QSO 680 Executive Summary Guidelines and Rubric Overview: Every business report, white paper, and article over a certain length requires some sort of summary, that is, an executive summary or abstract. Quite often, busy executives rely heavily on the executive summary of a long report to give them the information they need. The purpose of a summary is to highlight the main points of the report, the findings, and the recommendations. Prompt: Write a one-page executive summary of your program report. Specifically, the following critical elements must be addressed:
? The executive summary highlights the main points, key findings, and recommendations of the program report.
? The executive summary uses tone and language appropriate for the specified audience.
? The executive summary is clear and concise.
? The executive summary uses visual cues (graphs, tables, charts, bullet points, headings) appropriately to communicate the message. Guidelines for Submission: Your paper must be submitted as a one-page Microsoft Word document with double-spacing, 12-point Times New Roman font, and one-inch margins.
Critical Elements Proficient (100%) Needs Improvement (75%) Not Evident (0%) Value
Main Points, Key Findings, and
Recommendations
Executive summary highlights main points, key findings, and recommendations of the program report
Executive summary highlights some but not all main points, key findings, and recommendations of the program report
Executive summary does not highlight main points, key findings, and recommendations of the program report
20
Audience Executive summary uses tone and language appropriate for specified audience
Executive summary mostly uses tone and language appropriate for specified audience but reflects some gaps in judgment
Executive summary does not use tone and language appropriate for specified audience
20
Clear and Concise Executive summary is clear and concise Executive summary has areas that are not clear and/or concise
Executive summary is not clear or concise
20
Visual Cues Executive summary uses graphs, charts, tables, bullet points, headings, and other visual cues to help communicate ideas
Executive summary uses graphs, charts, tables, bullet points, headings, and other visual cues, but they are used inappropriately or inaccurately
Executive summary does not use visual cues
20
Articulation of Response
Submission has no major errors related to citations, grammar, spelling, syntax, or organization
Submission has major errors related to citations, grammar, spelling, syntax, or organization that negatively impact readability and articulation of main ideas
Submission has critical errors related to citations, grammar, spelling, syntax, or organization that prevent understanding of ideas
20
Total 100%
Applied
