Writing and Composing Memos

Skill-Set: Real World Information Technology Business Skill

Category: Communication

Memos vs. Letters: Use memos rather than letters when you are communicating within your organization, including members of your department, upper management, employees at another branch of your company in another city, etc. The exception to this is if you are preparing a document for a reader several levels above you or for a formal situation. A statement of application for a leave of absence or some other Human Resources purpose would normally be done in a letter, for example.

Heading Information: The material at the top of the memo always includes the date, the names of the writer and the receiver of the memo, and the subject of the memo. Different organizations may use other formats for this information than the one which appears here; use whatever is standard for your company. The heading information is important to make sure the memo is routed correctly and filed where it can be easily located and retrieved.

Use a courtesy title (Mr., Miss, Mrs., Ms., Dr.) before the recipient's name and a job title after it to help in routing and filing the memo, unless the memo is very informal and of a temporary nature, such as a reminder to someone in your department about the meeting on Friday.

Use a job title after your name, and hand write your initials by your name. This confirms that you take responsibility for the contents of the memo.

The subject heading should be as specific as possible, including project names and numbers. Again, this facilitates filing and retrieving the memo.
Formatting: Memos use all the same formatting devices as other documents, including the following:
Headings to help the reader skim for sections of the document.

Numbered and bulleted lists to make information easily accessible.

Typographical devices such as underlining, boldfacing, italics, etc. to make headings and important information stand out.
Paragraphing: As in all technical and business communications, long paragraphs of dense text make reading more difficult.
Keep your paragraphs short and to the point.

Style: Use strong, active verbs, personal pronouns, and vocabulary appropriate for your audience. Be as concise as possible; your readers are busy and are more likely to read concise documents.

Ending: Traditionally, memos required no conclusion other than the formulaic "Please contact me if you have questions" or something of the sort. They also required no closing signature. Now, however, it is becoming more common for memos to close the way letters do, with a typed signature under a hand-written signature.. Some writers even include the polite "Sincerely" before their signatures. These are not necessary but, again, you should follow standard practice in your organization.

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