The output of the final phase of formulation is a project document which enables the sponsoring and funding agencies to evaluate the project's eligibility for approval and assistance. Creation of a document outline is the first step. This means deciding how to present on paper the large amount of information the formulation team wishes to communicate and organizing the actual writing of this material. An appropriate report structure (list of contents) first needs to be selected, possibly with the help of Information Pyramiding (Tool No. 23).
Next, a physical format or layout for the words, figures, diagrams and maps that will appear in the report must be chosen and Visual Impact (Tool No. 24) can be of guidance here. The final task in the creation of a document outline is to decide who will write what and by when.
It is important that the report is well written. Poor report writing can waste months of careful field work and first-rate analysis. Useful guidelines for effective report writing are to be found in Five Principles of Good Writing (Tool No. 25), Writing with Purposeful Selectivity (Tool No. 26) and Writing with Total Focus (Tool No. 27). The submission and presentation of the project report to the sponsoring agency, the final step in Phase 5, marks the end of the project formulation process.