by Solange Lopes | Apr 17, 2018 | Career
As much as I love writing, business report writing was not always my favorite. As a creative, I used to perceive them as too rigid and overly structured. However, what I ended up realizing is that not only are they powerful tools to communicate your ideas in any business setting. They’re also a compelling way to express yourself creatively at work and in business, contrarily to popular (and negative) common perceptions.
If you’ve been in business for some time, you know how important it is to properly write business reports. These come in many formats and can be used for different purposes, yet they share the same essence and guiding principles. Most importantly, they can be used to successfully write your way to being positively noticed at work.
Successful business writing is not just reserved to a select few only. Neither is it restricted to a few guidelines that can prevent you from truly expressing your ideas. Instead, it boils down to understanding a few key pointers and being authentic to your own voice.
Here are 7 tips to successfully write any business report:
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Start with the end in mind
Before you even begin putting pen to paper, begin with the end objective in mind. What are you trying to accomplish in this report? What message are you sending to your audience? What are you trying to obtain through this report?
Defining your objective will set the direction for your report. When writing an audit report for instance, your objective is to express an opinion, whether positive or negative, resulting from the audit work performed as related to a certain process. Your objective will be to support this opinion throughout the report and clearly back up the results of your work. If you’re writing an informational report in which you’re not expressing any opinions for instance, your goal is simply to share information.
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Know your audience
Your business report has an intended audience in mind. Do you know who this audience is? Are you writing to a Board of Directors, your direct supervisor, or the head of the company? The nature of your audience will help you determine the nature, amount and extent of information included. You would not want to include highly detailed and analytical data if the report is intended for a strategy executive. Similarly, you wouldn’t want to skip on the numbers and financials section if your report will be read by financial analysts and accountants.
When in doubt, ask your direct manager whether the report is strictly for him/her, or if they intend to share it with other departments or higher-ups. If you’re a business owner, make sure that you’re clear as to who the report will be distributed to.
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Find and organize your data
Business reports are organized around data. While you must build a compelling story around it, the data is still at the center of it. Set aside enough time to collect, understand and organize the data you will need to build a convincing report. When in doubt, go back to the report’s objective, and ask yourself if the data you’re collecting is supporting the goal(s) you’re trying to achieve through this report.
Once you have found the data you need, you can now use it to flesh out your report.
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Tell a story around the data
The next step is to create a story around the data you have gathered. Build the story so that it naturally evolves and integrates the data. What is the data telling the readers or the audience you intend it for? Each data point should naturally flow to the next, so as to create a logical flow.
At the end of the day, the information you have aggregated is meant to tell a story with a beginning, a middle and an end.
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Set your key sections
While there are many types of business reports, they should include the following basic sections:
- Title
- Executive Summary
- Introduction
- Main body
- Conclusion or recommendation
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End with the beginning in mind
As you may have noted from the various sections listed above, the Executive Summary appears at the beginning of the report. As its name indicates, it is the summary of the major areas outlined in the report. The Executive Summary usually identifies the key findings, as well as the next steps to take.
Keep in mind that while your manager may read the entire report, other higher executives may limit themselves to the Executive Summary. This is why it’s important to outline the report’s key points. However, you should keep it to one or two paragraphs only.
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Clean up time
Don’t forget this last step, which may be one of the most crucial ones. Edit your document to reflect your company’s style guide, and check for any grammatical or syntax errors. Another tip is to ensure that the document is easily readable, by structuring it in a scannable way, with bullet points, sub-heads and even bold print, as applicable.
You may even have someone critique or review your report before submitting it. Some of the questions to ask your reviewer include:
- Is the language clear and understandable?
- Are your main points and recommendations apparent?
- Is your report free of errors?
In conclusion, here’s a quick recap of the 7 steps to follow whenever writing a business report:
- Start with the end in mind
- Know your audience
- Find and organize your data
- Tell a story around the data
- Set your key sections
- End with the beginning in mind
- Clean up time
Now your turn: What are your best tips to write business reports?
To Your Success,
The Corporate Sister.
by Solange Lopes | Apr 13, 2018 | Career
Welcome to our weekly career, entrepreneurship, lifestyle and fashion news roundup! Think of it as your online watercooler/work gossip station/coffee break spot for now…Want to add anything to our list? Email us at corporate@thecorporatesister.com!
