Memos. What is the first thing that comes to mind when you think of them? Normally, it would be the mode of communication that supervisors and higher-ups use to communicate to the personnel or staff or their employees. You may also like employee memo examples.
Well, that is more or less the function of a memo. But to understand better, a memo, short for memorandum (from Latin translation which means, “It must be remembered (that)…”), is a note, document, or other communication that helps the memory by recording events or observations on a topic such as may be used in a business office. You may also see company memo examples.
Memos these days are often communicated now through the use of email or even in the form of a printed paper. They are done so that every person can be addressed in that same instance without having the need repeat their instructions or announcement all over again. But take note that in writing a memo, there are still some steps that you still have to adhere by. Listed below are the steps and tips that can help you out.
For more details, please refer to memo writing examples if you think this may not be enough to help you.
Let us get something straight. Since memos are often used in business, it only seems fitting that the language you use is also proper and prim. Try to avoid casual language as much as possible.
Do so, and it simply reflects on how unprofessional you are as a manager, as the chief executive officer (CEO) or as a supervisor. Remember that you have to keep your personal and work life entirely separate. Maybe in social gatherings or company outings, but other than that, never mix the two together. Here are some examples on how proposal memos are being made.
One thing to note is that you have to avoid any emotional language as much as possible. Try to be objective as much as possible. Avoid being subjective.
If you are announcing that the company will have their annual company outing and you have not decided a place yet, you can simply say, “I would like to ask for your opinion on where you would want the Company Outing to be. Based on our budget, we can have Place A or Place B. Please place your votes according to your preferred choice of venue.” Because at the end of the day, everything should be based on facts and must be considered logical. For more insights, You may also check out professional memo examples.
Before even writing said memo, you have to think about whether it is actually needed or not. Because if it is simply small talk or nothing really major, then you can simply tell that to him in person without making a big deal out of anything.
One thing about writing memos is that you do not disclose too many details. That can be explained in the meeting that you are going to hold. If you think there are some matters that only the select group of people need to know about, then by all means send your memo via email. Think twice before sending a memo and ask yourself if it is really needed. Here are some examples of internal memos for your guide and reference.
As mentioned before, memos are written for the higher-ups to communicate with the employees. But there exists purpose as to why there are written in the first place. Here are some of these purposes. You may also see some examples on how decision memos are written.
Be specific. Do not tend to generalize things when writing a memo. For instance, you cannot merely say that there will be a meeting at 4:30 without really specifying as to what context.
But aforementioned, you do not need to be too specific either. After all, it will be discussed in the meeting. You can say that there will be a meeting at around 4:30 regarding the FIFA World Cup 2018 and who will be assigned to cover what. Be specific as to what you are going to share in the memo. Do not let them guess. Here are some examples of strategy memos that you can refer to in case you need further assistance in writing memos.
Next up would be to consider who you are writing for. As mentioned before, you are writing for people who are in the same company you are working for. So at the very least, consider being prim and formal when you communicate to your subordinates. Show respect and utmost courtesy and politeness to those under you and to your colleagues, workmates, among others. Here are some examples of executive memos that you can refer to for more examples and information.
The first step in writing your memo would be to actually label your memo. A good rule of thumb in this case would be to actually put the words “MEMO” or “MEMORANDUM” at the very center of the document or at least left-justified before hitting the edge of the paper. You may actually want to refer other formats and check out on how memos are written in the first place. For instance, you may want to discover on how financial memos are written.
Once you get the hang of writing memos, you will no longer need to read this guide further. But the next most important thing would be to place the heading of your memo. Here are the standard components of the memo’s heading. Take a look below to see. If you are looking for memo references, you may also want to refer to office memo examples to provide you with a better idea on how these memos are written.
Who are your recipients going to be? As mentioned before, once you place a memo on the bulletin board, everyone can see it. So unless it is going to be designated to everyone in the company, you can always choose to send the memo via email. If you send your memo via professional email, make sure the ones you send it to have a direct relation to the aforementioned issue.
There is no point in sending it to the people who are not involved in any way whatsoever. Unlike the hard copy of a memo, sending it the electronic way has these options: carbon copy (cc) and blind carbon copy (bcc) “cc” indicates those who are to receive a copy of a message addressed primarily to another. You may also like holiday memo examples.
The list of recipients in copy is visible to all other recipients of the message while “bcc” allows the sender of a message to conceal the person entered in the field from the other recipients (Interesting fact, this concept originally applied to paper correspondence). Here are some examples of research memos in case you find yourself writing this kind memo.
Always learn to place a boundary between your work life and your social life. It is never okay to mix the two up.
You can always be friendly to them after work or during social events, but in business communication, you have to learn on how to properly address your boss, supervisor, mentor, or even the higher-ups who are in charge. But it is imperative to always address them with the proper respect they deserve by placing their corresponding titles before their surname. Here are more examples of action memos for your reference.
There might be times that you may be asked to write an external memo to someone who has no association to the company whatsoever. Should that be the case, you have to properly research them on what particular title they carry and how you should properly address the person. There are always ways and means that you can inquire as to the title the person holds. You may also check out audit memo examples.
