Page 562 Writing Proposals and Progress Reports Chapter Outline Writing Proposals Proposal Questions Proposal Style Proposals for Class Research Projects Proposals for Action Sales Proposals Business Plans and Other Proposals for Funding Budget and Costs Sections Writing Progress Reports Chronological Progress Reports Task Progress Reports Recommendation Progress Reports Summary of Key Points Page 563IN THE NEWS Proposals by Corporate Investors Public companies invite proposals from their shareholders on the company's response to its stakeholders. Corporate investors, led by religious groups and socially responsible investors, have increasingly been bringing forth environmental and social proposals. Often companies work with proponents of these proposals to arrive at mutually agreeable outcomes. The growth in these proposals has been tremendousfrom around 7% to 32% between 2004 and 2007 counting those that garnered at least 15% votes. Among specific issues that these proposals address are companies' sexual orientation policies, pollution policies, labor policies, efforts on climate change, and political contributions. Some of these proposals find mention in the following year's annual or corporate sustainability report, while some others result in specific agreements with the company. Proposals can be resubmitted, so it's in the companies' interest to take proposals seriously. Two major examples come from Exxon. The Sisters of St. Dominic were the lead filers on a proposal, which got 31% support, asking for greenhouse gas reduction. A different proposal from an individual investor, which got 27% support, asked for the development of renewable energy sources. Another instance is Domini Social Investments' proposal asking Home Depot to produce a report on its sustainably harvested lumber. Home Depot agreed to publish on its Web site its wood purchasing policy, including quantitative information. \"Corporate investors . . . have increasingly been bringing forth environmental and social proposals.\" Adapted from William J. Holstein, \"A Bumper Crop of Green Proposals,\" in BusinessWeek: Managing: Your Board: Armchair MBA, http://www.businessweek.com/managing/content/jun2008/ca20080626_395541.htm (accessed April 11, 2009). Page 564Learning Objectives After studying this chapter, you will know how to Write proposals. Prepare budget and costs sections. Write progress reports. Proposals and progress reports are two documents that frequently are part of larger, longer projects. Proposals argue for the work that needs to be done and who will do it. Progress reports let people know how you are coming on the project. Writing Proposals In the workplace, much work is routine or specifically assigned by other people. But sometimes you or your organization will want to consider something different, and you will need to write a proposal for that work. Generally, proposals are created for projects that are longer or more expensive than routine work, that differ significantly from routine work, or that create larger changes than does normal work. Proposals argue for work that needs to be done; they offer a method to find information, evaluate something new, solve a problem, or implement a change.1 (See Figure 18.1.) Proposals have two major goals: to get the project accepted and to get you or your organization accepted to do the work. To accomplish these goals, proposals must stress benefits for all affected audiences. A proposal for an organization to adopt flex hours would offer benefits for both employees and management, as well as for key departments such as finance. Proposals may be competitive or noncompetitive. Competitive proposals compete against each other for limited resources. Applications for research funding are often highly competitive. Many companies will bid for corporate or government contracts, but only one will be accepted. In FY 2008, the National Science Foundation spent close to $6 billion supporting research. In FY 2009, the National Institutes of Health supported over 38,000 research projects at a cost of $15.5 billion.2 These funds are awarded mainly through competitive proposals. Noncompetitive proposals have no real competition. For example, a company could accept all of the internal proposals it thought would save money or improve quality. And often a company that is satisfied with a vendor asks for a noncompetitive proposal to renew the contract. Noncompetitive proposals can still be enormous. In 2009 the Census Bureau submitted to Congress a $1 billion proposal for the 2010 census.3 Figure 18.1 Relationship among Situation, Proposal, and Final Report Source: Adapted from Richard C. Freed, Shervin Freed, and Joseph D. Romano, Writing Winning Business Proposals: Your Guide to Landing the Client, Making the Sale, Persuading the Boss (New York: McGraw-Hill, 2003), 21. Page 565Proposal Questions To write a good proposal, you need to have a clear view of the problem you hope to solve and the kind of research or other action needed to solve it. A proposal must answer the following questions convincingly: What problem are you going to solve? Show that you understand the problem and the organization's needs. Define the problem as the audience sees it, even if you believe it is part of a larger problem that must first be solved. Sometimes you will need to show that the problem exists. For instance, management might not be aware of subtle discrimination against women that your proposal will help eliminate. Why does the problem need to be solved now? Show that money, time, health, or social concerns support solving the problem now. Provide the predicted consequences if the problem is not solved now. How are you going to solve it? Prove that your methods are