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There are various different formats for laboratory reports in use. These vary according to the type of work being reported, the purpose of the work or the report and the recipients for which the report is intended. Reports of original research conducted to further scientific knowledge in a specific area require a different format from reports of quality control experiments conducted in a company laboratory and yet other formats may be required for student reports on experiments. A student may be expected to follow one format for recording experiments in a laboratory record book as they are being performed and a different format when writing up the information from the record book for a formal laboratory report later in the term. The format may also vary due to differences in the type of laboratory work which is done for the different subjects. Where the purpose of the experiment is to confirm or reject a hypothesis, the format of the report will differ from that of an investigation of the quality, composition or properties of a product. The purpose of most student laboratory reports is to indicate the students’ understanding of aim, theory, laboratory procedures, etc., so would be emphasized in a format prescribed for these reports.

Finally, if the report is to be submitted to a lecturer, the format may be substantially different from that of a report submitted for publication in a professional journal, while a different format might be expected in a report to a government, an agency or private company. An obvious way in which laboratory report formats differ is the division of the report into sections. Whereas all laboratory reports can be thought of as consisting of four main parts (introduction, procedure, results and conclusion), there is considerable variation in the headings under which the information in each section of the report is to be written. Some of these headings may have an equivalent meaning: apparatus = materials, procedure = methods, data = results. In other cases, more specific headings are added where there is a need to draw attention to specific information in the report.

Example of the Form of a Report

1. Title needs to emphasize the nature of the work / investigation briefly (in less than 10 words) and accurately. This may also be called the Heading in a laboratory record book. State the date of performing the experiment.

2. Aim or Objective. This may be used in the place of the heading: Introduction. It is used to state clearly and concisely the purpose of the work.

3. Theory emphasizes the need to identify the background theory leading up to the experiment or the theory which the experiment is designed to illustrate or prove. This may also include a brief literature review to provide the status of current knowledge in the field.

4. Hypothesis – The hypothesis should be identified where the work is based on previous findings or involves the application of established theory to new situations. Note, however, that not all laboratory work is necessarily concerned with the testing of hypothesis.

5. Apparatus or Materials emphasize the need of the apparatus to be used and the way it is set up. It states the order of all steps to be taken.

6. Procedure or Methods emphasize the need to provide a step-by-step account of how the work was done, a separate heading may be used. This could be important to assess later a quality of investigation. It may include reference to a specific ISO or internationally accepted laboratory standard procedure.

7. Diagrams. A separate heading in the Procedure section devoted to diagrams or photographs emphasises the importance of presenting this information in a clear, concise form rather than written form.

8. Measurements or Results emphasize the importance of reporting specific readings or other observations as they were taken and to record results or outcomes with dates and signatures in order to provide evidence for possible future filing of a patent or intellectual property protection. In this step you take measurements, produce tables and give a relevant sample calculation of how you obtained the final results.

9. Graphs emphasize the need to present an overall summary of the results in a visual form. Data would be presented in tables whereas Graphs would show the relationships between the data and possible trends in a clear, easily read form.

10. Discussion or Results – It is one of the most important parts of the report as here you explain, analyse and interpret the results leading to conclusion. It shows the writer’s understanding of the concepts behind the data. If any differences with the Hypothesis or Objectives occurred explain the reason.

11. Conclusion – The purpose of the Conclusion is to discuss questions arising from the report and make suggestions for further work.

12. References – Here you state the information that has been obtained from textbooks, reference books, articles, investigations, etc. and where these sources of information are mentioned in the text. These references are used as a source of information for background theory, previous findings on which this work is based, laboratory procedures, etc. The References are listed numerically at the end of the report to enable a reader to consult these works for further details.

Some owners have purchased multiple timeshares because they just don’t know how to say “No.” In fact, timeshare owners are more likely to purchase another timeshare than a non-buyer. It’s hard to even begin to comprehend how many timeshares a single couple might end up owning because of this apparent fear of the word “No.” So for the timeshare owner or non-owner alike, here is your best tip on how to say “No” at a timeshare presentation:

Request a copy of the timeshare contract for your lawyer.

If you ask for the timeshare contract for your lawyer to read and review, you’ll create an impasse. Timeshare sales people are trained to never let you remove any documentation from the presentation room. It might contradict what may have been said during your visit, and the length of many timeshare contracts is enough to scare off buyers. So more likely than not, you won’t get that copy you respectfully requested.

