56+ Sample Daily Report Templates

What Is a Daily Report?

Imagine a company consisting of content writers. More so, the company’s quota is around three articles per writer daily. What if one writer did not reach the quota by only sending a single article for the day? Yet, the other writer exceeded the quota by writing four articles. And without the supervisor’s knowledge, they still receive the same amount of salary during payday. Unfair, isn’t it? This example is why employers encourage employees to prepare documents to submit every day. And this document is the daily report, which contains the accomplishments, challenges, and other information about how the worker spent his or her workday.

A study states that merely 13% of workers are fully engaged with their work.

According to The Business Journals, 7.7 million American businesses, with at least one paid worker, existed in 2016.

More about that 2016 survey, the US had around 32.5 million businesses in total.

Why Are Daily Reports Important?

Aside from updating team leaders and employers about any ongoing project, there is more to expect from the importance of a daily report. Thanks to that report, there is no need to waste time interviewing each worker and ask about their performance plans. Hence, it boosts productivity because of having lesser meetings in the office. Furthermore, managers use daily reports as practical tools in employee evaluation. A manager only needs to confirm if what employees wrote matches the production for the day.

On the employees’ side, the reports help them be recognized. If they did more work than their co-workers to achieve the after quota, then the supervisor acknowledges such effort as seen in the record. Part of what keeps leaders well-informed is the explicit content inside the document anyway. Also, you may associate daily reports to end of day reports since both are required to be sent at the end of shift.

What Are the Elements of Daily Reports?

A lot of standard reports exist like sales, incident, or analysis reports. So what makes a document called a daily report? Aside from labeling the sheet, it is called as such if the report contains the important elements of daily reports. And these elements are the following:

Completed Tasks: From the name itself, write each task you completed for the day here. Be sure to specify the finished tasks since supervisors evaluate if you did those or not. For example, a safety inspector mentions about examining five of the designated worksites and training the new inspectors. You can form a to-do list as well if you easily forget what you did. Hence, copy every activity you achieved under the label of the completed task.Accomplishments: Many companies include a segment for accomplishments. But, do not confuse that with the completed task, even though such tasks are accomplishments too. Accomplishments refer to the things you achieved that are not part of your tasks. An example is when a teacher is now familiar with the school grading system despite struggling with it before. Even if it’s not a daily task, you still need to acknowledge what you learned or conquered.Challenges: Next refers to the difficulties you have not conquered yet. Jot down the parts which made you struggle at work under the challenges segment. Maybe the web marketing specialist had a hard time working on the website since the site crashed. Thus, explain such details. If an activity wasn’t finished, then at least leaders become aware of why you did not finish it.Time Spent for Each Task: Other businesses require ideas about how long workers could finish particular tasks. The results contain the data if adjustments are necessary, perhaps. An example is when a housekeeper cleaned one room for an hour. Therefore, there is a clear estimation already on how long the housekeeping service takes place in a particular room size or condition. Keep track of the duration through sample timesheets to report it after.Resources Used: A manager might wonder what resources you used while working. Did you use the laptop, printer, air conditioner, and others? Note it down if asked by the manager. Tracking resources help supervisors become aware of what workers often need at work. Or if there is a need to buy more tools and machines for future purposes.

Anatomy of a Daily Report

Now that you are introduced to daily reports and their elements, it is time to familiarize what its structure is. Indeed, the format differs from every company since there are different standards observed. However, there is a common denominator for each business, which we will figure out today. Take a look at the anatomy of a daily report:

