The Writer’s Toolkit

Basic Staff / Report Writing For Beginners

Every writer’s nightmare – attempting the first report. Every writer’s dream – a short cut to ensuring it’s a success.  

 

Be it an informational report or just a simple memo, writing in a structured manner can be overwhelming, especially when the template comes to dictate the message and content, whilst the target audience is largely taken for granted. 

 

Let OUR TRAINER handhold you through this workshop in understanding the format of a good simple report and how to communicate effectively without sacrificing the best materials. 

 

Objectives 

At the end of the two-day programme, participants will be able to: 

  1. Identify different types of reports;
  2. Contextualise issues in a report;
  3. Apply concise writing skills; and
  4. Demonstrate clarity in writing.

 

Outline 

DIFFERENTIATION OF TYPES OF STAFF REPORTS 

  • Information Action 
  • Discussion Action 
  • Approval Action 

 

CONTEXUALISING ISSUES 

  • Type 1: Clerical Staffing, Secondary Information and non-Decision 
  • Type 2: Secretarial Staffing and Other Information and semi-Decision 
  • Type 3: Executive Staffing and Essential Information and full Decision 

 

WRITING A REPORT 

  • Title 
  • Aim 
  • Background 
  • Main Argument 
  • Sub-argument 
  • Conclusion 
  • Attachments 

 

Testimonials 

“We are able to understand the structure of writing professional papers.”  

  • Dhasugarra Thevar, INFRA System (June, 2023) 

 

“I thought a good report should be evidence-based and that is all to it. Dr Sunny opened my eyes to making those data work much harder for me to convince my superiors.”  

  • PUB (Mar 2017)  

 

“We got Sunny to teach our new staff, including mid-career officers, on Staff Writing and they were not only enlightened in terms of a systematic and effective way of staffing reports, they were also empowered to think boldly about addressing their demanding target audiences. This approach required rich experience and passion which not many writing coaches possess. He’s well respected and good with getting new staff enthused.”  

  • Lawrence Tan, Adviser, Careers Transition, Public Service Division 

 

Who should attend 

Staff Officers who have to write a simple but complete staff report – either for information or for approval. The course will help them to avoid the pitfalls in a staff document and deal with inconsistencies.  

 

Trainer’s Profile 

An anchor writing coach at the Civil Service College (CSC), Sunny is a well-known name in Singapore writing circle and an award-winning journalist and columnist for TODAY newspaper, a correspondent for a global wire agency and a commentator for a regional journal. He heads the International Directorate in the Defence Policy Office. He was also a desk editor of The Straits Times. 

He has represented the Singapore Government at international and regional conferences and written Cabinet Memos, cross-Ministerial papers and Ministerial reports. He is also a guest lecturer on National Education with Nexus and a trainer on Public Policy upon invitation. He is currently a board director in five international firms where written communication is a vital aspect in winning contracts, customers and confidence. 

Specifically, on writing, he has designed writing programmes for the CSC and conducted Training of Trainers (TOT) sessions for writing coaches and copywriters. Thus far, he has trained an estimated 17,280 government servants in over 10 years, covering minutes and memos, log and contact notes, report writing, policy writing, concept writing and technical writing.