report writing: providing clear, concise, and useful reports to your...

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ReportWriting:ProvidingClear,Concise,andUsefulReportstoYourClients

DeniceBritton,VicePresidentCaliforniaTreeandLandscapeConsulting,Inc.

CalTLCNapa,CA

ThankyouJim!!!

PresentationOutline

• Purposeofreports• Writing• TypesofReports• ReportComponents• WhatClientswantinReports

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PurposeofReports

• Conveyinformation– Health,Structure,Risk• DevelopConclusionsandRecommendActions• Convinceaudience– Appraisal,Legal• Obtainpermissionorapermit

• Write

• Review/edit

• Re-write

• Theessenceofthe(writing)processisrevision.

• JohnMcPhee

Writing

Writing

• Outline• StreamofConsciousness• FirstDraft• Edits• Final• PDF

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1998

2013

Writing

•KISSworks• Organization• Format• Content• Length

• KISSworks• Sentencelength:nomorethan15to20words

• Paragraphlength:100to125words(3to6sentences)

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Writing– SimpleVs.Complex• Thetrunkdiameterwas42”.

• Thetrunkdiameter,measuredat54”abovegrade,was42”.

• Thetrunkdiameter,measuredattheindustrystandardoffifty-fourinches(54”)(1.4m)abovegrade,was42”.

Writing– SimpleVs.Complex

• Takingtogethertheprimarygoalofsafetyandthediebackoftwigandbranchesinthecrownaswellasthepoorattachmentbetweenthefourstemsthatariseatfivefeetabovethegroundandhistoryoftwobrancheshavingfailedinthepasttwoyears,Irecommendthatyoustronglyconsiderremovingthetree.

• Thetreehasbrokentwolimbsinthepast2years.Thepoorattachmentofthetrunkshasthepotentialtofail.Givenyourprimarygoalofsafety,Istronglyrecommendyouremovethetree.

Writing:Activevs.passivevoicePassivevoice…

• Thesubjectreceivestheaction

• “thetoneisdull,evasive,ponderousandacademic”

ActiveVoice

• Directlyconnectstheactionwiththepersondoingit

• Moreconcise

• Betterclarity

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Writing:Activevs.passivevoice

• Active:

• Passive:

• Irecommendremovingtree#82.

• Removalisrecommendedfortree#82.

Writing:Activevs.passivevoice

“Ihearditthroughthegrapevine.”

“Itwasheardbymethroughthegrapevine.”

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ConsultingArboristReports

• Diagnosis• Appraisal• Riskassessment• Treepreservation• Managementplan• LandscapeAssessment• ExpertOpinion

ConsultingArboristReports

• Oral

• E-mail• Short,sweet,simple• Informal• Correctgrammar,punctuation&spelling• Signaturewithcontactinformation

• UseasaCoverlettertoincludewrittenreportinanemail,asapdf- Remembertoattachit!

ConsultingArboristReports

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ConsultingArboristReports• E-mail

• Universal&ubiquitousformofbusiness&personalcommunication

• Permanentrecord• Reflectsdirectlyonyou&yourbusiness• Notasubstituteforface-to-face,telephoneorU.S.Mail

Form

InvoicefromanOralReportConstructionMonitoringDiagnosisRiskAssessmentNomorethan2pages

• Letter• Onetoafewtrees• Onetoafewpages

• Format:• introduction• observations• evaluation(DiscussionandConclusions)&recommendation(s)

• photos:withinbodyorseparatepage

ConsultingArboristReports

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ConsultingArboristReports

BookletMorethanafewtrees

Morecomplexassignmentand/ortopic

• Inthecontextof:

• Client’sneed(s)

• Audience

• Agencyrequirements

CONVEY:• Scopeofwork• Observe• Describe&test• Analyze&discuss• Summarize&conclude• Recommend

ConsultingArboristReports

Service Client Distribution

Tree risk assessment Public agency Tree or park commission/board. Local tree planting/environmental group. General public.

Tree preservation plan Developer Project team. Public agency. Planning Commission/City Council. Peer review. General public.

Tree assessment (problem, health, structure assessment)

Homeowner Public agency for tree removal permit. Tree committee. Adjacent property owners/general public.

Expert witness Attorney Disclosed to other attorneys & experts. Judge and/or jury.

Construction monitoring Developer Project team. Public agency.

ConsultingArboristReports

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ConsultingArboristReports

• Reportcomponents• ExecutiveSummary• Assignment• Observations• Analysisortesting• Discussion• Conclusion(s)• Recommendation(s)• Supportinginformation• AssumptionsandLimitations

• Pagestructure• Header/footer

• Reporttitle(Client,Location)• Reportdate• Consultant• Pagenumber

ConsultingArboristReports

• Assignment• Definesthetask• Therequestedaction&expectedoutcome

• Scopeofservices

ConsultingArboristReports

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ConsultingArboristReports

Assignment

Youaskedmetowriteabriefreportforyourinsurancecompanytoexplainthecauseofthetree’sfailureontothevehicle.CalTLCwasaskedtoexamine3treesinwhicharopescourseswinghasbeeninstalledtodetermineifthetreesaresuitablefortheexpectedloadconditions,andprepareareportthatsummarizestheassessment.

