Executive summaries, also called briefings, flood our lives: They're in our mailboxes at school, on our desks, on our classroom walls. They're in our homes, too; the mail brings some everyday, and they're printed on our bottles, our pillows, and our appliances.
Everyone, it seems, wants to brief us about something: The principal wants to brief us on the dress code and gum violations, and the fire marshal wants to brief us about getting us out of a classroom in case of an emergency. Salesmen have solutions for us; politicians want our vote; and shampoo makers, pillow producers, and hair-dryer manufacturers want to brief us on using their products wisely.
These people know that we're busy and that reading all the dress-code rationale and policies concerning gum will simply take too long. Some of us won't do it. Some of us will put off reading it and possibly find ourselves unprepared for an emergency.
If it's short, we may read it.
Executive summaries are the short, focused pieces that say "This is what you need to know about _________, and this is what you should do." They often synthesize big issues and big ideas for readers who are in a hurry, under pressure, and/or not yet interested in the subject at hand.
In the world of business, briefings are often called executive summaries because the quickly summarize the information necessary to make an executive decision.
Your task will be to complete the following four sections:
Introduction: A statement of purpose. The purpose of the report quickly orients the reader about information that’s been gathered and its significance.
Issue: A brief synthesis of the situation. Depending on the situation, this information may have been gathered through observation, survey, interviews, and/or review of printed documents. The most important points are presented in clear, crisp language. In other words, this is the section in which you explain your introduction in more detail. The seriousness will be shown through comments, statistics, and graphs.
Discussion: An outline of the criteria for choosing a course of action, along with the most promising options. In other words, this is the section in which you describe a possible solution.
Conclusion/Recommendation: A recommendation about the actions to be taken, along with the rationale.
Issue: A brief synthesis of the situation. Depending on the situation, this information may have been gathered through observation, survey, interviews, and/or review of printed documents. The most important points are presented in clear, crisp language. In other words, this is the section in which you explain your introduction in more detail. The seriousness will be shown through comments, statistics, and graphs.
Discussion: An outline of the criteria for choosing a course of action, along with the most promising options. In other words, this is the section in which you describe a possible solution.
Conclusion/Recommendation: A recommendation about the actions to be taken, along with the rationale.
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