Communicating Results

The nature of audit work is to be methodical. That is our strength. We plan how to analyze whether services are efficient or effective, we execute the plan, we tie our analysis to the plan, and our report to the analysis. And then we write our report.

At that point, the fact we are methodical becomes our weakness. Readers, the public, management, and leadership do not want a recounting of how we got to our conclusions. They want to know what our conclusions are.

Not that they don't want to know that we methodically approached this work. They do. They rely on our professionalism. But they would prefer we keep the details to ourselves.

When writing a report, our job is to communicate clearly and effectively what the problem is, why it is occurring, and at what cost to the agency. To move to this level of communication is always a struggle. But it is our job.