Reports

Almost every meeting has a financial report.

Senior officers report to the board. Requirements for reporting to boards are not as structured as, say, minutes or agendas. Overall the report should show that you are being accountable for what you do and how you do it, and should give a clear and dispassionate view of progress.

The outline below might be more formal than some organizations require, but it is fairly easy to simplify and informalize it according to your situation.

The report should have a title and date, stating the name and date of the meeting that it is given to. E.g.

"Australian College of Engineering Annual General Meeting, 20 October, 2005
Principal's Report, Gerald Lambert "

You would normally report:

• any major advances and good news in the recent past
• any major difficulties and setbacks in the recent past
• your main use of time in the recent past
• current and foreseeable difficulties and risks*
• what you expect to do about them
• your goals for the near future
• how you expect to achieve them
• your main use of time in the near future
• financial reporting (if not done separately)

Some of these may vary according to your job description; for example, your goals may be determined for you. Other things will depend on the timeframe, that is, how long since your last meeting and how long until your next meeting.

*You have a duty of disclosure to your organization regarding risks and difficulties, especially legal and financial risks. But there are many other kinds of risks such as reputation and market position. In other words, you must tell your organization if they are getting them into trouble through what you do. Your board is ultimately responsible.

If it is a formal report, it should conclude after the style of the example below:

"Respectfully submitted,
"Signed,
(signature)
"Mr. Gerald Lambert, Principal.

You should email it out to everybody preferably a week beforehand if it contains items that need thought before the meeting. The others may need time to digest it and think of any questions that might be important for making decisions in the meeting.