feasible. Show that a solution can be found in the time available. Specify the topics you'll investigate. Explain how you'll gather data. Show your approach is effective and desirable. Can you do the work? Show that you, or your organization, have the knowledge, means, personnel, and experience to do the work well. For larger projects, you will have to show some evidence such as preliminary data, personnel qualifications, or similar projects in the past. Why should you be the one to do it? Show why you or your company should do the work. For many proposals, various organizations could do the work. Why should the work be given to you? Discuss the benefits direct and indirectyou and your organization can provide. When will you complete the work? Provide a detailed schedule showing when each phase of the work will be completed. How much will you charge? Provide a detailed budget that includes costs for items such as materials, salaries, and overhead. Give careful thought to unique expenses that may be part of the work. Will you need to travel? Pay fees? Pay benefits in addition to salary for part-time workers? What exactly will you provide for us? Specify the tangible products you'll produce; develop their benefits. Since proposals to outside organizations are usually considered legally binding documents, get expert legal and financial advice on the last two bullets. Even if the proposal will not be legally binding (perhaps it is an internal proposal), safeguard your professional reputation. Be sure you can deliver the promised products at the specified time using resources and personnel available to you. Proposal Style Good proposals are clear and easy to read. Remember that some of your audience may not be experts in the subject matter. Highly statistical survey and data analysis projects may be funded by finance people; medical and scientific studies may be approved by bureaucrats. This means you should use the language your readers understand and expect to see. Anticipate and answer questions your readers may have. Support generalizations and inferences with data and other information. Stress benefits throughout the proposal, and make sure you include benefits for all elements of your audience. Page 566Use the expected format for your proposal. Shorter proposals (one to four pages) are generally in letter or memo format; longer proposals are frequently formal reports. Government agencies and companies often issue requests for proposals, known as RFPs. Follow the RFP's specified format to the letter. Use the exact headings, terminology, and structure of the RFP when responding to one. Competitive proposals are often scored by giving points in each category. Evaluators look only under the headings specified in the RFP. If information isn't there, the proposal may get no points in that category. Beginnings and endings of proposals are important. If you are not following an RFP, your proposal should begin with a clear statement of what you propose doing, why you propose doing it, and what the implications are of the proposed action, or why the action is important. Proposals should end with a brief but strong summary of major benefits of having you do the work. In some circumstances, an urge to action is appropriate: MBA Business Plans Some students working toward MBA degrees participate in business plan contests. Groups of students write a business plan and present it to real-world bankers and venture capitalists. The stakes are high. Major contests have big cash awards and a shot at really starting the business the students have been planning. Even the losers benefit from the writing practice and the feedback they can use to continue improving their plans. Among the winners is Sarah Takesh, who took first place in the National Social Ventures Competition, earning $25,000 for a fashion company called Tarsian and Blinkley. In Takesh's business, which she has since launched, Afghan workers apply local hand-icrafts to produce clothing sold in boutiques in New York and San Francisco. Although the items are beautiful, Takesh's fashion sense was less important to the judges than her insights about international trade. Another contest winner, Kid-Smart, is a plan for a company offering a new product: a smoke alarm that alerts children with a recording of a parent's voice, rather than the earsplitting beeps of a traditional smoke alarm. The KidSmart business plan won the $100,000 grand prize in Moot Corp, sponsored by the University of Texas. The four-person KidSmart team supported its presentation with video footage showing that its smoke detector is better at waking children than the traditional beeps are. Adapted from Patrick J. Sauer, \"How to Win Big Money and Get Ahead in Business,\" Inc. 25, no. 9 (September 2003): 95-96 + . If I get your approval before the end of the month, we can have the procedures in place in time for the new fiscal year. Allow a generous amount of time before the due date for polishing and finishing your proposal: Edit carefully. Make a final check that you have included all sections and pieces of information requested in the RFP. Many RFPs call for appendices with items such as rsums and letters of support. Do you have all of yours? Ensure that your proposal's appearance will create a good impression. This step includes careful proofreading. Allow enough time for production, reproduction, and administrative approvals before the deadline for receipt of the proposal. If multiple signatures are needed, it may take more than a day to get them all. If you are submitting a government grant, the grants.gov server may be clogged with heavy usage on the final due date, or even the day before, so don't wait until the last minute. Proposals for Class Research Projects You may be asked to submit a proposal for a report that you will write for a class. Your instructor wants evidence that your problem is meaningful but not too big to complete in the allotted time, that you understand it, that your method will give you the information you need, that you have the knowledge and resources to collect and analyze the data, and that you can produce the report by the deadline. A proposal for a student report usually has the following sections: 1. In your first paragraph (no heading), summarize in a sentence or two the topic and purposes of your report. 