- This week, we celebrated Equal Pay Day on April 10th. The Glassdoor Blog tips you off on what to do about a pay gap at your workplace;
- Black Enterprise confirms that Black women cannot wait 106 years for pay equality, and we agree;
- Business Insider lists 6 of the biggest US companies that are best for women;
- April is Financial Literacy Month! Work It Daily shares how financial literacy can improve your career after college;
- Are attractive women being shunned by employers? Forbes reports that it’s actually the case;
- The Official Linked In blog offers tips to freshen up your Linked In profile;
- Ellevate Network lists 4 ways to master your first-time manager role #likeaboss;
- This week, ourWoman of Impact is Erin Halper, founder of the original site that matches businesses with best-in-class flexible, scalable and on-demand talent The Upside;
- Ellevate Network tips us off on 5 money moves we can make this Equal Pay Day;
- If you’re looking for a diverse workplace, Recruiter suggests that employer review sites are key;
- Forbes Woman reveals that yoga in school may help kids with anxiety;
- Thinking about going back to school? These 16 companies offer tuition assistance to their employees;
- Got a public speaking engagement? Corporette tips you off on what to wear to public speaking;
- Looking for your next fun read? The Man Repeller lists 12 books that will make you laugh out loud this Spring;
- I’m a mac and cheese addict! Cookie+Kate shares a real stovetop mac and cheese recipe.
by Solange Lopes | Apr 11, 2018 | Career
Our Woman of Impact feature presents women who are breaking barriers in their careers, businesses and lives. These women are inspiring us to do our best work and live our best lives. Today’s feature focuses on Erin Halper, founder and CEO of The Upside, a new kind of agency that aims to change how working works in America.
Erin Halper is the founder and CEO of The Upside which matches businesses with best-in-class flexible, scalable and on-demand talent. After consulting for more than 7 years, she noticed that there was no existing company successfully connecting the absolute best independent contractors with businesses that could benefit from diverse, high-achieving consultants and freelancers. Acknowledging this gap in the market, Erin decided to combine her instinctual matchmaking skills and consulting expertise to help others gain flexibility and independence in their careers, while also helping businesses acquire top talent that can flex and scale with their evolving needs. The result is The Upside, a new kind of agency that aims to change the way working works in America.
I met Erin at the 2017 Women at Brown conference this year, during a workshop she was teaching. Her presentation entitled “How to be successful in 10 years” amazed me with its unique insight, wealth of information, and proven strategies. This is a continuation of the conversation started then…
Hi Erin, tell us a bit about you and what you do:
I was a consultant in the alternative investment space for 7 years. During that time, I started my family and tended to my first son who needed two heart surgeries. Thankfully he is totally fine now! But there was a time when he needed constant care. I was already a consultant, and it was beneficial to juggle my son’s medical needs with my work. During that time I always wondered: “How would someone be able to handle this situation if they worked full-time and had little flexibility and limited time off?”
I saw a lot of my friends, even those with Ivy League degrees and major careers, really struggling with balancing full-time hours and having a life outside of work, as well as being there for their kids. They would feel guilty missing a few hours of work to go to their kids’ kindergarten graduations. I just don’t believe in that, especially if you’re a high-performing employee. A lot of them were either struggling full-time or dropping out entirely, but not because they wanted to. They tried to make the best out of it, but the current work culture as we know it failed them. On the flipside, I saw the benefit that my clients gained from having me as an outsourced, scalable, director-level marketing professional that could flex and evolve with their changing needs. That’s when I saw the opportunity for a win-win business model.
Tell us about your business:
I started my business as a talent agent initially, aiming to represent a select number of high-caliber consultants and make a fee off of their work. However, in one week I received more than 200 emails from professionals wanting to work with The Upside. That’s when I pivoted the business to be 100% client-driven where we source professionals from our network based on demand from businesses. We are quickly gaining a reputation for being the number one resource for businesses to find best-in-class consultants and independent contractors with a white-glove, concierge-style service that’s rarely seen in today’s world of high-tech algorithms and job boards. We’re not a job board, or a job platform. We actually hand-hold our clients and consultants, negotiate on behalf of both, provide market rate expertise and provide robust productivity reporting once the consultant begins work. As for the talent, they don’t have anything to do but show up and kick ass.
Additionally, from a fee structure, we don’t charge any more than other comparable services. Yet clients receive that premium, white-glove service that many people still want.
Can you give us a few tips as to how women like myself can become consultants?
The first thing to do is to find your focus. Most companies don’t need generalists because they already have them. You have to dig deep into your resume. What makes you special? What can you do better than anyone else? We had for instance, a woman who had a great career in marketing. However, we already had plenty of people with the same qualifications. So we had to ask her, “What do you do that no one else does?”We had to basically eliminate 90% of her capabilities, to focus on the 5 or 10% that could make an impact. We ended up helping her land a consulting gig where she put in 2.5 hours a week for $10,000 a month to help a fledgling company gain explosive growth.