Regardless whether you get a copy or not, you’ll probably want to leave at this point. Yet the sales process has yet to go through the gauntlet of sales techniques used at these presentations. So be prepared for these timeshare sales people to stall or change the subject away from the requested documentation.

They may ask why you need it since there is a rescission period during which you can cancel your contract. You can respond by saying that you’d be more comfortable taking the contract to your lawyer, or that for large purchases at presentation-style sales meetings, you feel that its necessary to take precautions and get your lawyer involved before committing to a decision.

Don’t worry if you don’t really have a lawyer. If you feel guilty about fibbing to the timeshare sales people, just know that you probably know someone who knows a lawyer, or happens to be one and wouldn’t mind acting as your lawyer.

The beauty of this objection is that you aren’t really saying “No” to buying a timeshare, just that you want to take the time to investigate it properly. Sales people are trained to overcome “No” responses. They may even be able to overcome the “Take the documents out of the room” objection as well, but it’s definitely not as easy a task because it’s not heard as much as “I can’t afford it” or “I don’t take enough vacations.”

So keep this tip in mind the next time you find yourself at a timeshare presentation. Remember, if you REALLY want a buy a timeshare, purchasing a timeshare in the presentation room is the most expensive place to do it. Try your best to walk out of the room as soon as you can, but be prepared to stay a while. Even the most effective objection won’t get you through quickly.

Think of the areas within business that you negotiate.

Buying and selling products

Buying and selling services

Negotiating with your staff and team

Getting a pay rise

Having Part-time hours

Increasing head count

The list goes on.

In business you are constantly negotiating. Whether it is for goods or services or actually as a leader, persuading your team to follow your thoughts and directives in a persuasive manner. To be able to negotiate well could mean the difference between sinking and swimming. One thing for sure – it is likely to affect your bottom line.

The idea of this guide is to give you some basic principles in negotiation planning – now this does not fit all types of negotiation, but is trying to give you ideas before you buy and sell. We are going to look at it from your perspective and approach it from your style rather than a one size fits all training manual. Why? Because we are all different and have different needs and learning styles.

Most of us have negotiated all our lives. From the first time we screamed the house down demanding milk we have influenced people’s decisions.

Although this guide focuses more on business negotiation, this works on many aspects from booking hotels, training programmes, buying cars or antiques.

Preparation is a key element to any deal. Spending time developing this area is likely to be hugely beneficial in the long run.

The detail you require in planning depends on your needs – do you feel more comfortable with all the details you could possibly have or maybe a one-sheet summary be enough for you?

Once mastered, it ‘s great fun. Getting you some great deals not only to save but also create you money. The beauty of negotiation is it happens almost every day of our lives in some form or another so there’s plenty of time to practice!

What is negotiation? What does it mean to you?

To me, negotiation is to bargain, to reach an agreement ideally acceptable to both (or all) parties. The harder you negotiate, the more likely it is that you will tip the balance in your favour.

What you need to be aware of is tipping them so much that the other person jumps off the end and does not want to play anymore. In this case you have failed to create or indeed develop any long-term relationship and this may lead to difficult times ahead.

However, if you can justify what you are offering and make the other person feel happy with their lot (although maybe not skipping out of the room!!!), then you not only have created an effective deal for you, you may also be able to create bigger and better deals in the future (as well as some long lasting relationships).

The people you are negotiating with, for ease and a less them versus us approach, I am going to call the ‘other side,’ Team B.

The beginning
Without preparation and planning, our job will be infinitely more difficult. Preparation is universally agreed as the first stage of any negotiation. The other stages are:

PREPARE

DEBATE

PROPOSE

BARGAIN

AGREE

In a real negotiation you flit around in between all stages and rarely will you start at prepare and go through to agree without moving around.

At the first stage you can prepare so many things. Whether you are purchasing computer hardware or selling an advertising campaign this area is the cog of your wheel and influences ALL other areas.

Put yourself in the mindset of what do I need to do to get the deal that’s right for me?

To help you on your way with your list, here are just a few areas to think of:-

Details of the company you are trading with.

What can you have in advance of a negotiation that would be helpful?

What would be useful in the negotiation meeting to have right beside you?

Where can you get that information?

What is the Team B’s mission statement?

How can that help you in a negotiation?

Do you know anyone who has traded with them before?

Is their company prospectus of use, where can you get a copy?

How can you use the prospectus to your advantage?

How keen/desperate are they to trade? Maybe the prospectus will help you. What else could?

