What is a Process Report?

A process report is a clear and well-integrated written document that clearly demonstrates how something is done or made or how something came about into existence.  It is an integral communication tool that helps professionals in diverse sectors such as researchers, project managers, process evaluators, program supervisors, product developers, designers, engineers, IT specialists, medical workers, and many others to carefully detail and record the step-by-step instructions or construct the steps in a story format being subtly threaded throughout the entire narrative. Doing this report is essential so that they are able to study, analyze, and demonstrate first-hand information in a systematic manner, expressing its authenticity and validity in their management. 

A statistical report published by Garter stated that 95% of 150 business process management or BPM initiatives are successful while Forrester reported that BPM projects can deliver between 30-50% productivity gains.  Many business firms and organizations have adopted BPM projects across the globe. This is because using BPM has been proven to be one of the most effective methods when it comes to improving productivity and minimizing waste. It significantly increases work productivity by reducing time spent on repetitive tasks, ensuring that the right people are performing the right jobs, and allowing for better collaboration between teams.  Thus, all types of working professionals such as market researchers, academic professionals, medical workers, software developers, product developers, designers, engineers, project managers, executive producers, and many others should record and examine the process of their workflow while creating a clear and systematic process report. 

Different Types of Process Report

Tristan Boutros and Jennifer Cardella wrote in the book The Basics of Process Improvement that process improvement involves the entire organization, from the highest levels of management to those who are responsible for day-to-day operations. It is important for companies and organizations to understand how to organize themselves around innovation and how they can get the best outcomes from it. In this section, we will help you to increase your knowledge and reporting skills as you learn and understand the different types of process reports because your technique of writing is determined by the type of process report you will develop. Read the following details below:

1. Item Development Process Report

An item development process report summarizes the activities undertaken by a specific service team and other management to facilitate the design and development of a pool of test items for the assessment system. Describe in your process report the assessment system that will be used for the development of the test items. Indicate that it will determine initial identification, monitor the annual progress, measure the success in meeting accountability benchmarks, and consideration for others. Define in your report the goals and objectives to your item design and development strategic plan effort such as reflecting the values of the new standards, taking advantage of contemporary approaches to computer-based assessment, foregrounding accessibility, supporting portability and interoperability, and employing evidence-centered design. 

2. Process Publishing Report

In order to effectively produce and disseminate high quality, professional documents, there are modern publishing practices which require a multifaceted skill set, often being outsourced to specialized organizations. Production editors are the ones who implement this process in publishing and they also work in writing a clear and systematic process publishing report. In this way, they can manage the publishing workflow, incorporate feedback at agreed points, and engage with stakeholders in the case of exceptions to the normal workflow. If you are working as one of the production editors, illustrate the conceptual workflow that your publishing press have define for your report and display a simple overview of the production schedule that each report will follow.

3. Travel Analysis Process Report

This type of process report is made to explain the comprehensive examination of the roads network on a particular area before the travel management will begin the environmental analysis process so that they can designate the routes based on the travel management rule. A travel analysis report should be written because it is one of the significant steps in the implementation business plan of the travel management rule as it changes the way the management of the area regulates motor vehicles. The process of travel analysis consists of setting up the analysis, describing the situation, detecting the potential concerns, assessing the benefits, problems and concerns, describing the opportunities and setting priorities and reporting. Plus, this report includes lists of all the roads in the area and information about these roads while covering motor vehicle transportation. 

4. Development Review Process Improvement Report

A development review process improvement report is written from the culmination of a study conducted to identify the efficiencies and inefficiencies within a business firm or an organization’s development review process and associated customer service practices. Some aspects of this report focus initially on a company or an organization’s development services division as it plays a major role in the development process. Those aspects can possibly serve as models for improvement within all divisions, and eventually to better integrate all functions within the department.  Leadership or management, financial details, accurate applications and consistent review, and information technology and e-business are the four categories of improvements that will be further defined in this report.

Basic Elements of a Process Report

In this section, you will learn how to construct a remarkably written and well-detailed process report. However, a process report has different features. Include the following elements for you to create an impressive document:

Process Overview: One of the basic components of a process report is the overview. It is a simple and cohesive section of the document which features the key aspects of the process management. This will allow the readers to take a glimpse on the workflow of a specific business operation. Comprehensive Process Analysis: This part is the crucial section of your process report.It provides a brief and well-structured analysis of the process in a certain program or project. Consider these questions while analyzing the process: What was observed? What was anticipated? Who was involved in the process management? What are the benefits of the process? What are the specific areas of opportunity? This part should be the most detailed section of your process report. .Recommendations:Describe the specific ways or methods to improve process implementation when working on future programs or projects. Process Improvement Plan:Explain corrective actions to be implemented for future processes in your business firm, organization or department. Make sure to include any additional training requirements, equipment needs, or any additional planning that needs to be done. List down the key individuals responsible for conducting these steps and set a due date. Conclusion: Highlight the fundamental details when it comes to your process report. Simply summarize the important points that should be highlighted throughout all the sections of your process improvement report.

