MEMO

A memo (also known as memorandum, or ‘reminder’) is used for internal

communications regarding procedures or official business within an organization.
 A memorandum is a note or a record for future use. For an organization, it is very
important to have an efficient way of communication. It is an intraoffice tool having a
number of purposes. In simple words, a memorandum is a written message or
information from one person or department to another in the same business.
What are the features of a memorandum?
 - The memo carries the word MEMORANDUM on top of the page whereas a business
letter makes use of the company letterhead. ... - It is often short, running to a few lines.
Sometimes, it may be a few paragraphs long, though it rarely exceeds a page. ... -
It is less formal than a letter. It has no salutation at the beginning or at the end.
 Objectives of memo. The memo is a widely used form of written communication
for the business world. Memo serves a variety of purposes which are as under:
To use as future reference: memo is a written document. So the information can
be preserved here easily and can be used as a future reference. To give
permission: Top management gives ...

Once the primary form of internal written communication, memorandums have

declined in use since the introduction of email and other forms of electronic
messaging; however, being able to write clear memos certainly can serve you well
in writing internal business emails, as they often serve the same purpose.

Purpose of Memos
Memos can be used to quickly communicate with a wide audience something
brief but important, such as procedural changes, price increases, policy additions,
meeting schedules, reminders for teams, or summaries of agreement terms, for
example.

Writing Effective Memos

Communications strategist Barbara Diggs-Brown says that an effective memo
is "short, concise, highly organized, and never late. It should anticipate and
answer all questions that a reader might have. It never provides unnecessary or
confusing information."

Be clear, be focused, be brief yet complete. Take a professional tone and write as
if the world could read it—that is, don't include any information that's too
sensitive for everyone to see, especially in this age of copy and paste or "click and
forward."

Format
Start with the basics: to whom the article is addressed, the date, and the subject
line. Start the body of the memo with a clear purpose, state what you need the
readers to know, and conclude with what you need readers to do, if necessary.
Remember that employees may just skim the memo upon receipt, so use short
paragraphs, subheads, and where you can, use lists. These are "points of entry"
for the eye so the reader can refer back easily to the part of the memo that he or
she needs.

Don't forget to proofread. Reading aloud can help you find dropped words,
repetition, and awkward sentences.

Sample Memo About Print Schedule Change

Here is a sample internal memo from a fictional publishing company informing
employees about upcoming schedule changes due to a Thanksgiving holiday.
Production could also have sent separate memos to separate departments as well,
especially if there were more detail that each department needed and that
wouldn't pertain to the other departments.

To: All employees

From: E.J. Smith, Production Lead

Date: November 1, 2022

Subject: Thanksgiving Print Schedule Change

Production would like to remind everyone that the Thanksgiving holiday will
affect our print deadlines this month. Any hard-copy pages that would normally
go out to the printer via UPS on a Thursday or Friday during the week will need
to go out by 3 p.m. on Wednesday, November 21.

Ad Sales and Editorial Departments

 Make sure that anyone sending you text or images for publication won't be
on vacation the week of the 19th. Set deadlines earlier for anything coming
from outside. 
  Please know that internal photography and graphic designers will have
more work and less time to do it, so please route your work to the
appropriate department earlier than normal.
 Please do not send "rush" work later than November 16. Any short-
turnaround items needed Thanksgiving week cannot be guaranteed to be
completed by the earlier deadlines and must go through the scheduler's
desk for approval before being assigned. Be early instead.

Photography and Graphics Departments

 All members of the art department will be allowed to put in overtime

during November as needed to deal with the crunch of the start of the
holiday season and the earlier deadlines. 

Thank you in advance, everyone, for your help in getting materials in as early as
possible and your consideration for the production department staff.

Sample Memo About a Meeting

The following is a fictional memo to set up a meeting with members of a team
who are returning from a trade show.

To: Trade Show Team

From: C.C. Jones, Marketing Supervisor

Date: July 10, 2022

Subject: Trade Show Return Meeting

Upon your return to work Friday, July 20, from the trade show, let's plan a noon
lunch meeting in the east wing meeting room to go over how the show went. Let's
plan to discuss what worked well and what didn't, such as:

 Number of days in attendance

 Amount and types of marketing materials provided
 Booth displays
 How the giveaways were received
 The location of the booth and traffic at different times of day
 What sparked interest in passersby
 Booth staffing levels

I know that when you get back from a trade show you have a million things to
follow up on, so we will keep the meeting to 90 minutes or less. Please come
prepared with your feedback and constructive criticism on the marketing aspects
of the show. Existing-customer feedback and new customer leads will be covered
in a separate meeting with product and sales teams. Thank you for your work at
the show.

Source
Diggs-Brown, Barbara. The PR Styleguide.  3rd ed, Cengage Learning, 2012.