You should do your research on rates as well. I always go with an hourly rate for hands-on, roll-up-your-sleeves work, which lends itself to a win-win arrangement for both client and consultant. For more strategic work, we recommend a bespoke, hybrid rate arrangement, especially when a consultant is developing ideas and strategies that will result in a company garnering millions of dollars.
As for personal business development, your first step should be to reach out to every person you ever worked with. People are not likely to work with strangers. They would rather work with someone that an existing employee would vouch for.
What does a typical day look like for you?
As a business owner, I’ve learned to block out time. Wednesdays and Thursdays for instance, are my typical days to go in the city and meet with clients. Mondays are my office workdays, usually for 9 hours straight. Once my kids are off to school at 8am, I’m sitting at my desk, and I basically do not move from that spot until the 5pm work whistle blows. It’s my day to write articles, perform business development research, catch up with my contractors, speak to the press, follow up on older emails, etc. It’s not always glamorous; however, this is the guts of the business, the hard part that nobody wants to do but it has to get done. Everyone wants to see me walking through the city, meeting at Hearst, Bloomberg, and all these fancy companies but that’s only a fraction of what it takes to run a multi-faceted business like The Upside.
Even though I have full flexibility, I still have to respect it, and use it to avoid burning out. There are days when I’m just done physically and mentally, and so I turn off the computer and spend time with the kids and family, or run errands at 3pm. This business is a long-term play and I cannot risk burning out before we have the type of traction we’ve set out to achieve. It’s too great of a business and there are too many people depending on it! I learned a while ago that working all day and all night is just unhealthy. At 5pm, I just put the phone and computer down, even if I’m in a zone with work. At some point, you have to set limits.
What would you have done differently in your career or business?
In my career, I don’t think I would have done anything differently. I think half strategically, half accidentally, I made the right moves. Being an independent consultant while I started my family was the absolute best thing I ever did. I kept my career in a nice holding pattern, while making money and being there for my son who really required my time. You don’t predict these things, I thought I was going to have a healthy baby but I didn’t. It also helped my marriage and allowed me to travel with my family. I was afforded this opportunity accidentally because I was working in an industry that was forward-thinking and appreciated the type of work I did. That was a happy accident, and I have no regrets. Everything I would categorize as a mistake, I learned from.
In my twenties I had a different business altogether and brought on a partner that I relied on to help grow the business and help combat burn-out. I learned that business partnerships are like marriages. Unless you bring in a partner who is the yin to your yang, it’s not worth it. It just doesn’t provide the value you need. If you’re the creative person, you need an operations person. If you’re the math person, you need the marketing person. And so on.
As women entrepreneurs, what is your advice to raise capital?
Start with friends and family who will not necessarily breathe down your neck. I have invested in friends and family rounds for women-run businesses I truly believe in, and they don’t hear a word from me.
Also, don’t raise outside capital, especially VC money, unless you really need to. Too many women are valuing themselves by the amount of capital they raise. Not every company needs that kind of capital immediately. There are ways to grow organically first. Just because you raise VC money doesn’t mean you’re going to succeed. And if you don’t raise VC money, it doesn’t mean your business model isn’t valid. We need to stop putting so much emphasis and “popularity” on VC money.
Also, once you raise capital, you have a boss, which totally defeats the whole work-life balance concept for me. Once you have an outside investor, you have deadlines and commitments. I specifically designed my business model to avoid this. It would be nice to have an influx of capital, but ultimately, it’s not necessary. My business will grow on its own because the model was designed for organic growth.
How do you scale a business organically?
First off, you can bootstrap your business. I haven’t bought anything new in a long time, for example. It’s about adjusting your lifestyle. Make what you have work. Invest in yourself.
Secondly you can consult on the side. If you can land one great consulting client, then you can bring in a layer of income to keep yourself afloat while you pursue your business.
Finally, you can design an alternative revenue stream to compliment your main business model.
What is your superpower?
My superpower is creating opportunities out of thin air. No one was doing what I was doing, and I decided to create something out of nothing. This is not a recruiter, a staffing agency, or a headhunter. And it’s not a job board or a matching algorithm. This is something completely new, and I have to explain the concept to people all the time. The fact that the freelance movement is growing like it is, and no one was doing a great job connecting businesses to the best of the best freelancers was an opportunity that I had to seize.
What networks would you recommend to other working women?
It really depends on what you’re looking for. Ellevate Network (https://www.ellevatenetwork.com/) does a good job at covering all age ranges and Dreamers and Doers (www.dreamersdoers.me/)is amazing for millennial-minded entrepreneurs. Work Bigger (https://www.facebook.com/groups/workbigger/) is a wonderful resource for women beginning to break out on their own.