2. Problem. What problem exists? Why does it need to be solved? Is there a history or background that is relevant? 3. Feasibility. Are you sure that a solution can be found in the time available? How do you know? (This section may not be appropriate for some class projects.) 4. Audience. Who in the organization would have the power to implement your recommendation? What secondary audiences might be asked to evaluate your report? What audiences would be affected by your recommendation? Will anyone in the organization serve as a gatekeeper, determining whether your report is sent to decision makers? What watchdog audiences might read the report? Will there be other readers? Page 567For each of these audiences give the person's name, job title, and business address and answer the following questions: What is the audience's major concern or priority? What \"hot buttons\" must you address with care? What will the audience see as advantages of your proposal? What objections, if any, is the reader likely to have? How interested is the audience in the topic of your report? How much does the audience know about the topic of your report? List any terms, concepts, or assumptions that one or more of your audiences may need to have explained. Briefly identify ways in which your audiences may affect the content, organization, or style of the report. 5. Topics to investigate. List the questions and subquestions you will answer in your report, the topics or concepts you will explain, the aspects of the problem you will discuss. Indicate how deeply you will examine each of the aspects you plan to treat. Explain your rationale for choosing to discuss some aspects of the problem and not others. 6. Methods/procedure. How will you get answers to your questions? Whom will you interview or survey? What questions will you ask? What published sources will you use? Give the full bibliographic references. Your methods section should clearly indicate how you will get the information needed to answer questions posed in the other sections of the proposal. 7. Qualifications/facilities/resources. Do you have the knowledge and skills needed to conduct this study? Do you have adequate access to the organization? Is the necessary information available to you? Are you aware of any supplemental information? Where will you turn for help if you hit an unexpected snag? You'll be more convincing if you have already scheduled an interview, checked out books, or printed out online sources. 8. Work schedule. For each activity, list both the total time you plan to spend on it and the date when you expect to finish it. This is one list of possible activities; you may think of others for your project. Gathering information. Analyzing information. Organizing information. Preparing the progress report. Writing the report draft. Revising the draft. Preparing the visuals. Editing the report. Proofreading the report. These steps frequently overlap. Many writers start analyzing and organizing information as it comes in. They start writing pieces of the final document and preparing visuals early in the process. Organize your work schedule in either a chart or calendar. A good schedule provides realistic estimates for each activity, allows time for unexpected snags, and shows that you can complete the work on time. 9. Call to action. In your final section, indicate that you'd welcome any suggestions your instructor may have for improving the research plan. Ask your instructor to approve your proposal so that you can begin work on your report. Figure 18.2 shows a student proposal for a long report. Page 568Figure 18.2 Proposal for a Student Group Report Page 569 Page 570 Figure 18.2 Proposal for a Student Group Report (Concluded) Page 571 Proposals for Action Some proposals call for action or change in your organization. Normally, proposals for action recommend new programs or ways to solve problems. As manager of compensation planning, Catherine Beck had to propose a compensation system when telephone companies Bell Atlantic and Nynex Corporation merged and again a few years later when Bell Atlantic merged with GTE to form Verizon. When two companies merge, each has its own pay scale, bonus policy, and so on; the problem is that the merged companies will need Page 572a single, unified system. In these two mergers, Beck had to recommend the system she thought would work best in the new company.4 Writing a proposal for action requires considerable research. Beck worked with a team of human resource and other managers plus compensation experts. Together they began by studying the existing policies of the merging organizations. They compared the two systems, looking for their underlying principles. In the first merger, between Bell Atlantic and Nynex, they determined that the two plans were so different that they would have to create a completely new system. In the second merger, of Bell Atlantic and GTE, they concluded that the plans were similar enough to be modified and combined into a single system. After this internal research leading to an initial decision, preparing a proposal and implementing a system for tens of thousands of