WORKPLACE DOCUMENTS

This page presents workplace documents related to business and academic life. There is a short description and some examples attached to each document type. The list of documents appears in an alphabetical order.

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For Business and Academic Life

Academic essay

In essence, an academic essay has to provide an answer to a question. The essay usually involves an argument and a critical examination of the topic. The structure and organisation of the text are fairly formal so that the reader is able to follow the development of the topic.

Agenda

An agenda consists of a list of topics to be discussed in an upcoming meeting. Agendas are usually distributed to the participants in the meeting beforehand.

Sample coalition business meeting agenda (pdf)

Annotated bibliography

An annotated bibliography consists of a list of sources, such as books and articles. It includes a brief description and critical evaluation of each of them. The purpose of an annotated bibliography is to inform the reader about the relevance and quality of the listed sources.

Memorandum

Memos are used most often in office settings. They are brief, informative and persuasive documents communicating technical or administrative information. Memos also provide the basis for the documentation of an organisation's actions.

Minutes

Minutes are a written report of a particular action in an organisation, such as a meeting. The previous meeting's minutes are usually reviewed at the beginning of the following meeting.

Sample minutes (pdf)
Guidelines for writing the minutes accompanied by a sample (pdf)

Press release

A press release is a written communication directed at the news media. Its purpose is to announce something that presumably has news value.

Sample press release

Professional e-mail

A professional e-mail might be addressed to potential employers, business associates, colleagues, university staff, etc.
In order to achieve a respectable and credible tone in a message, one should use correct spelling and grammar. In addition, avoiding the use of emoticons is advisable.

E-mail etiquette and an example of a professional e-mail message (pdf)

Project proposal

Writing a project proposal helps to clarify the aim and objectives of the project. It often includes the work plan, timetable, tentative outcomes, budget, etc.

Report

Reports are standard documents in all organisations. They are written to communicate factual, descriptive information on survey results, for example. Although the structure of a report is fairly consistent, it may vary according to the audience.

Summary abstract and conference abstract

A summary abstract is a short description of a research found at the beginning of a research paper. The purpose of a summary abstract is to describe the aims, methods, results and finally the main conclusions of a research in a clear and concise manner.

Conference abstracts differ from summary abstracts, because their purpose is to 'market' your expertise. They are, thus, intended to both inform conference organisers of an ongoing study and to convince them to accept your abstract proposal as a valuable contribution for the conference. They often include a description, an analysis of the data and an evaluation of the worth of the research. The list of accepted abstracts is distributed to the conference participants.

Technical documentation and user documentation

Technical documentation includes the description of mechanical systems or technical processes, and it is written for experts in a specific field. User documentation, on the contrary, is written for a large audience of users of a particular product or a programme.

Theses: thesis and dissertation

Theses are academic documents that can be described as extended research reports. A thesis or a dissertation is written in order to obtain a master's or a doctor's degree, for instance.

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