Module 2b —
Report Writing
| Course Guide | Module 1 | Module 2a | Module 2b |
Writing recommendations
Recommendations are often included with a report’s conclusion, although they serve different purposes. Whereas a conclusion offers you the opportunity to summarize or review your report’s main ideas, recommendations suggest actions to be taken in response to the findings of a report.
ILO reports often position recommendations as a way forward. In this way, they become tied to the next steps that follow after the report. With background reports, occasional papers and discussion papers, recommendations are offered as potential starting points for the ensuing discussion. As a result, your recommendations provide an essential focus for readers. In Governing Body reports, recommendations often serve as points of decision for the Governing Body. Usually, when stated as a point of decision, the recommendation is meant to include a set of earlier recommendations in the report.
In any case, your report structure should lead up to the recommendations and provide justification for them. Your report should actually grow backwards from your recommendations. Having your recommendations accepted then becomes your statement of purpose.
What makes a good recommendation?
Effective recommendations:
- describe a suggested course of action to be taken to solve a particular problem;
- are written as action statements without justification;
- are stated in clear, specific language;
- should be expressed in order of importance;
- are based on the case built up in the body of the report;
- are written in parallel structure.
A word of caution about writing recommendations: you should always consider your relationship with the reader first. If you have no authority to make recommendations, the reader may be hostile to their presence.
A sample set of recommendations
The following example comes from an evaluation report on the InFocus Programme on Crisis Response and Reconstruction (IFP/CRISIS). The report is approximately 40 pages in length and includes a set of recommendations that runs for two pages. An excerpt from the recommendations is included here for analysis. Scroll over the parts of this section to read more about how the recommendations are used in this example.
Crises are a permanent feature of today’s world. While their form, cause and effects differ, the ILO will need to contend with their debilitating impact on its member States. The short but rich experience of IFP/CRISIS since its inception has demonstrated the validity of an ILO contribution to reconstruction efforts following a crisis. Experience and knowledge has been gained and consolidated on employment and social protection in post-crisis reconstruction and rehabilitation. Likewise, much has been learned in the collaboration with UN and other specialized agencies and units in crisis response. The evaluation has noted that IFP/CRISIS had continually learned from these experiences and adapted modalities of its interventions. Nevertheless, it bears repeating some of the salient findings which will require further adaptation and possible reconsideration of present modalities. Next steps… Each crisis is intrinsically distinct, even within the same broad category. Lessons learned should enable the ILO to narrow and apply the criteria used on whether an ILO intervention is warranted or not. The ILO’s crisis response will need to be prioritized and targeted. The final decision to intervene should be shared with those most likely to be directly involved in managing the response. This should lead to a more pronounced role of the regions. IFP/CRISIS should continue its catalyst role by providing a centralized capacity to support effective response. Recommendations:
|
Not all recommendations need to be set out in a bulleted list as in the example above. They can be written just as effectively in paragraph form, particularly if you feel that each recommendation requires further explanation or background. The main point is to ensure that you have provided specific suggestions for action to be taken in response to the issues raised in the report.