How are their competitors fairing? Are they offering deals?

Look at all the questions above with regards to their competitors.

Team B information
List the information to be sourced and where you can you get it? How can you use it to get the deal you want or at least be in control of the negotiation.

What do you want out of the Deal?
Ensure you have at least three ideas for outcomes.

Firstly your ideal outcome, a great deal for you, everything you want with all the bells and whistles (obviously to the point they will feel relatively happy with their outcome and you haven’t hacked them off so much they won’t send you a Christmas card ever again!)

Secondly an acceptable deal – OK you haven’t got everything but you’ve got more wins than losses and you can hold your head up high that you have the deal and you would be happy to trade with them again.

Thirdly – the bare minimum, what I call ‘the walk away rate.’ You need to be very sure of this as when it comes to the crunch you are prepared to ‘walk away.’

The thought of ‘can we afford to walk away’ may come in to play. If so, you need to be aware of this. If you can make sure you have an alternative to fall back on (i.e. a deal that you could do with someone else that can take the place of Team B’s offering if it’s not good enough). This is often called a BATNA – Best Alternative to a Negotiated Agreement.

Often people think there is no alternative but if you search hard enough you can often find one.

One companies solution (Team A) to a troubled negotiation was found when they felt there was no alternative. Their Team B – the sole provider of a certain item, felt they were in a dominant position as the market had no choice, found themselves coming unstuck at their aggressive and no compromise style.

If Team A had agreed to Team B’s offer they would have soon been out of business within three years. Their BATNA was to become a provider of the goods themselves and after a tough few years setting up, became strong competition against Team B!

Some hardened dealers will ask you early on ‘what’s your walk away rate?’ Be prepared for this and have your answer to hand. By this I don’t necessarily mean have a rate in mind but certainly have your answer to this.

List your three outcomes – ideal, good and acceptable. Do you have a BATNA?

Have you any easy-gives?

By this I mean things that have little or no value to you but could have a significant value to the other side. These could play a crucial role when it comes to the end of a negotiation when you are almost close to a deal.
For example:
If you work for a magazine have you got a front half page available and you need to sell it anyway – could you give them a positional upgrade.

If your selling a photocopier, have you still got some sample cartridges that you could include in the deal?

Although you are not breaking into a sweat by adding these in, it doesn’t mean you literally ‘give them away.’ If it’s valuable to Team B then make it special, it’s something to add in to get what you want and not to throw away lightly.

List your easy gives

Do they have things that you want, that you feel are easy gives
So what could Team B have that you would like as add-ins. Think of it from their perspective. If you have done your homework on their company you probably already have a good idea of this.

A couple of examples would be:
You are arranging a last minute dinner for some big clients. Has the restaurant the private room available in two weeks time? It’s unlikely someone will pay for it at this late stage so could you have it for free and even add in 3 bottles of wine. Think of how you could find out whether it is taken or not!!???! The restaurant could be very happy to fill the room that night and throw in some free wine, you are getting a good deal and the clients feel special because you are treating them like royalty!

You are buying a training package from a company and the course is £3000 they have quoted for 5 people. Can you send 6? Would you ask for 7 to settle on 6?

List their potential easy gives.

Preparation about the Meeting

Again list your areas that are important to you, however questions to think about:

Who is going from your company/side?

Who will be there from theirs?

The personalities of the people concerned and their relative seniority.

Where will the meeting be held?

Is there a good ‘home’ advantage?

What do you think they will want from the meeting/deal? If you have prepared well you are more likely to have an idea of this.

Opening Statement
Preparation can include your opening statement. The more you prepare beforehand the more time you have to concentrate on the nitty gritty of the negotiation.

What would be a great opening statement?

How could you take control of the meeting with what you first say?

Is it right to propose first? Does it feel right to you?

How would you feel if they proposed first?

Write your opening statement

Practice Anyone?
Some people really value a run through beforehand. Whether it is a pre-meeting to discuss what could come up, or asking a few colleagues who have not been involved to play Team B to gauge their reactions and maybe get a few helpful hints along the way. It’s also very useful so that you can see who best fits what role within the meeting.

The idea of this article is to give you a small insight into negotiation planning. Of course this is only a snapshot and many other ideas may be useful or indeed pertinent to your specific needs. However it is impossible to cover all types and all angles in a small guide. Added to this we haven’t even covered the negotiation itself!

Negotiation is a wonderful skill that can be developed and can save and gain you so much in business and in life.

Happy negotiating!