You just have to be creative. There is no need for you to practice in writing memos. You just need to familiarize yourself with the format and the components and you are actually good to go. Here are some debit memo examples that you can actually refer to for more information.
Now that you have an idea as to who you are addressing the memo to, it is high time for you to open the matter to be discussed with the parties concerned.
The first thing that people are going to check out whether in a physical hard copy of a memo or an electronic one would be the subject line. As you formulate your subject line, make sure that it is brief and contains context that the people reading it can understand on what you are trying to relay to them. Here are some more examples of management memos for reference.
Now, for the most important and significant part of the memo: the body. The body is where everything is going to be explained or elaborated regarding the matter or issue at hand. How are you going to arrange the said content of the body? By importance? Chronologically? No matter how you decide to organize the said memo, make sure that it is coherent and cohesive enough that everyone can easily comprehend it. Here are some examples on how student memos are written.
There are times that people do not wish to read memos simply because it is in paragraph form. There are different kinds of people in this world.
One of the ways in dealing with such trivial matters would be to simply write all the important and significant points in bullets to save time and ink. If you think that some of the bullet points might have to be elaborated a bit, you can expand in one or two sentences. If there is a way to shorten your message into points, do so. But if there is no need to because the content is rather short and does not need to be lengthy, then you can go ahead and write it in paragraph form. Here are some more examples of confidential memos.
Keep your memo short and simple. After all, all the rest of the details will be discussed sooner or later. Do not make it too long. One or two pages should suffice. Any more than that and it is not a memo anymore. It is a novel waiting to be submitted to the press (just kidding). Only say what needs to be said and nothing more. Here are some examples of business memos for your benefit.
Finally, learn to close the memo properly. Just like most stories, if there is a beginning, there should also be an ending. There are no cliffhangers in memos, no drama, nothing of the sort. One proper and formal way to close a memo would be like this: “Let me know if you have any questions,” or “Thank you and have a good day ahead.” There is no need to think about it too much. You may also refer to HR memos for more information and details.
You do not see signatures in memos. You see them in letters, you see them in some books, but never in memos. Although, there is no wrong in adding a signature in a memo whatsoever. But if you wish to be more personal and sign them, then why not? There is no one stopping you. Here are some examples of meeting memos that you might fin helpful and useful.
Some memos have attachments while some others do not. If your memo happens to have some attachments, it is best that you indicate it as such in the memo so that the concerned parties will know that they still have to read or check out the said attachment that was sent. You may also see interof?ce memorandum examples.
Now, before sending it or printing it, make sure that you proofread your memo first before anything else. Make sure that there are no grammatical errors present or problems with the structure or any aspect for that matter. Once you send it or even print it, it’s out there for everyone to see. Make sure that you have not missed anything that you wanted to say. Otherwise, you will have to print out or send in another memo. You may also like legal memo examples.
A major advantage of business memos is that they are inexpensive to create. Even when business people physically print the memo, doing so usually costs the company far less than it would to halt work entirely to have a formal meeting about what the memo addresses. If business people send the memo via email, the company also is able to communicate without having ink and paper expenses, and there is no physical disposal of the memo papers necessary for which the company could be charged.
Business people are able to produce and deliver memos unobtrusively. Even when the memo is physically printed, employees can read the memo at their leisure. This is less disruptive than other means of communication such as phone calls, instant messaging, or meetings. You may also see blank memo examples.
Delivery of memos is easy. With hard-copy memos, it takes just one person to hand the memo out to employees or put it in the employee mailbox. It usually does not take more than one business day for the memo to travel from department to department. With digital memos, businesspeople can send the memo to hundreds or even thousands of workers with a single click, getting the memo out in just seconds. You may also like credit memo examples.
Business memos are designed to be short and to the point. Whatever is in the memo is evidence as well. These two points encourage the writer of the memo to think critically about what he puts into the memo. By doing this, the writer gets a clear picture of the intent behind the writing and thus is better able to defend the memo’s purpose in the future. You may also check out what do you mean by writing skills?
One disadvantage of standard memos is that they are designed to contain one or two pages of information. This makes them a less-than-useful tool for communicating complex topics. Memos are also meant to focus on a single subject, so they’re not a good choice if you need to convey multiple areas of information to employees. You may also see formal writing examples.
Once you have written a standard business memo, you must have it printed or copied for distribution to your employees. This means you’re paying for the paper on which the memo is printed and the cost of an employee’s time to copy and distribute the communication. You may also like writing templates & examples.
In addition, the distribution process takes time, delaying your employees’ receipt of information. Those who don’t check their mailbox or inbox frequently may not receive your information for hours or even days after it’s distributed. You may also check out application writing examples.
There is a formal tone associated with business memos, making them a poor choice for communicating sensitive information. If you need to discipline an employee or inform a group of workers about impending layoffs, face-to-face communication is a better choice. It allows you to incorporate nonverbal communication in your messages and to interpret the other person’s response by observing her body language. You might be interested in summary writing examples.
The recipients of your message may also feel more valued by the company because you took the time to talk with them in person.