Something not really discussed here is technical report writing, something I’ve done a lot of while working on govt-funded research tasks, usually in the world

Something not really discussed here is technical report writing, something I’ve done a lot of while working on govt-funded research tasks, usually in the world of simulation-based training. The aim isn’t to write documentation or user-manuals, but to communicate findings from tech research / de-risking projects to decision makers and other stakeholders, in my case often exploring the question “is this technology ready to use in this context, and if so, what should we do next”. The findings themselves are often generated by tech staff, sometimes involving academics, based on building prototypes and then deploying them in a semi-realistic context with some tame users. I’ve participated in report writing as author, editor and reviewer and over the years learned a lot about writing in general. Key for me was understanding the decision that the reader would make as a result of reading the doc, and then ensuring that the doc did in fact present the necessary evidence and ideally some actionable recommendations. The absolute worst thing was when people started writing and just hoped that the answer would somehow emerge (which I admit is sometimes a useful way of getting your thoughts straight), but then just stopped when they ran out of time / budget. One of my most useful roles as a reviewer, was to conduct a 20% review, near the beginning of the writing, when I would confirm with the authors what sort of message they wanted to get across, and ideally storyboard how they were going to do it. Also, when multiple authors were involved, it was critical to make they sure they used styles etc consistently, and ideally adopted consistent terminology. I also began to appreciate the importance of an executive summary – the bottom-line-up-front, on a single page or less. If the person who commissioned the work was senior enough, sometimes this was the only bit they would read themselves, leaving the gory detail to minions.