The report the boss will read
A fake invoice email fooled a clerk on Monday. By Tuesday the problem was fixed. On Wednesday the director asks: what happened, and will it happen again?
A good report answers in one page. A bad one hides the answer under technical words.
By the end of this lesson
Note
I can write an incident report with the seven parts a manager expects.
Key words
| Word | What it means |
|---|---|
| Incident report | a record of what happened, what it cost and what to do next |
| Executive summary | a short overview for managers, with few technical details |
| Exception report | a report that warns managers of a problem before it grows |
| Mitigation | an action that lowers harm or the chance of harm |
| Ongoing risk | a danger that is still there after the incident |
| Recommendation | a suggestion to stop it happening again |
| Personal data | any information about a living person |
The cells students fill in are left blank in this preview.
Starter
Have a go
Starter
3 questionsYour answers are marked here and are not kept. A college account keeps every student’s marks.
An incident report has seven parts
Managers do not read every line. A standard shape lets them find what they need. The report holds seven parts, in this order.
First an executive summary. Then discovery, investigation, impact, mitigation, recommendations and ongoing risks.
The seven parts
| Part | It says | Example for the fake invoice |
|---|---|---|
| Executive summary | A short overview with few technical details | A fake invoice fooled one clerk. No money was lost. |
| Discovery | How the incident was found | The clerk told the service desk on Monday at 9:40. |
| Investigation | What was done to find the facts | We checked the mail logs and the clerk's computer. |
| Impact | The effect on the business | One computer was offline for two hours. |
| Mitigation | The actions taken | The link was blocked and the password changed. |
| Recommendations | Ways to stop a repeat | Run a short training session on fake invoices. |
| Ongoing risks | Dangers still outstanding | Two other clerks got the same email. |
The cells students fill in are left blank in this preview.
Check: the right order
Have a go
Check: the right order
3 questionsYour answers are marked here and are not kept. A college account keeps every student’s marks.