management employees took months in both mergers.5 Often, writing a proposal requires gathering information from outside the organization, too. Basic steps include reading articles in trade and professional journals, looking up data online, and talking to employees or customers. Remember that all proposals, including in-house ones, need benefits for all levels of audiences. These benefits help ensure buy-in. Writing an Effective Business Plan How do entrepreneurs raise the capital needed to launch a new business? They write a business plan. When you write one, you need to persuade an investor that your concept for an organization is solid and that you're the best person to carry it out. Venture capitalists and successful entrepreneurs give the following advice about writing a solid business plan: Keep it short and simplea good business plan articulates what the company will do and how it will benefit the customer. Specify the product or service. Begin with an executive summary. Introduce the management teama good business plan explains the people behind the product. Anticipate problems and challengesa good business plan answers the tough questions about your idea. Venture capitalists will already know the problem; they want to be sure you do too. Show there is a marketa good business plan identifies a target market and demonstrates that people will use the product or service offered. Show a path to profita good business plan explains how the business will make money. Make it personala good business plan is not a template; it shows passion about ideas. Adapted from Greg Farrell, \"Business Plans Should Be Simple, Passionate,\" USA Today, July 31, 2006, 5E. Sales Proposals To sell expensive goods or services, you may be asked to submit a proposal. To write a good proposal, be sure that you understand the buyer's priorities. A phone company lost a $36 million sale to a university because it assumed the university's priority would be cost. Instead, the university wanted a state-of-the-art system. The university accepted a higher bid. Make sure your proposal presents your goods or services as solving the problem your audience perceives. Don't assume that the buyer will understand why your product or system is good. For everything you offer, show the benefits of each feature. Be sure to present the benefits using you-attitude (p. 62). Use language appropriate for your audience. Even if the buyers want a state-of-the-art system, they may not want the level of detail that your staff could provide; they may not understand or appreciate technical jargon. Sales proposals, particularly for complicated systems costing millions of dollars, are often long. Provide a one-page cover letter to present your proposal succinctly. The best organization for this letter is usually a modified version of the sales pattern in Chapter 16: 1. Catch the reader's attention and summarize up to three major benefits you offer. 2. Discuss each of the major benefits in the order in which you mentioned them in the first paragraph. 3. Deal with any objections or concerns the reader may have. In a sales proposal, these objections probably include costs. Connect costs with benefits. 4. Mention other benefits briefly. 5. Ask the reader to approve your proposal and provide a reason for acting promptly. Business Plans and Other Proposals for Funding Proposals for funding include both business plans (documents written to raise capital for new business ventures) and proposals submitted to foundations, corporations, and government agencies, to seek money for public service projects. In a proposal for funding, stress the needs your project will meet Page 573and show how your project helps fulfill the goals of the organization you are asking for funds. Since venture capitalists and other investors are not known for their patience, business plans in particular need to have a concise, compelling beginning describing exactly what you plan to do and what need it will fill. What is your product or service? How well developed is it? Is a mock-up or demo available? What are your plans for a completely realized product or service? Who is your market? Show how this market needs your product or service. Who are your competitors? How will you be better? Show you already have support for your business by introducing the people who will be working with you. Financial information is important in any proposal, but it is even more crucial in a business plan. You will need to show money you already have, and how you plan to use the money you get. Many investors want to see a five-year financial forecast. Explain with convincing detail how you expect to make money. What assumptions are you using in your plan? What is your time frame for financial success? Pay careful attention to the Executive Summary. In the body of your document, anticipate problems (investors will already know them; this shows you do, too); show how you plan to solve them. Use details to help convince your audience. Many business plans are too general to convince investors. Details show you have done your homework; they can also show your business acumen. The US Small Business Administration offers detailed advice for writing a business plan at http://www.sba.gov/smallbusinessplanner/plan/writeabusinessplan/index.html. Proposals are also a major part of nonprofits' fund-raising activity; they write grant proposals to governmental organizations, foundations, and individuals to raise money for their organization. The writing process involves considerable research and planning, and often is preceded by informal conversations and formal presentations to potential funders. The funding process is often seen as a relationship-building process that involves