One of my first annual reports was as a new team member in an industry I didn’t know well. That meant I asked lots of questions to be able to understand  things well enough to write about them or edit existing text. By questioning, I showed others how jargon-biassed they were (despite best intentions to make things simple for their readers) and how an outsider can produce a better result.

An outside writer can do a great job on an annual report as long as they can work with a team form the business so technical and business expertise are worked in with clear communications.

From where I sit (and I read a lot of AR when doing research on prospective clients — or to develop specialized glossaries), an AR can be a pretty accurate reflexion of a company’s culture. Does it mesh with the mission/vision statements? Does the company seem to “walk the talk”?

We may be in an era of instant communications with stakeholders through social media. But what is printed lasts.

Having worked on ARs as an inhouse communicator and as a freelance writer success is about allowing plenty of time to get the key messages of each AR right, and to allow everyone involved in the process to understand these messages in good time.

In writing and editing as a hired gun, I know that a solid brief will do much to avoid the hazard of losing your organisation’s edge and differentiators.

Likewise it is critical that the AR project is fully owned by someone in the organisation. Too often it falls into a gap somewhere between comms, finances and executive, and ends up being a corporate hot potato rather than the essential document it is.

The benefits of having someone who is not as close to the organisation, who can see things with a perspective closer to that of shareholder, media, layperson, should outweigh the danger of an unsupervised outsourced writer taking the AR in new and unhelpful directions.

ARs are a lot of work but, done well, they are intrinsic to building successful organisations and have a much longer life than most other communications pieces.

I’d be interested to know if you agree with Catherine that, “the annual report is the keystone of your stakeholder communication”.

Do you think this is only true for publicly listed companies?

I’ll bullet list some, if that’s OK — it’ll reign me in from writing a book on this

Bringing your linguist in at the start of the project ensures:

- Thinking “international” and “intercultural” from the outset, which:
a) Avoids the use of untranslatable terms and expressions
b) Ensures that the source copy will be well-received by non-native speakers of that language who are from another culture
c) Determines what needs to be adapted for foreign copy and what does not (mandatory local requirements differ – do you need to translate everything?)
d) Ensures the graphic design and visuals are appropriate for foreign audiences

- Allows your foreign language pros to have the same degree of understanding about the company’s stakes, goals, strategy,identity and *voice* as the rest of the team, which
a) Lets them see the big picture (“context” is a professional translator’s absolute favorite word)
b) Advise the company on the best way to communicate these key messages to foreign cultures and stakeholders whose communication styles and information requirements can differ significantly (ex: high context v. low context cultures)
c) Adapt the structure of the foreign language version to those foreign norms
d) Help the source language writers communicate clearly (often, a source text is improved thanks to the translator’s requests for clarification — when that happens at the tail-end of the project, then what? Let the source text remain unclear or reprint?)

- Reduces the number of project phases

Professional translators partner with their clients and play an important advisory role. Their deep understanding of both the source language and culture and the target language and culture enables them to add value to corporate communication endeavors and promote (and protect) a company’s image internationally.

Have you guessed? This is a topic I’m rather passionate about

I’d add one important aspect.

Many international companies need to produce their AR in two or more languages – a PR opportunity that should be leveraged. Reputations are not a monolingual affair!

Typically, the translation phase is tagged on at the end of the project. While weeks (months?) will have been spent getting the source text just right, adapting it to another language with its own culture, targets and objectives, rarely benefits from the same level of commitment. The end result is often sub par.

Bringing your translator(s) – better yet, your foreign language copy writer(s) – in at the start of the word food chain and integrating them into your project team is critical.

The benefits are clear and include:
- Native copy is superior to the best translation.
- A document’s “translatability” is no longer an issue.
- Translation pitfalls are avoided.
- Project phases are reduced, saving precious time (and thus money).