We all had to write reports at some point in our lives. In school, we were asked to write essays about the human anatomy, parts of a flower, our thoughts about a particular movie, and the like.
As we progressed to working for companies, we were tasked to write reports about sales, the company’s accomplishments, etc. It’s a task placed on our to-do list every now and then.
While some enjoying diving into different pages online and offline to do research, some are not happy with the idea. It’s not that they lack the ability to write reports. What they’re not happy about is the process required in gathering information.
We’re talking about conducting interviews, designing surveys, tabulating forms, and putting all the gathered information into a narrative. It’s a daunting task, but luckily, we have tools that make it effortless for us to come up with professionally designed reports.
Designing Reports with Canva
To make an engaging report, you need to know how to present your information clearly. Note that not everyone was there when you were gathering information, so you need to speak in a language that they can understand.
Whether it be an expense report, sales report, annual company report or budget report, it is crucial that you present the data beautifully. You must make it your goal to take your audience on a journey. Make the report something worth reading and listening to, to keep it from being tossed in the recycle bin.
One way to go about this is by making your report layout interesting. You don’t need to be a graphic designer to do this; all you need is a design tool like Canva for reports.
Canva Helps to Create Interesting Reports in an Instant
Canva has a library containing millions of design elements, fonts, and images that you can use to create stunning reports. You can design your report to make it consistent with your brand image. Case in point, you can add your company logo, change the colors, and choose a font that best represents your brand. If you’re not happy with a specific element in the report, you can replace it with a new one from the library.
If you’re running against time, you can simply choose among the templates available in Canva’s library. Just add the information you gathered, and you are good to go. If you’re working with a team, and you need to work together in creating the report, Canva has a special feature that makes it possible for people to collaborate, no matter where they are in the world.
Once you’re done with the report, you can have it saved and printed in a jiffy. All you have to do is click the “Download” button so you can save your report as a high-quality PDF and have it ready for printing. If you’re keener on going down the paperless route, send the report to your boss via email.
The Devil is in the Details
If you want to be efficient in creating reports, you need to prepare your data first. You have to collate and analyze the data you gathered before you can start writing your narrative or your report.
Now we know this task can be overwhelming but fear not because there’s a tool that can help make this process easy for you: WebDataRocks. This is basically a web reporting tool that can be used for grouping, sorting, and filtering your data.
You can also use other features like number formatting, totals, and calculated values so you won’t struggle with analyzing your data. Once you’re done, you can export analyzed data as an HTML, Excel, or PDF file to make it easy for you to lay everything out in Canva.
If you think WebDataRocks is a tool that only professionals can use, fret not, because newbies in data analysis and integration can use it too. It has a user-friendly interface that makes data preparation feel like a walk in the park.
With Canva and WebDataRocks, you’re sure to come up with reports that will impress both your colleagues and your boss. For as long as you have these tools in your arsenal, you’ll no longer have to worry about making reports in the future!
About author
Rekha Pant, IT professional, Business Developer, a writer in different topics like Digital Communication, Education, Marketing and IT.