researching, negotiating with, and persuading funders that the proposal not only meets their guidelines, but also is a cause worthy of a grant. Every funding source has certain priorities; some have detailed lists of the kind of projects they fund. The Foundation Center hosts The Foundation Directory, which indexes foundations by state and city as well as by field of interest. The Foundation Center also supports The Foundation Grants Index Annual, which lists grants of $5,000 or more made by the 425 biggest foundations. Check recent awards to discover foundations that may be interested in your project. The same company provides Source Book Profiles which describes 1,000 national and regional foundations. All three indexes may be searched online if you pay a subscription fee. Philanthropic Research Inc. publishes free information about grants and grantmakers at its GuideStar Web site (http://www.guidestar.org), though a more detailed database is available by subscription. For information about grants made by the US government, visit http://www.grants.gov/, a Web site published by the Department of Health and Human Services. The site offers information on grant programs of all federal grant-making agencies, as well as downloadable grant applications. When you write proposals for funding, be sure you follow all format criteria to the letter. Be particularly obedient to specifications about page count, type size, margins, and spacing (single or double spacing). When flooded with applications, many funders use these criteria as preliminary weed-out devices. One midwestern state Department of Education threw out funding applications from 30 school districts because they were not double-spaced as required.6 http://foundationcenter.org/ http://www.kn.pacbell.com/products/grants/index.html Many nonprofits rely on foundation support to deliver programs and services to constituents. In support of the nonprofit sector, the Foundation Center was established in 1956 to \"strengthen the nonprofit sector by advancing knowledge about US philanthropy.\" As a leading authority on philanthropy, the Foundation Center offers many resources online to connect nonprofits and grant-makers, maintaining a database on US grant-makers and their grants. In addition, the Foundation Center conducts research, operates library/learning centers, and offers educational and training programs. Another helpful resource for writing grants is the Pacific Bell Knowledge Network. The site lists resources for researching and writing grant proposals. Page 574Budget and Costs Sections For a class research project, you may not be asked to prepare a budget. However, many proposals do require budgets, and a good budget is crucial to making the winning bid. In fact, your budget may well be the most carefully scrutinized part of your proposal.7 Ask for everything you need to do a quality job. Asking for too little may backfire, leading the funder to think that you don't understand the scope of the project. Include less obvious costs, such as overhead. Also include costs that will be paid from other sources. Doing so shows that other sources also have confidence in your work. Pay particular attention to costs that may appear to benefit you more than the sponsor such as travel and equipment. Make sure they are fully justified in the proposal. Do some research. Read the RFP to find out what is and isn't fundable. Talk to the program officer (the person who administers the funding process) and read successful past proposals to find answers to the following questions: What size projects will the organization fund in theory? Does the funder prefer making a few big grants or many smaller grants? Does the funder expect you to provide in-kind or cost-sharing funds from other sources? Think about exactly what you'll do and who will do it. What will it cost to get that person? What supplies or materials will he or she need? Also think about indirect costs for using office space, about retirement and health benefits as well as salaries, about office supplies, administration, and infrastructure. Make the basis of your estimates specific. Weak: 75 hours of transcribing interviews $1,500 Better: 25 hours of interviews; a skilled $1,500 transcriber can complete 1 hour of interviews in 3 hours; 75 hours @ $20/hour Figure your numbers conservatively. For example, if the going rate for skilled transcribers is $20 an hour, but you think you might be able to train someone and pay only $12 an hour, use the higher figure. Then, even if your grant is cut, you'll still be able to do the project well. Writing Progress Reports When you're assigned to a single project that will take a month or more, you'll probably be asked to file one or more progress reports. A progress report reassures the funding agency or employer that you're making progress and allows you and the agency or employer to resolve problems as they arise. Different readers may have different concerns. An instructor may want to know whether you'll have your report in by the due date. A client may be more interested in what you're learning about the problem. Adapt your progress report to the needs of the audience. Christine Barabas's study of the progress reports in a large research and development organization found that poor writers tended to focus on what they had done and said very little about the value of their work. Good writers, in contrast, spent less space writing about the details of what they'd done but much more space explaining the value of their work for the organization.8 When you write progress reports, use what you know about emphasis, positive tone, and you-attitude. Don't present every detail as equally important. Use emphasis techniques to stress the major ones. Readers