Professional writing skills are a valuable tool in any self-employed professional’s arsenal. Effective written communication – particularly when it comes to client reports – proves essential to managing relationships and keeping projects on track.
Reports can help you and your client to measure progress, identify any barriers or issues, and ensure that you are working toward the same goals.
Your written client report could be an informal checklist of items accomplished and upcoming tasks or milestones, or it could be a more formal document that includes detailed information.
Here are a few examples:
1. At the beginning of a client engagement to summarize project background, goals, metrics, and milestones;
2. To communicate progress on a project, on a weekly, monthly, or quarterly basis;
3. At the conclusion of a project to summarize the project, tasks completed, final metrics, outstanding issues, and recommendations;