In any of these networks, you have to be a giver for them to really benefit you. Always give more than you take, and opportunities will start to come your way. We all win when we help one another succeed.
Any questions for Erin? You can leave them in the comments, or contact her on the following channels:
LinkedIn – Instagram – Facebook
As seen in: IdeaMensch – CIO – Thrive – AmexOPEN – LinkedIn
Thanks so much Erin!
To Your Success,
The Corporate Sister.
by Solange Lopes | Apr 9, 2018 | Career
Business writing is a bit like doing laundry. You sort out through various ways of sending your message, try to pour the right tone all over it, and dry up the whole thing with as much professionalism as I can muster. You may wind up folding the whole thing away in hopes that it will be as effective as you wished.
For many, business writing is a hurdle to overcome with much effort, at times, much frustration. As women, it may be even more frustrating as we also face many challenges and biases in the workplace. I’ve certainly faced this frustration at times. However, thanks to my experience in the business world and as a writer, I have devised simple steps to help me write effectively, originally and faster (and even enjoy the process) as a working woman:
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Start with the why: Is it really necessary?
How many emails, business letters, or other business communication have you received that could have been the subject of a quick phone call or simply avoided? Throughout my career and in my business, one recurring theme I noted was unnecessary business communication.
We’re all submerged by floods of business communication we don’t need. This reduces our effectiveness as business communicators, especially as women. This is especially important as our voices as women already tend to be silenced. Start by asking yourself if what you are writing is necessary. If it can be subject to a quick phone call, or if you are delivering bad news, it may be best to do it in person.
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Know your audience
A crucial aspect of effective business writing is knowing who you’re writing to. One of the mistakes we often make is to tailor our writing to everyone. However, being familiar with your audience helps you adjust your writing accordingly.
An easy way to do this is to mentally picture your audience, and write accordingly.
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Define your objective
Before you even start crafting your message, ask yourself what you are trying to accomplish. Whether you’re trying to share a concept, explain something, make a request, your objective must come through your writing. An easy way to do this is to reduce your message to a slogan. The simplest way you can explain your message, the better.
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Tell a story (Who, What, When and Where)
As a writer, I love stories. As a career woman who’s experienced numerous business environments, I realized that stories are not just reserved to literary pursuits. Besides, women are natural storytellers, which gives us a competitive advantage.
As you craft any piece of business communication, think of it as a story with these essential components:
- Who: Who are you?
- What: What is this about?
- When: When is the subject of your communication due?
- Where: Where are you located?
You’ll be surprised how many business people forget to include vital information in their business communications. This in turn fosters lack of clarity, confusion and monumental wastes of time.
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Use the KISS Principle
The KISS (Keep It Simple and Stupid) is one of the cardinal foundations of great business writing. We may think that using big words and overly complicated jargon may make us sound smarter and more effective. However, the opposite is true.
Here are a few tips to keep your business writing simple and effective:
- Use simple words instead and avoid buzzwords and jargon at all costs.
- Always start with the most important information
- Use short sentences and paragraphs instead of longer ones.
- Use clear subject lines
- Break up your messages
Don’t forget to proofread your piece of writing to ensure that the final product is reliable.
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Keep it Active
One of the biggest mistakes in business writing is the use of the passive voice. Instead of writing “The report will be delivered on Tuesday”, write instead “I will deliver the report on Tuesday”. Writing in the active voice is a powerful way to clarify and brighten your writing. This is especially important to assert our voices at work and in business.
Always present yourself or whoever is acting in the active voice in all your business communications.
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Watch your tone
Tone plays a critical role in business writing. It’s important to strike a balance between politeness and assertiveness in your business writing. As a working woman, I have struggled with establishing the appropriate balance in my own writing.
While it’s necessary to be polite, it’s also important for us as women to be assertive. I’ve learnt to inject more assertiveness in my writing by being clear, direct and to the point.
What are your tips for effective business writing?
To Your Success,
The Corporate Sister
by Solange Lopes | Apr 7, 2018 | Career
Welcome to our weekly career, entrepreneurship, lifestyle and fashion news roundup! Think of it as your online watercooler/work gossip station/coffee break spot for now…Want to add anything to our list? Email us at corporate@thecorporatesister.com!
Cheers!
To your Success,
The Corporate Sister.
by Solange Lopes | Apr 4, 2018 | Career |
Being an introvert in professional environmentsthat cater to extroverts can be a challenge. In work settings where networking, public speaking, and interviewing are considered to be crucial, there may seem to be little, or no room, for introverts.