will generally not care that Jones was out of the office when you went to visit him and that you had to return a second time to catch him. Trivial details like this should be omitted. Page 575In your report, try to exceed expectations in at least some small way. Perhaps your research is ahead of schedule, or needed equipment arrived earlier than expected. However, do not present the good news by speculating on the reader's feelings; many readers find such statements offensive. Poor: You will be happy to hear the software came a week early. Better: The software came a week early, so Pat can start programming earlier than expected. Remember that your audience for your report is usually in a position of power over you, so be careful what you say to them. Generally it is not wise to blame them for project problems even if they are at fault. Poor: We could not proceed with drafting the plans because you did not send us the specifications for the changes you want. Better: Chris has prepared the outline for the plan. We are ready to start drafting as soon as we receive the specifications. Meanwhile, we are working on. . . . Subject lines for progress reports are straightforward. Specify the project on which you are reporting your progress. Subject: Progress on Developing a Marketing Plan for TCBY If you are submitting weekly or monthly progress reports on a long project, number your progress reports or include the time period in your subject line. Include dates for the work completed since the last report and work to be completed before the next report. Make your progress report as positive as you honestly can. You'll build a better image of yourself if you show that you can take minor problems in stride and that you're confident of your own abilities. The preliminary data sets were two days late because of a server crash. However, Nidex believes they will be back on schedule by next week. Past performance indicates their estimate is correct, and data analysis will be finished in two weeks, as originally scheduled. Focus on your solutions to problems rather than the problems themselves: Negative: Southern data points were corrupted, and that problem set us back three days in our data analysis. Positive: Although southern data points were corrupted, the northern team was able to loan us Chris and Lee to fix the data set. Both teams are currently back on schedule. In the above example the problem with the southern data points is still noted, because readers may want to know about it, but the solution to the problem is emphasized. Do remember to use judicious restraint with your positive tone. Without details for support, glowing judgments of your own work may strike readers as ill-advised bragging, or maybe even dishonesty. Overdone positive tone, lack of support Our data analysis is indicating some great new predictions; you will be very happy to see them. Supported optimism: Our data analysis is beginning to show that coastal erosion may not be as extensive as we had feared; in fact, it may be almost 10% less than originally estimated. We should have firm figures by next week. Page 576Progress reports can be organized in three ways: by chronology, by task, and to support a recommendation. Some progress reports may use a combination: they may organize material chronologically within each task section, for instance. Evidence to Support Superlatives in Business Plans Dave Lavinsky, a cofounder of Grow-think, a professional consulting firm, advises small business owners to draft their business plans carefully because investors will evaluate the potential of the business based on the intelligence shown in the plan. Specifically, Dave advises his clients to provide evidence for superlatives (best customer service, finest quality) in the plan. He advises business owners to cite third-party research or offer other concrete evidence when making superlative claims. For instance, if a firm believes that the market for its products is growing exponentially, it should cite some independent research that validates this claim. Similarly, if a firm claims in the business plan that it has the best people working for it, the plan should include details of qualifications and experiences of the personnel to support the claim. The practice of always supporting superlative claims in the business plan will increase a firm's fundraising chances by making it appear more credible in the eyes of the investors. Adapted from Dave Lavinsky, \"Business Plan Readers No Longer Believe the Hype,\" in BusinessWeek: Small Biz: Tips, http://www.businessweek.com/smallbiz/tips/archives/2009/03/business_plan_r.html (accessed April 12, 2009). Chronological Progress Reports The chronological pattern of organization focuses on what you have done and what work remains. 1. Summarize your progress in terms of your goals and your original schedule. Use measurable statements. Poor: Progress has been slow. Better: Analysis of data sets is about one-third complete. 2. Under the heading \"Work Completed,\" describe what you have already done. Be specific, both to support your claims in the first paragraph and to allow the reader to appreciate your hard work. Acknowledge the people who have helped you. Describe any serious obstacles you've encountered and tell how you've dealt with them. Poor: I have found many articles about Procter & Gamble on the Web. I have had a few problems finding how the company keeps employees safe from chemical fumes. Better: On the Web, I found Procter & Gamble's home page, its annual report, and mission statement. No one whom I interviewed could tell me about safety programs specifically at P&G. I have found seven articles about ways to protect workers against pollution in factories, but none mentions P&G. 3. Under the heading \"Work to Be Completed,\" describe the work that remains. If you're more than three days late (for school projects) or two weeks late (for business projects) submit a new schedule, showing how you will be able to meet the original deadline. You may want to discuss \"Observations\" or \"Preliminary Conclusions\" if you want feedback before writing the final report or if your reader has asked for substantive interim reports. 