Putting on a costume

I love Halloween…or any reason to dress up. This year, I was Little Red Riding Hood (with my rescue dog, Lucky, starring as best supporting actor). In years past, I’ve reinvented myself for a night as Mary Poppins, a spider, a cat, and a tired mother to a newborn (twice).

Last Monday, before donning my red cape, I spent the day preparing for my first project of the 2022/23 sustainability reporting season. Just like it’s hard to pull together a costume the day of Halloween, it makes sense to do some prep work before starting to write a sustainability report.

For me, that means putting on the “costume” of the reporting entity. It means digging through previous years’ reports, identifying their tone of voice, and reviewing any stylistic preferences. It means looking at what their competitors are doing and the SASB standards for their industry.

Over time, I’ve formalized this process, so now I have a template that I use for every project. This master sheet contains all important information at a glance, from contact details to the chosen reporting framework(s) to deadlines. And I’ll have this piece of paper next to my keyboard as I start writing (I’ll pop a copy in the comments for anyone else who might be interested).

Also on my desk? Plenty of many mini-Snickers and Skittles that I’ve hidden to power me through the first draft. Don’t tell the kids.