best I’ve attended on this topic over the years. Worked really well - I’d not seen the breakout tools used on zoom before so a bonus bit of learning there.
Fantastic course. Thank you Lynne!
Highly recommend course. Really kept me engaged.
The Report Writing Training delivered by ICML was extremely engaging, professional and highly beneficial for council officers to develop and advance their report writing skills. The training provided staff with not only useful writing techniques and resources, but with a greater confidence and understanding of writing practices. I would highly recommend ICML to anyone wishing to progress their writing skills!
Lynne was very structured in her presentation and explained everything very clearly and succinctly. She was also a pleasure to listen to with her explanations on writing styles and the little things that can help with your writing of documents and emails.
Really good session to bring the participants up to date with current practices. Lots of good tips on how to keep your report succinct and on point. Lynne was great, very engaging.
A very enlightening course, which was well presented. I thought I was good at writing until I realised I have much to learn and practise. Lynne is very knowledgeable and uses clear messages and examples.
I found the course very informative and look forward to applying all I learnt to my writing.
Using samples from our own drafted documents made all the difference to the learning.
Lynne was very helpful and provided relevant details. Very easy to follow.
Lynne is a fantastic training facilitator because she made learning simple, interactive & enjoyable. During our virtual Business Case training with Lynne, I noticed a significant difference between self-paced online learning and a personalised training program, like the one delivered by ICML. I have learned and absorbed more information in one day’s worth of training (delivered via 90-minute sessions over multiple weeks) than I have in last 6 months while completing a self-paced online Project Management course.
Lynne was knowledgeable and engaging and maintained a good pace for the workshops. The live workshop worked well, the breakout rooms were a good substitute for the usual breaking off into groups during a face-to-face workshop.
Lynne is wonderful. Very knowledgeable and easy to listen to. Lynne has a high level of knowledge and is a clear communicator. Fun!
Very worthwhile. Having break out sessions was great and so too was having your own work evaluated as part of group discussions.
The sessions were invaluable. Really easy to follow, engaging, I learned a lot. The perfect amount of conversation and collaboration. I'd recommend to everybody. I thought it was run really well. I appreciated that the need for extra breaks was factored in, so it never felt too tiring or overwhelming.
Another informative session that will be highly encouraged for all management to attend. It was great! Highly engaging.
Lynne is an accomplished presenter who retains people's attention by keeping things active. I love writing, believe I'm above average, and was happy to pick up a few tips to improve further.
This is not your average communication training session. If you want some real skills that will help you personally and professionally this is it! Suzanne was brilliant. Highly engaging and brought light to some very interesting thoughts and methods. I thought I had some skills in this are but I’ve been turned on my head. Mindblowing information and learnings. I would have liked another day (I would never normally say this).
Well done Lynne - very interactive, great examples across a range of disciplines and topics. Need to extend the program to as many staff as possible.
Lynne’s session was excellent and I would highly recommend it to others. The program was well-delivered and engaging - could have easily become a very dry subject in someone else's hands.
Loved the real world examples of AITSL content, felt the logic of the workshop was fantastic. Online format worked really well, great interactive elements as a group and in breakout rooms.
Loved the day and found it all very useful. Lynne is knowledgeable, interesting and effective. I came into the workshop wondering how to write more directly and effectively, and I got exactly that.
Really beneficial to the organisation. Lynne was fantastic and I highly recommend this course to everyone in the organisation.
Lynne is a great presenter and very engaging with everyone. Lots of tips Lynne showed us when writing emails I would have never picked up prior to the session.
A course that takes your personal input and uses it to improve your professional skills in an enjoyable and effective way. Facilitation was enjoyable, engaging and effective in communication.
Lynne was engaging the whole time – no moments of nodding off or inattention. Plus working on real life examples made the practice very relevant. The best one day course I have attended in quite some time. The skill and experience of the facilitator is evident.
We have been utilising Lynne’s skills over the years. Lynne is our ‘go-to’ person for writing, editing, writing for government courses every 2-3 years. We will continue to do so.
Jill was very personable and concise with her approach. The day flowed extremely well because of her styles and organisation. Very beneficial. It’s been refreshing to understand contemporary ways of writing.
Excellent delivery. Lynne is engaging and very knowledgeable. I now have a much better understanding of how business writing is different to other forms eg. academic.
Great course! Lynne was a charismatic facilitator and great teacher. Great, interactive and well balanced between activities and learning. Great learning tools. Looking forward to reflecting and implementing the key points.
