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MEMORANDUM. What is a memo? A memo is: a hard-copy (sent on paper) document used for communicating inside an organisation usually short contains To, From, Date, Subject Headings and Message sections
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What is a memo? • A memo is: • a hard-copy (sent on paper) document • used for communicating inside an organisation • usually short • contains To, From, Date, Subject Headings and Message sections • does not need to be signed, but sometimes has the sender's name at the bottom to be more friendly, or the sender's full name to be more formal.
Defining Memos • Memos are company internal letters. (E-mail is taking over their function.) • Memos are more formal than e-mails, but less formal than business letters. • Originally used only in hard copy, they are now often processed electronically. • Memos vary in length. (Short memos serve as inter- or intra-office communication; long memos may serve as reports.)
Purpose: • Two mainpurpose: • They bring attention to problems and • They solve problems. • They accomplish their goals by informing the reader about new information like policy changes, price increases, or by persuading the reader to take an action, such as attend a meeting, or change a current production procedure.
Different Situations Requiring Memos There are mainly four purposes or situations that require writing memos. These are: • 1. Reporting on a routine matter. • 2. Reporting on an extraordinary matter. • 3. Requests. • 4. Reminders.
How to write a Memo HEADER • TO: (readers' names and job titles) • FROM: (your name and job title) • DATE: (complete and current date) • SUBJECT: (what the memo is about, highlighted in some way)
A 'To' section containing the name of the receiver. For informal memos, the receiver's given name; e.g. 'To: Andy' is enough. For more formal memos, use the receiver's full name. • A 'From' section containing the name of the sender. For informal memos, the sender's other name; e.g. 'From: Bill' is enough. For more formal memos, use the sender's full name.
A 'Date' section: To avoid confusion between the British and American date systems, write the month as a word or an abbreviation; e.g. 'January' or 'Jan'. • A Subject Heading: -- Provide a subject line that describes the topic and focus of your message -- Capitalize all major words except articles, prepositions, and conjunctions.
Formatting Memos(cont.) Sample Subject lines Vague: Energy Use Specific: Low-Cost Way to Reduce Energy Use Vague: Building Temperatures Specific: Effectiveness of Reducing Building Temperatures on Weekends
MEMO TO: All Employees FROM: Arthur Dahlquist, General Manager DATE: June 21, 2008 SUBJECT: Wide Area Telephone Service (WATS) Lines WATS lines were installed three years ago to give all employees easier telephone access to our customers and suppliers in other parts of the country. In fact, our company's growth rate has increased since then, and we attribute at least part of that growth to the new telephone system. As sales have increased, so have our telephone bills. But, over the past few months, those bills have been growing faster than sales. It seems that a few people have been using the long-distance lines to make personal calls. Such misuse of the WATS lines reduces our profits (and thus the amount available for profit sharing by all employees), and it ties up lines that are needed for business calls. Please do your part to keep our company profitable and healthy. If you absolutely must make a personal long-distance call during business hours, please charge it to your home phone. Your colleagues will appreciate your consideration.
Writing a Memo Introduction: • Purpose of Memo You should open with an introductory paragraph in which you introduce the purpose of the memo. You can open your memo with a sentence as simple as “the purpose of this memo is to…” Once you state the purpose, then you can move forward to the next section • Introduce the problem or issue in the first paragraph. Briefly give them the context behind the action you wish them to take. This is somewhat like a thesis statement, which introduces the topic and states why it matters. • Gives the reader a brief overview of what the memo will be about. Including the purpose of the memo will help clarify the reason the audience should read this document.
Writing a Memo Context: • the next section of your memo would be to describe the issue surrounding your memo.what you have done to better research the issue surrounding your memo. Include as much basic information as possible. • The context is the event, circumstance, or background of the problem you are solving. You may use a paragraph or a few sentences to establish the background and state the problem
Task Segment • One essential portion of a memo is the task statement where you should describe what you are doing to help solve the problem. If the action was requested, your task may be indicated by a sentence opening like, • "You asked that I look at...." • If you want to explain your intentions, you might say, • "To determine the best method of promoting the new fall line, I will...."