4. Express your confidence in having the report ready by the due date. If you are behind your original schedule, show why you think you can still finish the project on time. Even in chronological reports you need to do more than merely list work you have done. Show the value of that work and your prowess in achieving it, particularly your ability at solving problems. The student progress report in Figure 18.3 uses the chronological pattern of organization. Task Progress Reports In a task progress report, organize information under the various tasks you have worked on during the period. For example, a task progress report for a group report project might use the following headings: Finding Background Information on the Web and in Print Analyzing Our Survey Data Working on the Introduction of the Report and the Appendices Page 577Figure 18.3 A Student Chronological Progress Report Page 578Under each heading, the group could discuss the tasks it has completed and those that remain. Task progress reports are appropriate for large projects with distinct topics or projects. The Political Uses of Progress Reports Progress reports can do more than just report progress. You can use progress reports to Enhance your image. Details about the number of documents you've read, people you've surveyed, or experiments you've conducted create a picture of a hardworking person doing a thorough job. Float trial balloons. Explain, \"I could continue to do X [what you approved]; I could do Y instead [what I'd like to do now].\" The detail in the progress report can help back up your claim. Even if the idea is rejected, you don't lose face because you haven't made a separate issue of the alternative. Minimize potential problems. As you do the work, it may become clear that implementing your recommendations will be difficult. In your regular progress reports, you can alert your boss or the funding agency to the challenges that lie ahead, enabling them to prepare psychologically and physically to act on your recommendations. Recommendation Progress Reports Recommendation progress reports recommend action: increasing the funding or allotted time for a project, changing its direction, canceling a project that isn't working out. When the recommendation will be easy for the reader to accept, use the direct request pattern of organization from Chapter 16 (p. 477). If the recommendation is likely to meet strong resistance, the problem-solving pattern (p. 479) may be more effective. Summary of Key Points A proposal must answer the following questions: What problem are you going to solve? Why does the problem need to be solved now? How are you going to solve it? Can you do the work? Why should you be the one to do it? When will you complete the work? How much will you charge? What exactly will you provide for us? In a proposal for a class research project, prove that your problem is the right size, that you understand it, that your method will give you the information you need to solve the problem, that you have the knowledge and resources, and that you can produce the report by the deadline. In a project budget, ask for everything you will need to do a good job. Research current cost figures so yours are in line. Business plans need to pay particular attention to market potential and financial forecasts. In a proposal for funding, stress the needs your project will meet. Show how your project will help fulfill the goals of the organization you are asking for funds. Progress reports may be organized by chronology, by task, or to support a recommendation. Use positive emphasis in progress reports to create an image of yourself as a capable, confident worker. C H A P T E R 18 Exercises and Problems 18.1 Reviewing the Chapter 1. What are six questions a good proposal should answer? (LO 1) 2. What are some guidelines for preparing a budget for a proposal? (LO 2) 3. What are the differences between chronological and task progress reports? (LO 3) Page 57918.2 Writing a Proposal for a Student Report Write a proposal to your instructor to do the research for a formal or informal report. The headings and the questions in the section titled \"Proposals for Class Research Projects\" are your RFP; be sure to answer every question and to use the headings exactly as stated in the RFP. Exception: where alternate heads are listed, you may choose one, combine the two (\"Qualifications and Facilities\"), or treat them as separate headings in separate categories. 18.3 Proposing a Change No organization is perfect, especially when it comes to communication. Propose a change that would improve communication within your organization. The change can be specific to your unit or can apply to the whole organization; it can relate to how important information is distributed, who has access to important information, how information is accessed, or any other change in communication practices that you see as having a benefit. Direct your proposal to the person or committee with the power to authorize the change. 18.4 Proposing to Undertake a Research Project Pick a project you would like to study whose results could be used by your organization. Write a proposal to your supervisor requesting time away from other duties to do the research. Show how your research (whatever its outcome) will be useful to the organization. 