Requirements;

1. Decisions made should be clearly described using 5W and 1H

2.8 Bulletins, Daily Report, Weekly Report and Monthly A3 Report

Purpose;

To report on conditions up to a cut off time without delay to the correct people to prompt appropriate actions. Requirement;

1. Reports should be on time

2. To include past performance (trend) and the target.

3. To include current status, temporary countermeasures, requests, permanent countermeasures and team member concerns.

3. What is a good A3 report?

If an A3 reports purposes and requirements are described (why, when, what, when, where and how) appropriately (simple, clear and nice and easy to look at) cost effective and timely, it can then be called a good report. In other words 5W and 1H and good sense of quality, quantity, coat and timing are very important to write a good report.

3.1 Why?

A3 Reports, which do not convey a clear message on why they have been written or what they are trying to tell, are rarely taken notice of. They are far from a good report. Every effort must be made to ensure that the report written fulfils the purpose for what is has been written for. The purpose should have been decided before making the report.

Examples of purposes:

1. To help understanding

2. To share ideas

3. To request countermeasures

4. To obtain guidance, assistance or suggestions

5. To obtain instructions or approval

6. To review and prepare for the future

7. To take the next step forward or to make a decision

8. To communicate

9. To persuade relevant people to act

10. Others

3.2 Whom

It is necessary to change the writing style according to the reader without changing the basic idea. Although it does not really matter for the writer what style of report he chooses as he already has a full understanding of what he is writing, for the readers at makes a considerable difference. Amazingly this simple logic is uncommon. 6 sigma training

A report to a Managing Director and a report to other lower levels are different in their styles. Especially in meetings such as Senior Management level where company progress is updated to the Senior Management, important points should be logically summarised in the report to give as much information as they need to know so that they know what actions should be taken.

3.3 What

As in section 2

3.4 Time (in minutes or in seconds)

To be able to communicate necessary information to the readers in a short period of time. It is human nature to feel better to report as much as or believe more information produces a better understanding. But this is not the case, unnecessary or too much detailed information hinders understanding.

3.5 Where and how A3 Reporting methods affect understanding!

4. Methods

4.1 Paper size and number of pages

A3 and A4 sizes are mostly recommended. The more pages that you have, the more difficult the report is to understand, which leads to waste!

4.2 Title

The title should give the indication of the contents in a clear and precise expression.

Reason;

1. Title helps to understand the contents

2. It can be judged by the title if the contents needs closed examination by individual readers

3. Priority can be decided by the title

4.3 20:80 rule, Conclusion first

For a one-sheet report use the first 20% of the space for 80% of the contents and allocate the rest of the space for the details of the remaining content. This makes the report very easy to understand (fast and accurate). Reading the conclusion after the image of the contents is obtained by reading the title as described in 4.2. (You have effectively grabbed the readers attention). For reports of more than 2 pages, use the first page for 80% of the contents and the remaining pages for the rest of the contents. Try to avoid allocating the second or other pages to the conclusion or items of request. However, if the following items are described concisely with the appropriate heading on a one-sheet report then, conclusion does not necessarily have to be first.

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