Most importantly, it needs to stand alone.Īlthough highly important, don’t overthink your executive summary. Remember, you want your board members to fully understand the core information from reading the executive summary alone, not the complete report. You’ll most certainly leave out key information if you write the executive summary before compiling the full board report.
It’s not a title page or introduction, it’s a succinct recap of the full board report.
Make sure to create the executive summary after finishing your board report. Typically, an executive summary reinforces the goals or purpose of the report, spotlights the most critical points, and recommends action items for the full board to address. Long, wordy paragraphs or unimportant information will turn off board members, and potentially derail the entire meeting or prevent you from accomplishing the meeting’s top objectives. Try to keep it to a page, and only include the most high-level information your board members need to know for the specific meeting. Either way, you want to structure the executive summary so it’s concise and easy to digest.
Some boards use digital board management software with pre-built templates when writing an executive summary for a (board) report, while others still rely on paper board books. Just follow this guide, and use the included template to inform your executive summary. Whether you’re a seasoned board administrator or you’re nervously putting together your first board report, you may be wondering how to structure your executive summary, and that’s OK.
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