How to Write a Process Report

A process report can effectively outline the major components of a specific work process and outline the overall workflow in an orderly manner. Do you have a problem in report writing which makes you feel overwhelmed and uncertain as to where to start? What can you do when you feel lost in your work? Facilitating business process improvement or BPI in your work can seem to be challenging. To assist you in this matter, below are some easy-to-follow tips that indicate how to design and write a professional process report:

Step 1: Create a Cover Page

Include the basic components to the cover page of your process report: the number and title of your business process, the name of lead process management consultants and organization, the name(s) of the project manager(s) and organization(s), other organizations providing project resources, current process management period, the specific dates the process report covers and the due date of the process report.

Step 2: Write the Executive Summary

For the executive summary, summarize the fundamental points of the process report such as the goals, objectives, anticipated outcomes, methods and many other aspects in your process management and improvement. Provide the program or project interventions and other concerns that will be addressed when your process is being evaluated and improved. Also, describe the beneficial effects of the process improvement in your report.

Step 3:  Add the Names of the Participants of the Program or Study

List down the names of all the participants of the program or study, as well as the key individuals in charge in the said program or study like the department staff, customers and others. Define their key roles in the project and the overall workflow process and their responsibilities.

Step 4:  Describe the Process Improvement Findings and Opportunities 

The next step is you need to discuss the detailed findings of the process analysis to date while focusing on the implementation of the program, project or study. For instance, outline the processes in your business or department and analyze the aspects that should be improved and revised. Then, identify the main categories of improvement opportunities that you and your team will implement to facilitate development review process.

Step 5: Proofread, Revise, and Prepare the Final Process Report

Review your overall process report and check if you fully incorporate all the key elements in your report. If you notice that you overlook some sections that need sufficient points, we suggest that you edit and revise the document thoroughly. Analyze the grammar, spelling, and typographical outline of the report. After the proofreading and revision process, you can now prepare the final process report. Add some notes and other messages you want to inform the management on the last part of your document. Skim your process report for final evaluation and quality check.

FAQs

What are some examples of process reports?

Some examples of process reports are corrective action process report, process evaluation final report, item development process report, process review report, design-build procurement process report, global business process management report, mapping process report, process review annual report, process utility status report for local program, process publishing report, process study report, travel analysis process report, and task process report development review process improvement report.

How to structure a process review report?

If you need to structure a process review report, you need to create a flowchart that illustrates the overall business from a high-level viewpoint so that you are able to set a cohesive overview of the process flow. Then, include details of the process flow and describe the procedure of the business operation. Work on developing a comprehensive work instruction and prepare a plan for a continuous process improvement.

What are the significant steps in writing a process report?

When you write your process report, you should plan the results of your process report, determine data to support your results, choose the right model that contains the data, select data elements for your formal report, and try your best in formatting, sorting and filtering the results of the report if necessary. Consider your intended audience and identify the major takeaways. Keep your words concise and make it easily understandable to your readers.

How to write a process?

There are primary steps in writing a process. First, you need to perform pre-writing by making sure that you clearly understand your task, deciding on a specific topic to write about, considering who will read your work and brainstorming ideas about the subject. The second step is researching if necessary by listing specific places where you can look for information, performing your research (primary and secondary research), and developing an outline to assist you in organizing your research work. Third, you need to write all of the information you researched while reading various sources. After that, make your report better when you edit and revise your document as you read your work, rearrange words, sentences or paragraphs, and make some corrections.

To be successful in process report writing, it is essential that you always apply the reader-centered approach when writing your report.  Additionally, it is important to develop the process inventory, establish the foundation, draw the process map, estimate the time and cost, verify the process map, apply improvement techniques, create internal controls, tools and metrics, test and rework, implement change and drive continuous improvement when you work on your BPM. So, here are some of our downloadable and printable process report samples available in PDF formats such as design-build procurement process report, global business process management report, mapping process report, and process review annual report. Simply click our sample process reports in this article and start downloading now!