Highly recommended! Thanks, Lynne. The workshop was very useful and practical. Lynne was easy to connect with, experienced and responsive.
Lynne was very engaging and enjoyable to learn from. I write a lot of emails and diary notes and the course has helped me identify where I can improve on my writing. I actually have no suggestions for improvement – the program was fantastic, especially the use of our own examples.
Lynne is knowledgeable and an excellent presenter. The content was concise and at just the right pace. Had fun!
Lynne was fantastic and presented in a very informative style! Her delivery was excellent – very interesting. This program is very beneficial, as I am required to write business cases and reports in my role.
Suzanne was fantastic, lovely, very entertaining and extremely knowledgeable. I found the program very beneficial. Will help me become more confident when presenting at workshops and addressing landholders, peers and industry bodies. Fantastic couple of days. Very constructive. Would highly recommend to others wishing to build on or improve their written and communication skills
The most useful and productive training I have ever attended.
Lynne was engaging and brought us out of our protective shells to access our own work constructively. Lynne was very thorough, entertaining, succinct and used relevant examples.
Lynne is an excellent coach who knows the subject extremely well and ran the course in an interactive and very enjoyable manner.
Fabulous day spent with Lynne. Really engaging and informative.
Very practical, good to use real-life examples. Communication is important to your business, that’s why you should take this course.
Good fun, ideal level of participation. Could be a dry subject it was delivered in an interesting way. Loved it, thanks. Excellent course and Lynne is a very professional facilitator. Great tools that were relevant to activities and which I’ll be using in the immediate future.
I would highly recommend this program to anyone, even if you think your writing skills do not need improving.
The training was very informative and engaging. Zoom was also an effective platform for remote training.
Lynne knows her stuff and can work a crowd! Lynne has a way of making writing fun and interesting. Great critiques and insight into writing styles.
Lynne was an engaging and energetic presenter who addressed the subject matter succinctly and effectively. Lynne has a very persuasive way of engaging her audience and challenging them in a positive way to reflect on their work. Great platform for me to engage with colleagues further on this important topic.
Andrea was well prepared, smart and humorous. What I learned will not only benefit my work but also my life. Andrea is a very experienced and considerate instructor.
Lynne is wonderful. She made the training fun and interactive. I could easily do days of this! Lynne is excellent, knowledgeable, interactive and inclusive. We learnt things I thought I was doing right for some years that I can now rectify.
Lynne was a fantastic facilitator who delivered a great program. It was an engaging and interesting use of examples to illustrate some of the issues within the organisation.
Lynne is clear, concise and great communicator. Excellent at transferring knowledge. Provides feedback without causing embarrassment. Excellent training. Worth a full day out of the office due to the outcomes. Practical and results orientated.
Loved it! I thought my writing skills were already high but I’ve learned there is lots of room for polishing and improvement!
Very informative, one of the best training sessions I have undertaken since joining local government.
This is a fantastic course for anyone looking to improve their writing skills. Examples were relatable and highlighted areas for improvement. Lynne is enthusiastic and full of knowledge. A great course – never a dull moment!
It was our absolute pleasure to recently have ICML deliver the Writing Powerful Emails course at our premises. The facilitator, Lynne, was both an informative and engaging presenter and held our interest through the half day session, with even a few laughs along the way. Already what I have learned is proving valuable in my work and will make a difference to the professionalism of my team. Thank you to the ICML team for making the process of organising the course easy and everything went without glitch. Highly recommend this course for even those who consider themselves competent email writers. We never stop learning.
Lynne is extremely knowledgeable and up to date with all tips and tricks for professional writing. Thanks for everything!
The programme was excellent, content was personalised and allowed opportunity to edit our own work. Lynne tailored the programme, kept it engaging and taught us a lot.
Excellent program!! All aspects were very helpful, even after years of writing. It’s nice to have an experienced facilitator making the trick of good writing explicit. Lynne was excellent – very good pace (not too slow) and not going down rabbit holes. Very engaging.
I thoroughly enjoyed the course and would recommend it to others, Very enjoyable.
A great combination of basic writing principles with application options and examples.
I liked how the course covered various types of writing (documents, emails etc). The small group was perfect and a good environment to learn in.
Peter was a great and informative facilitator who made us feel comfortable from the beginning and working as a team at the end.
The course was practical, interactive, informative and action oriented. With little background in business writing – it was useful to learn new and practical skills.
