The M Factor works with organisations to improve the quality of senior management reports and board papers.

The workshops are tailored to meet organisation's specific requirements but a draft outline is as follows.

Board requirements
What are the board’s information requirements? How could the current board reports be improved?

Qualities of good board reports
A discussion about the types of board reports participants write (e.g. financial/non-financial, noting, decision-making and discussion) and effective qualities of each type of report.

Think about the audience and what they want and need to know
Thinking about the purpose, audience and key messages helps writers choose how much detail they need to support their argument.

Think about strategy and risk
When writing board reports, writers often need to think how their particular topic fits within the board’s overall strategic direction and they must highlight any risks.

Structure — well written documents are structured for the audience
Many writing problems are often structural, i.e. the information is not in the right order for senior managers or the board. This session looks at how to improve the structure of reports and papers through planning and rewriting. This session could also include how to use templates well.

Write in plain English
Writers can make dramatic improvements to their writing by improving the length and structure of paragraphs and sentences and using appropriate vocabulary. This session provides some commonsense tips to improve writing.

Write to influence
When writing decision-making reports, writers need to write to influence, which does not mean putting a ‘good spin’ on information. Instead, they need to use specific language and anticipate and answer the board’s questions.

A professional polish
The session provides some editing tips to avoid distracting errors and inconsistencies.

Testimonials from participants

"This course will help me improve the standard of board reports that I prepare."

"Nice to know you don’t need to include all the info under the sun, just to show that you know it."

"Good to use examples from our own organisation."

For more information or to book a course
Call or email 61 2 9365 7711 or mary@themfactor.com.au to find out more or book a course — available throughout Australia, New Zealand and Asia Pacific.