Title: Daily reports need to be concise as possible. And that means lengthy introductory statements are unnecessary. Instead, just input the title “Daily Report” on the form. That label gives the gist about what its content is about.Employee Details: Every employee should include their name for identification. Otherwise, it will be pointless to record all your achievements, yet the employer might have a hard time deciphering who it belongs to. For some stricter companies, they require the contact details or ID number just to be sure of the employee’s identity.Manager Details: Recognize who tracks or records the daily report, which is usually the team leader or supervisor. In some cases, there is no need to add this part since sending the report to the manager’s email address can suffice already. But, workers need to double-check if they got the info right or their reports might not be received.Date: Indeed, daily reports are standard, but you cannot let supervisors guess what day a report belongs to. Hence, add the complete date—month, day, and year. That way, it will be easy to track the document.Log Info: More about the work schedule, do not forget the time. When did you log in and log out? Be sure to write the time you arrive and leave for compliance. The recorded time will be useful for evaluators to confirm if anyone is under time and overtime.Daily Report Elements: Remember the daily report elements discussed above? Of course, those should be part of the structure. Those are the meat of the sheet in the first place. Missing the elements required by the employer would make the report incomplete.Remarks and Signature: Leave extra space for remarks or signature. Maybe managers respond with remarks at the end, which employees need to read. Although others do not require signatures, particularly if sent via email, some need signatures to validate the report.

How to Write a Daily Report

In the US, there are approximately 32.5 million businesses in 2016. And 7.7 million of American establishments had at least one worker. That report proved how numerous businesses are in America, and how much more if worldwide? There are also plenty of managers and workers out there where they use essential tools, such as the daily report. So how do you start? Follow these simple steps:

Step 1: Prepare a Uniform Format

Every business should settle into the same format that all employees must follow. And with the daily report’s anatomy or structure discussed before, you now have a guide on how to organize the document. Besides structuring, tweak the format from the templates you use for daily reports. With this, you set up the font style, font size, spacing, and so forth. Also, leaders should instruct every worker about the format so everyone will adhere to it.

Step 2: Keep It Simple or Concise

As you slowly incorporate the challenges, accomplishments, and other elements, do not forget to keep it concise. You need not implement a detailed letter by writing long paragraphs with complete sentences. Instead, be direct to the point. If you plan on saying, “I helped the interns with their training the whole afternoon,” then simply change it to “1:00-5:00 PM – trained the interns.” Compare both sentences, and they both mean the same thing. But the other is more direct, which is your goal.

Step 3: Expound if Necessary

Know how to balance. Yes, being simple is essential, but maybe what you wrote was too broad. There are instances where further explanation is vital. An example is when you inputted “Challenges: computer.” So what about the computer? Of course, that needs an explanation. Is there something wrong with the computer’s hardware that needs fixing? Or perhaps, it had a long update or can’t connect to the internet, which caused you to delay your work? Thus, incorporate more details for examples that are unclear.

Step 4: Add Receipts or Proof

Sometimes managers demand evidence about their employees’ contributions. In sales, for example, you state that you completed your task of making 15 customers buy from you. Next, input the 15 sample receipts in the form to prove your words. Aside from that, you may include proof under challenges. For example, you mention that the website you are working on did not work. Hence, add a picture of how the site looked from your phone as evidence in the report.

FAQs

How do I end daily reports?

There is no need to finish daily reports with conclusions. Simply review if you inputted everything required to pass. It is wrong to send what you wrote right away, especially if errors are still around. If you followed instructions and completed it, then you are good to go.

Should daily reports be printed or not?

You can use a printed report or merely send an email for daily reports. This decision is up to the manager anyway. So whichever is preferred or convenient for the business should be chosen to finalize this format.

What is the best database for reporting?

Same with before, the supervisor decides which is the best. But when it comes to database reporting, MySQL, Microsoft SQL Server, PostgreSQL, Oracle, and IBM DB2 are highly preferred. They are since reporting tools need reliable relational database management system (RDBMS) connections, like ODBC and JDBC.

With a lot of tasks done at the workplace, you might ask. Why is there a need to add more workload, such as the daily report? Well, you already have the report’s definition and importance to answer that question. Besides, is it a massive load of a task? No, you can have five to ten minutes in completing a report per day. Also, reporting every achievement, progress, or challenge develops effective communication between employers and employees. Hence, daily reports tailor a positive relationship.