Office Correspondence

Office correspondence is the exchange of communication in a written or

digital form between two or more parties. Correspondence may be internal or inside
the organization and external or outside the organization. Internal correspondence
promotes understanding between the members and the departments of the
organization. External correspondence promotes the image of the organization and
clarifies its policies to another organization or firm. An office correspondence is
done for several reasons such as giving notice to the office, giving notice to the
employee, and giving instructions or orders.

What are the Different Forms of Office Correspondence?

The three common forms of office correspondence are:

a) Business Letters are one of the most common forms of office correspondence.
It needs to be crisp and succinct rather than creative since there is an
assumption that the recipient has limited time to read it.
b) A memo or memorandum is used in internal correspondence that aims to
communicate to a large group of employees.
c) E-mails are the digital correspondence and commonly used among
companies.
The other forms office correspondence are text messages, voice mails, notes, and
postcards.
Parts of a Business Letter
a) Heading possesses the contact in formation of the applicant such as the
name, mailing address, mobile number, and e- mail,
b) Date is when the letter is written.
c) Inside address possesses four lines. The first line is for the recipient’s name
(with honorifics); the second line is for the recipient’s position; the third line
is for the company’s name; and, the last line is for the company’s address.
d) Salutation is a polite greeting. It is recommended to write ‘Dear Mr./Ms.’ And
the recipient’s last name.
e) The body must be divided into three paragraphs. The content depends on
the types of business letter you are writing but conciseness must be
observed at all times.
f) Complimentary close is the polite closing using the formal language such as
sincerely, respectfully, and others.
g) The signature must be hand-written above the printed name of the applicant

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Formats of Business Letters
a) Block format is the most common format where the entire letter is left
justified and singles spaced except for a double space between paragraphs.
b) Modified block format has the heading, inside address and the body left-
justified and single-spaced. The date and the closing tab are at the center.
c) Semi- block format is like block format but each paragraph is indented.

Types of Business Letter

 Acknowledgement letter
 Complaint letter
 Cover letter
 Follow-up letter
 Inquiry letter
 Order letter
 Recommendation letter
 Resignation letter
 Sales letter

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 Visit the links below to learn more about writing business letters:
https://writingcenter.unc.edu/tips-and-tools/business-letters/

Parts of a Memorandum
a) The header must have a label memorandum, so the readers are informed
well. It must also have the general format:
TO:
FROM:
DATE:
SUBJECT:
b) The first paragraph must give the overview of the memo to the readers. It
must clearly state the purpose since memos are meant to be direct and brief.
c) The second paragraph should give the context or the problem concerning the
memo.

d) The third paragraph should give the task or the request to the recipient. It
must state how you expect the recipients to react to the message.

Sample Memo:

MEMORANDUM
DATE: February 16, 2021

TO: All New Employees

FROM: Sharon Santos, Human Resource Officer

SUBJECT: General Meeting

I am writing to inform you that there will be a general meeting on Friday, February 19,
2021 at 1PM in the AVR.

The meeting will serve as an orientation for new employees about the company’s
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mission, vision, rules and regulations, reward system, and incentives. In addition, the
employee’s rights will also be discussed for your welfare.
Prepare a notebook and a pencil for notetaking. Snacks will be provided for all the

Visit the links below to learn more about writing memos:

https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/how-write-memo

Parts of an Email
a) The subject line should convey the purpose of the email to the recipient.
b) The salutation or greeting should use the title and the last name of the recipient.
c) The body must not be lengthy to convey the message appropriately.
d) The closing must be polite to show professionalism.
e) The signature of the sender must be imbedded together with his/her title and
contact information.
Parts of an Email Address
Sample email address: Juandelacruz@gmail.com
a) The first part of the email address is the username.
b) The second part is the ‘@’ symbol that separates the username and the mail
server.
c) The third part is the mail server or the organization that hosts the server where
the e-mails go.
d) The fourth part is the TLD or the Top- Level Domain that is combined with the
mail server to make the user’s domain. The six common top-level domains are:
 .com-company
 .edu- educational institution
 .gov- government institution
 .org- organization
 .net- network
 .mil- military
Things to Avoid in Writing an E-mail?
a) Using emojis is prohibited in composing e-mails to promote professionalism.

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b) Creative font styles like Jokerman and Comic Sans must be avoided to avoid
distractions, so stick to traditional font styles such Arial and Calibri.
c) Do not overuse bold and italics for clarity and neatness of the e-mail.
d) Do not type the message in upper case to avoid drawing negative impressions.

Visit the links below to learn more about writing e-mails

https://reference.yourdictionary.com/resources/basic-parts-of-an-email-message-
and-address.html