18.5 Writing a Proposal for Funding for a Nonprofit Group Pick a nonprofit group you care about. Examples include professional organizations, a charitable group, a community organization, or your own college or university. As your instructor directs, a. Check the Web or a directory of foundations to find one that makes grants to groups like yours. Brainstorm a list of businesses that might be willing to give money for specific projects. Check to see whether state or national levels of your organization make grants to local chapters. b. Write a proposal to obtain funds for a special project your group could undertake if it had the money. Address your proposal to a specific organization. c. Write a proposal to obtain operating funds or money to buy something your group would like to have. Address your proposal to a specific organization. 18.6 Writing a Sales Proposal Pick a project that you could do for a local company or government office. Examples include Creating a brochure or Web page. Revising form letters. Conducting a training program. Writing a newsletter or an annual report. Developing a marketing plan. Providing plant care, catering, or janitorial services. Write a proposal specifying what you could do and providing a detailed budget and work schedule. As your instructor directs, a. Phone someone in the organization to talk about its needs and what you could offer. b. Write an individual proposal. c. Join with other students in the class to create a group proposal. d. Present your proposal orally. 18.7 Presenting a Stockholder Proposal Visit the Web sites of the following companies and locate their latest proxy statements or reports. These are generally linked from the \"about us/company information-investor relations\" or \"investors\" pages. Find shareholder proposals under the heading \"proposals requiring your vote,\" \"stockholder proposals,\" or \"shareholder proposals.\" Ford Motor Company Citigroup AT&T Page 580 J. P. Morgan Chase & Co. Southwest Airlines Home Depot Procter & Gamble Boeing Google Dow Chemical As a group, select one proposal, and the management response following it, and give an oral presentation answering these questions: 1. What is the problem discussed in the proposal? 2. What is the rationale given for the urgency to solve the problem? 3. How does the proposal seek to solve it? 4. What benefits does the proposal mention that will accrue from the solution? 5. What is the management response to the proposal and what are the reasons given for the response? Does the management response strike you as justified? Why or why not? Hint: it may help you to do some research on the topic of the proposal. 18.8 Writing a Progress Report to Your Superior Describe the progress you have made this week or this month on projects you have been assigned. You may describe progress you have made individually, or progress your unit has made as a team. 18.9 Writing a Progress Report Write a memo to your instructor summarizing your progress on your report. In the introductory paragraph, summarize your progress in terms of your schedule and your goals. Under a heading titled Work Completed, list what you have already done. (This is a chance to toot your own horn: if you have solved problems creatively, say so. You can also describe obstacles you've encountered that you have not yet solved.) Under Work to Be Completed, list what you still have to do. If you are more than two days behind the schedule you submitted with your proposal, include a revised schedule, listing the completion dates for the activities that remain. 18.10 Writing a Progress Report for a Group Report Write a memo to your instructor summarizing your group's progress. In the introductory paragraph, summarize the group's progress in terms of its goals and its schedule, your own progress on the tasks for which you are responsible, and your feelings about the group's work thus far. Under a heading titled Work Completed, list what has already been done. Be most specific about what you yourself have done. Describe briefly the chronology of group activities: number, time, and length of meetings; topics discussed and decisions made at meetings. If you have solved problems creatively, say so. You can also describe obstacles you've encountered that you have not yet solved. In this section, you can also comment on problems that the group has faced and whether or not they've been solved. You can comment on things that have gone well and have contributed to the smooth functioning of the group. Under Work to Be Completed, list what you personally and other group members still have to do. Indicate the schedule for completing the work. 18.11 All-Weather Case: Inviting Proposals for the Revision of the Employee Handbook Doug wants to revise All-Weather's Employee Handbook, which was prepared in the early 1990s but has not been revised since, although new policies have been announced as amendments. Of late, Doug has seen a steady rise in the number of inquiries from offices and plants about employee-related policies and issues. All three managers, Caleb, Erin, and Miguel, have had to deal with these inquiries. Recently, at a meeting with the vice presidents of manufacturing and finance, Doug heard about varying interpretations of some policies in the handbook among different levels of employees. Doug wants the handbook to be revised before these problems become even bigger. As Doug is rifling through the pages of the handbook, Miguel enters Doug's office. \"You wanted to talk, Doug?\" Miguel asks, pulling up a chair. \"Yes. I want you to oversee the revision of the Employee Handbook,\" Doug says, closing the handbook and spreading his arms. Page 581