Tips for writing an effective technical report

A technical report is a document that generally fulfills at least one of the two main functions below:

• dissemination of results: this enables the results of a study to be passed on to external parties;

• knowledge capitalization: to keep a written record of a study carried out, and to provide information that will enable a person or team to repeat the study at a later date.

Generally speaking, a technical report must meet the various objectives of a study (research, development, etc.). Its structure must be adapted to the desired objective. The writing stage of a report can often be seen as tedious, and engineers tend to neglect it. Here are a few tips on how to improve the effectiveness of such a document, the key being to make it easy for the reader to understand the objectives and results of the study.