When determining the types of jobs that are best suited for introverts, it’s important to consider the areas in which introverts excel. If you’re one of those people who enjoy working alone, one of these 7 careers may be perfect for you:
1. Social Media Manager
Social managers are responsible for managing the social media interactions of small businesses or even individuals. While they deal with countless Twitter, Instagram and/or Facebook followers, they can still maintain their privacy and alone time. Working in this “virtual bubble” allows them to recharge and be more productive, by not being in constant contact with people.
2. Artist
If you’re a quiet loner who enjoys spending days in your studio creating art, an artistic career may be perfect for you. It’s a perfect field if you’d rather cater to your creativity than interact with lots of people at once.
3. Statisticians
If you’re a number geek who loves to let numbers speak, then being a statistician may be the perfect career fit for you. In this career, you could immerse yourself in spreadsheets and calculations, and avoid small talk altogether. It’s also a pretty lucrative career with a median salary of $70,000 per year.
4. Chef
Private chefs spend most of their time preparing foods for different sizes of audiences. However, they don’t have to deal with people in the process, which makes it a top career for introverts. Most private chefs are actually female, which is also an anomaly.
5. Video Game Artist
If there’s any career that combines fun with virtual reality, it’s being a video game artist. While they help create virtual experiences, they don’t have to interact with people.
6. Actuary
If you’ve got a head for numbers, then actuary may be a top career for you. This work entails analyzing the costs of risks and uncertainty using financial theory and mathematics. It’s based on assessing the risk that certain events will occur, that risk-based policies for businesses and clients are developed. The best part? The median salary for actuaries is $95,000.
7. Technical Writer
Having a good understanding of technology and being able to put complex information into simple, understandable terms, technical writing could be a great career for you as an introvert. It involves independently researching various technology topics to write instruction manuals and supporting documentation.
Your turn: What would you add to this list?
To Your Success,
The Corporate Sister.
by Solange Lopes | Apr 3, 2018 | Career
How to practice self-care at work
As our careers and lives get busier by the minute, self-care is becoming a priority for most of us. Constant work demands, fast-paced environments, and distracting social media leave us perpetually frazzled and stressed.
Yet, one of the biggest obstacles to practicing self-care is finding the time to actually do it. Since most of us spend the majority of our time at work, here are 7 steps to practice self-care right in our work environment:
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Give yourself a break
We tend to be our harshest critics, which takes a toll on our mental and emotional well-being. Instead of constantly criticizing yourself, start seeing the positives. Would you be as hard with your fellow co-workers as you are with yourself? Refrain from judging yourself or your work harshly. It will boost your confidence and lessen the weight of self-doubt on you.
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Change your workspace
It’s no surprise that your work environment has a huge impact on your productivity. Instead of being surrounded by clutter, consider cleaning your desk periodically. It will help you gain more clarity while eliminating unwelcome distractions.
Get inspired by putting up pictures, images and artwork representing people and things that matter to you. Overall, if your workspace is not a reflection of yourself, it may be time for an update.
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Surround yourself with the right people
A crucial component of self-care is being around the right people. You must surround yourself with healthy, supportive and positive relationships that push you to reach higher.
Is your team supportive of your goals? Who around you at work drains you? Who, on the other hand, motivates and feeds you? Spend more time with those co-workers and colleagues who inspire and support you. The same goes for your relationships outside of work as well. Nurture these relationships by taking time to check on your loved ones.
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Manage your emotions
One of the biggest mistakes so many of us make at work is to repress our emotions. Instead of avoiding the reality of your feelings, acknowledge and learn to manage them. Emotions are here to guide us to better understand ourselves. The more authentic you can be, the more fulfilled and successful you’re likely to be.
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Honor your value
In any given workday, other people will make demands on us. Whether they require our time, energy or resources, frequent external requests will leave us distracted and frazzled. As a result, we end up not taking care of ourselves or tending to our priorities.
Take some time at the beginning of each day to set out and write down your goals for the day. Make a decision throughout the day as to which requests from others you can afford to attend to. If they go against your priorities and goals for the day, you may want to start saying no!
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Recharge!
You simply cannot function on empty. Your cup has to be filled in order to contribute to your life, career and other responsibilities to the best of your potential.
Refill your tank by getting the adequate amount of sleep every night. Consider taking frequent breaks during the day. If possible, take lunch breaks away from your desk.
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Learn to celebrate yourself
Many of us fail to celebrate our accomplishments and victories, in life and at work. We’re simply too busy to stop and ask ourselves: “What did I do well today, last week, last month, or even last quarter?” Consider asking your team and colleagues at work the same question.
Celebrate the positives, and learn from the areas in which you can improve.
What would you add to this list?
To Your Success,
The Corporate Sister.
