Start of the final quarter of the financial year means it’s time to get real about planning the production of everyone’s favourite corporate document, the Annual Report.
While the accountants crunch their numbers, creatives will be hard at work capturing the story behind the data.
Producing an annual report used to be the least favourite task on the list. Until we discovered the “secret formula.”
And once you have perfected the Annual Report, stay tuned for more ideas on what to do to share the story with your audience and stakeholders.
Want to be in the know? Here it is.
- Set up a project leadership group (aka your authorising team or A Team): Ask your CEO to be the project sponsor. Recruit your CFO plus your Head of HR, Risk Management and Sustainability. This team should approve information for appropriateness.
- Establish a project working group (aka your researchers): Invite your brightest and most enthusiastic brainiacs. Anyone who wants the opportunity to step up. Task them with collating accurate information.
- Send out a survey to your management team to gather quantitative data: send it early July and allow for plenty of time for them to collate the data. This is when you really want to be sure the information is right. YoY information is best to exemplify consistency or improvement.
- Go beyond the numbers: scour internal and external newsletters, speeches, media releases, Board reports and Executive reports for titbits of information. Sort the information into monthly categories then quarterly folders.
- Craft a compelling story, the whole story: back-up quant data with qualitative data. Choose your top influencers to write 150 words on their proudest or most challenging moment of the year.
- Embrace any challenges (don’t hide them): life doesn’t always work out as planned. Be transparent and explain what you will do differently next time.
- Know your circle of influence: a stakeholder mapping exercise is a great tool to demonstrate levels of influence and interest for your organisation. Who did you partner, collaborate with, represent, advocate for…
- Celebrate good times! Who succeeded with achieving their professional development goals, who finished certificates or spoke at a conference. And vale. Remember those who contributed and have been lost. Memorials say a lot about the corporate culture.
- Photos! High quality jpegs are best. Lots of them. Dated and captioned. We love corporate photographers. If your budget doesn’t stretch that far, there’s a handy device in your pocket that can take great snaps. Make sure you have talent approvals. Infographics and illustrations also add depth to your document. And if you are creating an online version – carousels and short-form videos.
- Trust your designer: if you have ever worked with someone who asked you to fill all the white spaces, you will get this one. Your designer is the expert in presenting the information. Let them.