Get On The Same Page: A Guide to Easy Annual Reports
Annual Report writing can be a daunting task for many organisations, but with a good plan and adequate lead time, it can become an easy and stress-free process.
In this blog post, we will be discussing tips to make the annual report writing project easier, including how to work with a corporate writer, and how to plan for next year's report. If you need assistance with your annual report, you can book a discovery call with On The Same Page Consulting.
What is an Annual Report?
Firstly, let's understand what an annual report is. An annual report is a document that provides information about an organisation's activities over the previous year and an outlook for the future. It is a key document that Directors can use to ensure that the organisation is fulfilling its duties and obligations.
When well written and presented, can offers regulators, clients, funders, sponsors and/or the general public with key information about how well your organisation is doing in meeting it’s vision, mission and/or purpose.
Check out the following information for a more deeper understanding:
According to the Institute of Community Directors Australia, an Annual Report provides "information about an organisation's activities over the previous year and an outlook for the future".
From a more regulatory perspective, the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) explains that it is a key document that Director can use to ensure that the organisation is fulfilling Director and Company duties and obligations.
Tips to make Annual Report writing easier
To make the annual report writing project easier, here are some tips to consider:
Treat it like a project - create a plan, allocate tasks, review progress, and give your team adequate time. Make sure you think about key board meetings to review the plan and/or the final document and engage your auditor/accountant to ensure that their timeframes are clear.
Refer to your organisation’s plans - both strategic and operational - and structure the report around them.
Start early - many things that go into an Annual Report are easily prepared before the end of the financial year. Don’t leave anything you don’t have to until the last minute.
Find the organisation's voice - use words, facts, and images that are aligned with your organisation, and avoid boring corporate speak.
Work with strengths - allocate tasks to the right people in your team based on their skills and strengths. If you don’t have the necessary skills, find them in consultants or contractors. Here are my tips for using your team:
the strategic people can identify what needs to be covered in the final document and create a draft contents page
the organised person in the team (maybe an Executive Assistant) can oversee and track tasks
the creative people in the team to brainstorming and then creating content - both written and imagery
the experts or operational leads, who know the most about an achievement, project or event to writing some dot points for the creative ones
the writer in the team should write the content
the grammar nerd/s in the team should be your proofreader/s.
If your team is small, or busy running the day to day operations, consider using a corporate writer - a good one will help to fill many of the gaps in the proposed team above.
Tips for working with a corporate writer
Using a contracted corporate writer can make the drafting process easier. Book your writer early, so that you have more options to choose from.
Build a connection with your writer - a strong connection and mutual understanding can help your writer (staff, volunteer or contracted) record your organisation’s story better and create content that accurately reflects your brand.
Share documents that have content - at a minimum, this should include your strategic and operational plans, draft financials, previous annual or quarterly reports. You will get an even better report if you hand over board reports, media content, project plans, brand guidelines, marketing material for events or other achievements, and award nominations. A good writer will provide you with a written agreement about privacy and confidentiality to give you confidence.
Workshop the content - spend time with key people in your organisation (such as Executives, the Chief Financial Officer, the Risk and Audit person/team and Marketing) working through what should be in the report. Ask obvious questions to make sure that everyone has thought about the content.
Agree on a plan - set timeframes and meet them. Provide content to the coordinator or writer when you say you will, or at least communicate issues about deadlines. If you are working on short timeframes, you may need to do things differently, but a good plan, well executed, will take the pressure off everyone.
Read the work at each draft - a good corporate writer will provide drafts for you to look at. These will develop over time to be a final, well-polished document. Its unusual for the first draft to be that polished, but it can be done with the right documents and briefings provided to the writer.
Be open-minded - you may feel uncomfortable reporting some information, especially if the organisation's efforts or outcomes have fallen short. But, if you are open to suggestions, there may be ways of presenting information so that it is not as confronting. Work with your writer to consider ways of doing this.
Finally, start planning for your annual report now. Consider hiring a corporate writer for that purpose before the end of the financial year, so that you have less to do in the busy July-October period.
In conclusion, annual report writing can be a challenging task, but with a good plan, it can be an easy and stress-free process. Use the tips in this blog post to make your next annual report project easier, and consider booking a discovery call with On The Same Page Consulting for professional assistance.
Ciao
Conni
P.S. If you have writers in the team, consider using an editor or proofreader to make sure you don’t miss anything embarrassing. Pubic instead of Public is one that we don’t want to ever see again.
