Investigative Reports

Have you ever wanted to be a detective, but didn’t want to deal with the long hours, little pay, horrible coffee and the potential of being shot at? Well, writing an investigative report is your second chance at playing Sherlock Holmes.

Investigative reports are written after a client has requested specific information. The information a client can be looking for can range from salaries of an opposing company to research on the demographic of a company. Investigative reports can cover almost any topic.

Getting Started:

•       Get to know your client as much as possible. Learn what they want from this investigation. Try to gain as much information as possible so that you can provide the best report.
•       Know your audience. Have a good understanding of who may be reading your report. Your audience may just be your client, or it can be a company’s CEO and Board of Directors. Knowing your audience allows you to use the correct tone. Be aware of how much your audience may know about the subject. If the audience is well-versed in the area, than great! But if they know little to nothing about the subject, you will have to be more specific in your report.
•       Brainstorm. Figure out where the best places to get information will be. A library, public records, the Internet? Write out a list of things that you need to include in your report and go from there.

Format:

•      You will want to format your report as a memo
•       Start with the heading: Put the date, whom the report is addressed to, whom the report is from, and the subject of the report
•       Start with an executive summary
•       Present background information about the information (i.e. company history, when a survey was taken in why, etc.)
•       Present your findings

Things to Keep In Mind:

•      Readers have short attention spans and want to gain as much information as possible in the smallest amount of time. Keep your information to the point.
•      Keep your report well-organized and easily skimmable so that the reader can gain a lot of information quickly and can easily find specific information without having to read the entire document.
•       Make sure your information is valid and accurate before sending it to a client.
•      Investigative reports are not to share your opinion. Your job is to present that fact.

 Know your client, find the facts and you'll write a great investigative report.

Sources:

• "Writing the Perfect Investigative Report." Pursuit Magazine. Web. 19 Apr. 2012. <http://pursuitmag.com/writing-the-perfect-investigative-report/>.
• Oliu, Walter E., Charles T. Brusaw, and Gerald J. Alred. Writing That Works: Communicating Effectively on the Job. New York, NY: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2010. Print.