Basically, technical report and general report are both reports. But as we know, the devil is in the details, and there are actually quite different from one another. In this article, let’s try and figure out how exactly.

Technical Report

A technical report is a document that contains information on the process, progress, or results of technical research, and it also describes recommendations and conclusions of the research.

It doesn’t describe sales, marketing or other non-technical matters. Technical reports resemble technical documentation in some ways; they also should be clear and easy-to-interpret. A reader should not need to ask for further information — tech report should cover ALL information, especially technical facts on a subject.

Nowadays, technical reports, as well as technical documentation, are published using an online documentation tool. As technical reports can be internal and/or external, you can create both these types in one tool. For example, I use ClickHelp, and I can create internal and external documentation right there using different publication visibility modes:

Guidelines on Creating Tech Report

• International standard provided guidance on the preparation of technical reports that are published and archived on paper.
• The Grey Literature International Steering Committee (GLISC) established in 2006 published guidelines for the production of scientific and technical reports.

General Report

A general report is a document that contains information on outcomes, results, and efficiencies, and other things that are directly related to the companies/groups success. It is written for a broad audience by means of plain language.The target audience can be members of your department, managers or your CEO. It’s also supposed to include facts but they are not technical. General reports can also be created using a help authoring tool.

Technical Report vs General Report

The main difference between a technical report and a general report is that tech reports are supposed to be technical, and general reports are the reports for everyone.

However, they also have some aspects in common. When you write any report:

• The high readability level is the main purpose.
• Use images, screenshots, illustrations to make information more readable.
• Use bullet or numbered lists to present information clearly.
• Mistakes are not possible.

More information on technical reports is here: ‘What is Technical Writing Report?’