Writing a Memo Ending • Close the memo with a positive and warm summary. The memo’s final paragraph should restate the next steps to address the issue at hand. It should also include a warm note that reiterates the solidarity of the organization. You might write, "I will be glad to discuss these recommendations with you later on and follow through on any decisions you make." • You might end with something like, “We are excited about the expansion of this product line. We’re confident that this will grow our business and make this company a more sustainable business.” • This should generally be one to two sentences in length.
Sample Memo To: Mr xxx, Director Finance From: Mr xxx, Marketing Manager Date: June xx, 20xx Subject: Toll Plaza Tokens In compliance with your instructions (your memo of May, xx) our field sales staff has been regularly collecting and submitting the toll plaza tokens along with their field expense bills for monthly reimbursement. Over the last few days, an increasing number of sales staff has approached me stating that they are finding it somewhat inconvenient to keep collecting the small tokens. Some members of our sales staff use the toll plaza five to seven times a day. Given the frequency of use and the small size of toll tickets, you would appreciate the difficulty faced by the sales staff in keeping track of the tickets. Moreover, the low quality of paper used in toll tickets results in frequent wrinkling and soiling. May I request you to please permit me to arrange monthly cards for use at the toll plaza? I have checked with my staff and I believe that cards will not only be more convenient but will also be less expensive. I will be grateful for your kind approval. Thank you.
To sum up… Unless the memo is a brief note, a well-organised memo message should contain the following sections: • Situation - an Introduction or the purpose of the memo • Problem (optional) - for example: "Since the move to the new office in Kowloon Bay, staff have difficulty in finding a nearby place to buy lunch." • Solution (optional) - for example: "Providing a microwave oven in the pantry would enable staff to bring in their own lunchboxes and reheat their food." • Action - this may be the same as the solution, or be the part of the solution that the receiver needs to carry out; e.g. "we would appreciate it if you could authorise up to $3,000" • Politeness - to avoid the receiver refusing to take the action you want, it is important to end with a polite expression; e.g. "Once again, thank you for your support.", or more informally "Thanks". • Signature This is optional
Avoid • No salutations (such as ‘Dear …’) are required. • End with a ‘Thank you.’ • Sometime even a ‘Thank you’ is not required. • The signatures are affixed alongside the sender’s name/or job title given in the ‘From.’ • Use either ‘cc’ (literally meaning ‘carbon copy’) or ‘Copy to:’ in case of sending copies to other recipients. • If some documents accompany the memo, write ‘Attached:’ followed by the list of documents attached.
Avoid • Check for stylistic requirements with your job. Does the company that you work for have a standard form when it comes to writing memos? If so, is it downloadable? • Make sure that the body of the text is written in clear, concise and grammatically right language. • Do not use long and overly wordy sentences. Keep it simple. • Do not use a greeting or a salutation. You should simply go right into the subject of the memo. • Feel free to use bulleted lists and headings to convey your message. • Conclude the memo with any closing statements that may inspire the recipient to take action. • Mention any and all attachments at the end of the memo using the single word “Attachment.”
Date: Mon, 22 September 2008 From: Susannah Beech To: Metro Power Employees Subject: Coping tactics for technical failures • We all know the stress of racing toward a deadline and suddenly having your equipment fail. Here are a few suggestions to help you stave off—and cope with—technical equipment and systems failures when they do occur: • Stay cool. Tech failures are commonplace in business; your bosses and co-workers will understand. • Practice preventive maintenance. Use cleaning cloths and sprays regularly, keep liquids and foods away from sensitive keyboards and printers, and make sure systems are shut down when you leave at night. • For faster repair assistance, promptly report computer failures to Bart Stone, assistant director of information services, ext. 2238. • The last suggestion is perhaps the most important to keep your career on track. Lost tempers, violent outbursts, and rude language are threatening to co-workers, and could result in reprimands or other disciplinary action. So stay calm and make good use of technical support hotlines and assistance. • Ask your supervisor for a list of support numbers to keep handy. The next time you experience a technology glitch, you’ll be able to handle it as just another aspect of your business routine. • Susannah Beech, Human Resources Administrator
Characteristics of Effective Memos • Civilized: use courtesy • Concise: condense information • Coherent: use clear and logical structure • Compelling: use persuasive diction • Correct: follow conventions of quality writing