Once the primary form of internal written communication, memorandums have

declined in use since the introduction of email and other forms of electronic
messaging; however, being able to write clear memos certainly can serve you well
in writing internal business emails, as they often serve the same purpose.

Purpose of Memos
Memos can be used to quickly communicate with a wide audience something
brief but important, such as procedural changes, price increases, policy additions,
meeting schedules, reminders for teams, or summaries of agreement terms, for
example.

Writing Effective Memos

Communications strategist Barbara Diggs-Brown says that an effective memo
is "short, concise, highly organized, and never late. It should anticipate and
answer all questions that a reader might have. It never provides unnecessary or
confusing information."

Be clear, be focused, be brief yet complete. Take a professional tone and write as
if the world could read it—that is, don't include any information that's too
sensitive for everyone to see, especially in this age of copy and paste or "click and
forward."

Format
Start with the basics: to whom the article is addressed,

the date, and the subject line.

Start the body of the memo with a clear purpose, state what you need the readers
to know,
and conclude with what you need readers to do, if necessary. Remember that
employees may just skim the memo upon receipt, so use short paragraphs,
subheads, and where you can, use lists. These are "points of entry" for the eye so
the reader can refer back easily to the part of the memo that he or she needs.

Don't forget to proofread. Reading aloud can help you find dropped words,
repetition, and awkward sentences.

Sample Memo About Print Schedule Change

Here is a sample internal memo from a fictional publishing company informing
employees about upcoming schedule changes due to a Thanksgiving holiday.
Production could also have sent separate memos to separate departments as well,
especially if there were more detail that each department needed and that
wouldn't pertain to the other departments.

To: All employees

From: E.J. Smith, Production Lead

Date: November 1, 2018

Subject: Thanksgiving Print Schedule Change

Production would like to remind everyone that the Thanksgiving holiday will
affect our print deadlines this month. Any hard-copy pages that would normally
go out to the printer via UPS on a Thursday or Friday during the week will need
to go out by 3 p.m. on Wednesday, November 21.

Ad Sales and Editorial Departments

 Make sure that anyone sending you text or images for publication won't be
on vacation the week of the 19th. Set deadlines earlier for anything coming
from outside. 
 Please know that internal photography and graphic designers will have
more work and less time to do it, so please route your work to the
appropriate department earlier than normal.
 Please do not send "rush" work later than November 16. Any short-
turnaround items needed Thanksgiving week cannot be guaranteed to be
completed by the earlier deadlines and must go through the scheduler's
desk for approval before being assigned. Be early instead.

Photography and Graphics Departments

  All members of the art department will be allowed to put in overtime
during November as needed to deal with the crunch of the start of the
holiday season and the earlier deadlines. 

Thank you in advance, everyone, for your help in getting materials in as early as
possible and your consideration for the production department staff.

Sample Memo About a Meeting

The following is a fictional memo to set up a meeting with members of a team
who are returning from a trade show.

To: Trade Show Team

From: C.C. Jones, Marketing Supervisor

Date: July 10, 2018

Subject: Trade Show Return Meeting

Upon your return to work Friday, July 20, from the trade show, let's plan a noon
lunch meeting in the east wing meeting room to go over how the show went. Let's
plan to discuss what worked well and what didn't, such as:

 Number of days in attendance

 Amount and types of marketing materials provided
 Booth displays
 How the giveaways were received
 The location of the booth and traffic at different times of day
 What sparked interest in passersby
 Booth staffing levels

I know that when you get back from a trade show you have a million things to
follow up on, so we will keep the meeting to 90 minutes or less. Please come
prepared with your feedback and constructive criticism on the marketing aspects
of the show. Existing-customer feedback and new customer leads will be covered
in a separate meeting with product and sales teams. Thank you for your work at
the show.

Source
Diggs-Brown, Barbara. The PR Styleguide.  3rd ed, Cengage Learning, 2012.
123 Winner's Road
New Employee Town, PA 12345

March 16, 2001

Ernie English
1234 Writing Lab Lane
Write City, IN 12345

Dear Mr. English:

The first paragraph of a typical business letter is used to state the main point of the letter. Begin
with a friendly opening, then quickly transition into the purpose of your letter. Use a couple of
sentences to explain the purpose, but do not go in to detail until the next paragraph.

Beginning with the second paragraph, state the supporting details to justify your purpose. These
may take the form of background information, statistics or first-hand accounts. A few short
paragraphs within the body of the letter should be enough to support your reasoning.

Finally, in the closing paragraph, briefly restate your purpose and why it is important. If the
purpose of your letter is employment related, consider ending your letter with your contact
information. However, if the purpose is informational, think about closing with gratitude for the
reader's time.

Sincerely,

Lucy Letter