During our second Unit of English 301, we were asked to start two of the larger projects we would be completing this term: the formal report, and the application package. Looking back, I think I underestimated how much work would be involved in preparing these items. It was only through perseverance and time management that I was able to get everything completed.
The formal report, once it is completed, is going to be one of the larger pieces of work I will have put together to date. I took some time to look for an idea that would be engaging readers as well as to myself, and settled on the topic of physician billings. It is a topic I continually mull over while at my own place of employment (I work at a walk-in clinic as their Assistant Manager), so it occurred to me that a report looking at fixing the underlying issues inherent with the current billing systems would be quite useful. The online textbook for this course provided useful instructions and I was able to generate a well-structured proposal.
Next on our to-do list was a peer review of our writing partner’s formal report proposal. Peer reviews of our partner’s work is becoming increasingly beneficial to both parties. I continue to see new ways to improve my own writing while reviewing the writing of others. In addition, I am able to improve my professional communication towards colleagues by suggesting improvements and giving praise where deserved. My biggest struggle continues to be with sentence structure. I am thankful for these reviews, so I can see clearly which areas could be improved.
A few years into my role as an Assistant Manager I decided to create a LinkedIn profile. At that point in time I was still considering medical school, and was very busy networking with professionals in the field of health. It made sense to have one. Last week we were instructed to create a profile for the course – I realized then that I had not really looked at my profile in years! It was bare – no picture, no summary, and a brief work history. Using the instructions provided by the course, I was able to give my profile a much needed makeover. It still needs some work – Raymond kindly pointed out that some more details could be provided in the sections for work history, such as what my past job duties have entailed. I found the peer review of the LinkedIn profiles to be rather useful. I have never perused someone else’s profile in that much detail until now. I can see from both my own and from Raymond’s profile what a difference a complete profile makes in terms of presentation.
The last item on our list for this unit was to provide a formal report outline and progress report. It was during this part of the assignment I really discovered how much work we are going to be putting into these formal reports. Surveys to be distributed, interviews to be setup – a lot to organize. I felt that forcing ourselves to sit down and create an outline was useful. It laid all of my ideas out on one page so I could see what the final report might look like. In addition, the progress report forced me to sit down and set deadlines for specifics – interviews, surveys, drafts, reviews – everything I needed. It really shows how powerful organization can be!
There is still a lot of work to be done, but I feel more prepared for the next unit now that I have completed most of the planning. Below you can find a copy of my revised formal report proposal, as well as a link to the peer review of the original report.
Bye for now!
301 Kevin Lapeyre Formal Report Proposal v1.1
301 Kevin Lapeyre Peer Review of Formal Report Proposal (by Ying Ying Choi)