Why this matters
Your analysis competes for attention with phone calls, meetings and emergencies. A manager in Accra or a programme lead in Tamale may give your report two minutes. If the answer is not clear in those two minutes, the work is wasted, however good the statistics. Writing a clear decision summary is one of the most valuable skills a data scientist has.
Answer first
School essays build up to a conclusion. Decision writing does the opposite: put the answer in the first sentence, then support it. A useful structure:
- The answer: one or two sentences with the recommendation.
- Why: the two or three pieces of evidence that matter most.
- How sure: the uncertainty in plain words, with a range.
- What could go wrong: limitations and risks.
- Next step: what you suggest doing, and when.
Translate numbers into consequences
"The model's ROC AUC is 0.71" means nothing to most readers. "If officers call the 200 borrowers the model ranks highest, they will reach about half of those likely to be late, compared with about a quarter if they call 200 at random" is something a manager can act on. Use units people care about: cedis, bags of maize, visits, children reached.