Peter was engaging, funny and very knowledgeable on the Effective Business Writing course. Course materials were well structured and easy to navigate with exercises that were fun, varied and perfectly timed to avoid “post lunch dip”. The course more than paid for itself in re-invigorating my writing.
A well organised and facilitated course of excellent, contemporary, meaningful content which was well structured and delivered.
Peter was a great facilitator with fun material to learn. Interactive learning and engaging environment.
Many takeaways and actions/skills I can apply and use in my day to day work. Small group – extremely beneficial to ask questions off topic. Much appreciated.
Fantastic program - very rarely do we host training that participants want to extend or wish lasted longer, but that's the response this writing, presenting and communicating with influence course received.
Brilliant workshop. Wish I attended years ago. Will assist in everything I do in the office. Thank you.
I am already using the skills by referring to the quick reference guides and participant manual. I am now writing in the active voice and am clearly including my main message first. I have booked for the Advanced Business Writing workshop – I can’t wait.
Lynne was great – delivered really well and kept it interesting. I learned skills and tips that will really easy to apply to my writing.
Peter was very engaging and inclusive. Honed skills, particularly around making my writing more concise and effective. I write so many emails, I can already see how this will help me tomorrow.
Peter is a great trainer/facilitator. Very clear and engaging in his presentation. Very helpful in my every day email correspondence and program report writing.
Lynne was fantastic! Valid examples and real-life experience. Really fun learning and unlearning!
A significant period of change in our organisation resulted in the identification of a broad range of training requirements. We contacted ICML who meet our immediate needs, but have also continued to work with us to further develop our employees. Training has been delivered at our business site, tailored to our objectives, with a personalised and practical focus. I don’t think I have ever received such positive and strong feedback from participants on the courses we have held – even our CE has heard the ‘buzz’ about the recent session, Advanced Business Writing, and the Executive team are participating in a further session. I would recommend ICML for any customised training to help your employees learn practical tips and reach their potential!!
Lynne was very talented at engaging the group and facilitating active learning. I was alert and interested throughout the day.
Thanks Lynne – really enjoyed the session. Logical structure and great range of topics covered.
Great presentation skills. Kept the course flowing well. Peter was a great facilitator.
The course was excellent. I would recommend the course for someone like myself because you gained a lot that you would not know.
Fantastic! Lynne had done great research and prepared relevant documents that were presented well. Lynne was fantastic. She gave great tips that will make a huge difference to our business both externally and internally.
A fantastic trainer and great session. I can’t wait for Lynne’s next course!
Great balance of theory and practical application to improving my business writing skills.
I really enjoyed this course and can immediately deploy tactics I’ve learnt today, in my work. Lynne was a fantastic presenter, knowledgeable, funny and professional.
Peter was an excellent facilitator that engaged well with the course participants and was able to communicate the content in a relevant way.
Had a valuable day with Peter developing skills that will be of great benefit professionally and personally. Was a good learning environment for me. Exactly what I needed. It has given me renewed confidence and an ability to more effectively plan and write with purpose and direction. It was great.
Peter was an engaging trainer. Best training day I have ever had! The training day with Peter was insightful and enjoyable. This course and day exceeded my expectations – I can’t recommend this enough!
I gained valuable information on audience, structure writing and the correct use of grammar and punctuation
Lynne is fantastic and very knowledgeable. Thank you. I would recommend all businesses to participate in this course. I really enjoyed how it was done, how we got to correct our errors and the examples related to our line of work.
This has been an eye opening experience and will definitely change my old habits. This program will definitely get you thinking about changing old writing habits and help you to develop a new set of writing skills to communication to high level executives, managers and board members.
I feel ten-fold more confident after completing today’s workshop. Thank you Peter!
The pace and class size were spot on and the facilitator Lynne was clearly very knowledgeable. Lynne is easily one of the best presenters I’ve seen.
Very good facilitator. Peter had a warm and inviting manner and was very inclusive of all participants.
The workshop gave me the skills to write more persuasively and I have a better understanding as to how I should structure my writing. ICML's organisation was excellent; I had a reminder several times about my attendance including email, text message.
Free eCoaching: ask an ICML trainer – get advice on report writing
Do you have any questions about report writing you’d like to ask? Do it here. One of our trainers will answer on the page and we’ll let you know by email when we post the response. We aim to come back to you within a few business days. If you need more urgent advice, try our chat at the bottom of the page.