Get straight to the heart of the issues

‘Every year I write a report for the management of GDF SUEZ about the performance of our European electrical power plants. In this report, I analyse the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) of our assets,’ notes Geert Van Paemel,
Asset Manager, GDF SUEZ.

This kind of management report is very often an important source of information for strategic decision making. It has to clarify the figures, highlight the essential points, and lead quickly to the correct taking of important decisions. Managers do not have time to sift through everything themselves, but want to be able to work with the core messages. Sadly, in practice many reports remain nothing more than a dry collection of graphs and meaningless numbers.

Tell the story behind the numbers

‘A management report becomes much more useful if you translate the figures into the information the managers actually need. Top managers are sometimes too far removed from day-to-day practice to be familiar with all of the background information, so interpreting graphs correctly is not always a straightforward affair. For instance a months-long shutdown of a power plant might be due to a defective turbine, but also to a decline in demand for energy in a particular market. While the results appear the same on a graph, there is a world of difference for the manager’s decision making process.’

Take a step back from your material

‘Taking a few steps back from the subject helps make a report more understandable. But for specialists in the material, this is not always obvious or even easy. I regularly get so caught up in what I am reporting that I begin using technical jargon without even thinking. Or I may assume that some things are completely self-evident, when in fact a little more explanation will greatly aid inunderstanding the overall picture correctly.’

‘That’s why I decided to look for an external report-writing partner; someone who could quickly step in and yet still take a detached view and critically evaluate my reasoning. I found exactly what I needed at Forte. They have the engineers with the necessary editing experience and the technical background to understand my message and relay it both precisely and concisely. By forming a team with complementary skills, we created a strong interaction and the project ran with the utmost efficiency.’