Unit 6. Memos

Memos are a form of business writing that is sent within a company to inform employees of meetings, policy changes, etc.

A memo can be sent to:

1. All Staff members

2. A Department

3. An Individual or individuals

4. A combination of 2 & 3 above

To: All Staff

Or All Staff Members

Or: The Engineering Department

SENDING MEMOS TO AN INDIVIDUAL OR INDIVIDUALS

When sending memos, you need to classify the individuals according to job position.

Example:

To: John Smith – Engineer

If the memo is to more than one engineer:

To: John Smith, Tommy Riley – Engineers

If the memo is to different types of employees, you put each position on a new line. Example:

To: Jane Smith – Engineer

Polly Prince, Dean Jones – Sales Representatives

Note: You would need to use the “tab” key in order to keep the names perfectly indented.

THE SENDER OF THE MEMO

Ideally, there should be a person sending a memo, not a department. This way one would know to whom they could direct any queries. Also, this would be the person signing the memo.

INCORRECT:

FROM: The Human Resource Department

CORRECT:

FROM: Jackson Fraser – Human Resource Manager

DATE

The date should be written as:

July 9th, 2016

OR

9th July, 2016

MEMORANDUM

To: All Sales Representatives

From: Tim O’Reilly - Store Manager

Date: April 10th, 2016

Subject: Mandatory Training Seminar

______________________________________________________________________

Please be informed that following an instruction from the Board of Directors, all sales representatives are required to attend one training session to be held between April 13th and April 17th 2016. Arrangements will be made to accommodate your absence.

Your shift supervisor will inform you of the date and time of your specific session. The sessions are to take place at the Queen’s Hall Auditorium between 7am and 4pm.

Direct any questions to any of the store managers.

Regards

TO

cc: John Smith - Chief Executive Officer

NOTES:

1. Keep subject short, but not too general. Be as specific as possible. Try to avoid using verbs. Nouns are preferable.

2. Use initials instead of a signature. This is not mandatory.

3. Use single spacing and no indentation. Indentation refers to the space from the margin.

4. Be formal when addressing the recipients, if necessary. Use Mr, Ms, Mrs or any other appropriate title. Plurals:

Mr = Messrs

Mrs = Mesdames

Miss = Misses

Ms = Mses or Mss

5. cc refers to courtesy copy (formerly carbon copy), which is given to persons who would need to be informed. It is sometimes placed between "To" and "From".

6. Sometimes you might see "fys" - For Your Signature. In this case, the recipient of the memo would have to sign to confirm receiving it.