• Observations• Informationacquiredonthesite

• Methods• Simpletools• Photographs

ConsultingArboristReportsRopesCourseAssessment

1

3

2

ConsultingArboristReports

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ConsultingArboristReports

ConsultingArboristReports

• Analysisandtesting• PlantID• Soil&tissuesamples• Decayassessment• Statistics

ConsultingArboristReports

DiscussionBringtogetherobservations,testing&analysisDescribe&interprettheevidenceProvidecontext

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Conclusion(s)• Summarystatements• Judgments• Opinions• Assessments• Interpretation

ConsultingArboristReports

Conclusions• Twoofthetreesinthisropes

coursecannotbecertifiedasviableforuseundertheconditionspresented.

• Thetreethatfellwascoveredinivy,sothetrunkscouldnotbeclearlyseenbytheowners.Theivymayhavecontributedtothefailure…Theremainingportionofthetreepresentsahighriskoffailuretothenortheast.IdonotbelieveitpresentsacontinueddangertoMs.Hagberg’shome.

ConsultingArboristReports

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CONCLUSIONS• Partsofthetreemostlikelytofail:• Theheavyhorizontallimbsoverthediningtableaswellastheguesthouseandthesuiteoverthegarage:Probable

• Thewholetreecouldfailasaresultofrootcuttingand/ordecay:Possible

• LikelihoodofImpact:• Failureswouldhaveahigh probabilityofhittingatarget-people,thehome,thedeck- withsignificanttosevereconsequences.

• RiskRating• High

ConsultingArboristReports

• Recommendation(s)• Treatments• Actions• Technicaladvice

ConsultingArboristReports

• Mostoftheyoungoaksshouldberetained.Theywillrequiresmallerareasforprotectionthanthematuretrees,andwillgrowtosignificantsizewithinafewyearsofprojectcompletion.

• Ihaveprovideddetailsinthedatabaseforprotectionoftheindividualtreesandhaveattachedgeneralprotectionmeasuresthatshouldbefollowedfortheproject.

ConsultingArboristReportsRecommendations

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Recommendations– AsalistRiskAssessmentWhiletheriskratingofthetreeishigh,itisasignificantassettotheproperty,andworthperformingahigherlevel3riskassessment,whichwouldincludethefollowing:

• Excavatetherootcollartogradetoexamineitscondition,includingthevoidunderthegall.

• Haveaclimbingexamperformedtoprobethecavityinthemainattachmentinordertodeterminetheextentofdecayatthebaseofthelimboverthegarage.

• Discussthefindingswiththeclienttodeterminewhatlevelofrisktheyarecomfortablewith,andwhatadditionalmitigations,ifany,couldreducethelevelofrisktomoderate,insteadofhigh.

Thesemitigationscouldincludepruningthetreetoremovedeadlimbsandreduceweightontheendsofthebranchesbyremoving2”to4”diameterlimbsItheouter10’.Dependingontheresultsoftheclimbingexam,cablingmayberecommendedtoreducethechancesoflimbfailureinhighwinds.Mitigationmayalsoincludetreeremoval.

• Supportinginformation

• Photographs• Map/sketch• Testresults• Documentation• Pruningspecifications

ConsultingArboristReports

Supporting Documentation -Maps

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TreeInfoinDatabaseFormat

Bluegumfailuresbymonth(Calif.TreeFailureReportprogram.N=242)

MONTH TRUNK ROOT BRANCHJan 4 23 7Feb 4 19 5Mar 6 12 6Apr 2 4 1May 0 0 6Jun 1 1 8Jul 0 1 10Aug 2 0 10Sep 2 0 7Oct 3 4 8Nov 3 7 17Dec 8 41 10Total 35 112 95

Whatdoclientssay?• Knowyourspecies• SticktoscienceAvoidtermslike“large”and“overgrown”

• UseplainEnglish• Don’tuselingoexceptasbrieflydefined

• Don’trepeatyourself

• Assumethatotherarboristswilldouble-checkyourwork.

• Don’tdisparageyourcolleagues.

• Don’tdisparageyourclient.

• Don'tdisparagetheclient’sadversary

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• Reportmaybepartofthepublicrecord.

• Knowtherelevantcode.• Checkforcut&paste,spellingandothererrors.

• Bepreciseandexplicit.

• Beconsistent.Withinandbetweenreports.

• Avoidvagueoroverlygeneralstatements.

• Don’toverstateyourcase.

• BeTimely

Whatdoclientssay?

AssumptionsandLimitations

• Write

• Review/edit

• Re-write

• Theessenceofthe(writing)processisrevision.

• JohnMcPhee

Writing

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ReviewofyourReports• Haveothersreviewthereportbeforethefinaldrafttobecertain:

• Itisunderstandable• Itisclear• Itisnotrepetitive• Theconclusionsarelogicalandunderstandablefromyouranalysisoftheobservations

• Therecommendationsareeasytofollow– Ifyourecommendpruning,includeadescriptionofthespecificpruningtobeaccomplished

• Youcanreadandfollowthemap.• Commentsinthedatamakesense

• ReviewyourownreportsasifyouarespeakingatanASCAConference!!!

Thankyou!!

denice@caltlc.com