Writing a Summary for a Report

You may be used to writing a summary at the end of your papers, but a report also needs a summary that comes at the very beginning of the document. This summary has three purposes

1. To provide a complete overview of your document for a decision maker who will not read the rest of the report.
2. To provide an overview of your document for all readers.
3. To establish your credibility as the report writer.

All reports or proposals, no matter how short, should have a summary. This summary is separate from the background or problem section. The summary provides an overview of the entire report (problem, research, conclusions, recommendations, and benefits). The background section only frames the problem. In extremely brief reports, the summary and background section may be merged, but such a merger is rare.

What defines a good summary is that every element of the report is there in brief: the problem, your research, what you learned, what you recommend, the cost/implementation, and the benefits. The measure of a good summary is that the decision maker can read it without reading the rest of the report and make a decision.

Your summary may be an untitled paragraph at the beginning of the letter or memo; it may be titled section "Summary" or "Summary of Conclusions and Recommendations" and run two to three paragraphs; or in long, important reports, your summary may be a separate letter or memo attached to the report and called an executive summary to make executives feel good about reading it.

As a starting point, think of your summary as an untitled paragraph that comes before your background section. Do not use the subheads in this handout. They are for your benefit only. If your situation dictates, you can then complicate (or simplify) this pattern.

The Elements of a Summary

Because a good summary provides an overview of your report in one or two paragraphs, its exact contents will vary from project to project. In general, however, a summary has the following components: The context of the report, your research, your results, conclusions and recommendations, and your budget/implementation plans/benefits. If it sound like you write your entire report in one paragraph, you've got the idea.

Context
Always start a summary with the context of the report. You can do this in one of three ways.

The Problem
Your summary may start with a one sentence statement of the problem that is motivating you to write the report. This strategy works best when you are initiating the topic of the report and you need to foreground the problem. Boil the problem down to one sentence or perhaps two: one sentence about the problem and one sentence about the consequences of the problem to the organization. Do not use the word "problem" in this sentence. State the specifics.

Purpose
This is the strategy recommended in our book. It foregrounds your purpose for writing and can be very effective, particularly in small groups where there is a high familiarity with you and your the topic.

Occasion
The occasion is the event or events that motivated you to write the report. You often use this strategy when you are functioning as a consultant or when you have been given an assignment. This starting point will often consist of two sentences one on the request, the other on the reason for the request.

Try writing one of each: a sentence: problem, purpose, and occasion and see which seems to make the best starting point for your report.

Research
The next sentence in the summary should describe what you have done in response to the problem. The linkage between problem/occasion/purpose and research should be immediately clear. If it is not, that is a symptom of problems with the report. If you are doing a feasibility study, you will usually present your alternatives in this section.

Results/Conclusions/Recommendations
In one to three sentences describe what you learned and what you recommend.

Budget/Implementation/Benefits
End the summary with the ending points of your report, whatever they may be. Not more than one to three sentences. Usually you include budget, implementation, and benefits.