WRITING MEMOS

(Survival Guide)

Introduction

A common form of inter- or intradepartmental communication in business and academia is the memorandum
(pi. memorandums or memoranda), usually called a memo. Although e-mail is now the most prominent form of
internal communication, memos will always exist for two reasons:
• Some employees do not have access to e-mail or the Internet in their job positions, and thus need
paper forms of communication
• Original hard copies on letterhead with initials or signatures are often needed for legal purposes or
working files

Memos are written by everyone from junior executives and engineers to CEOs. Hence, it is essential to master
this basic communication form.

Memo writing conventions vary from company to company, but memos generally follow the guidelines based
in this handout. When writing a memo, you must carefully consider your format, audience, purpose,
organization and style.

Memo Format

Although memos are ordinarily formal, there has recently been a trend toward a more personal style. Careful
writers are able to achieve this style without sacrificing clarity, grace, or precision. Unlike letters, which include
inside addresses, salutations, and complimentary closings, memos have just two sections: the heading ar
the body. To simplify the communication process, many firms and organizations use memo pads w
predesigned formats. If you need to construct a memo without such a memo pad, use the vertical fom
shown below:

Vertical Heading Format

To: Name, Title C: Name, Title

From: Name, Title Name, Title
Date: Month Day, Year
Subject: Memo Description

Some people also use what is known as the horizontal format, where the "To" and "From" fields are flush with
the left margin, while the "Date" and "Subject" fields are aligned with the right margin.

Horizontal Heading Format

To: Name, Title Date: Month Day, Year

From: Name, Title Subject: Memo Description

To: If company policy and your relationship with the addressee allow, you may omit courtesy (Mrs., Ms., Mr.)
or professional (Dr., Dean, etc.) titles. Generally, however, address people of higher rank by title. For most
format situations, use the addressee's full name; for informal situations, first names or even nicknames may be
appropriate. If the addressee's name alone is not sufficient to ensure that the memo will reach its destination,
put an identifying tag, such as a job or department title, directly after the addressee's name (for example, To:
John Hutchins, Payroll Office). If the memo is directed to several people, list their names alphabetically or in
descending order of their position in the institutional hierarchy. If numerous names are required, you may use
"To: See Below" and then place the addressees1 names at the end of the message. If the group is too large to
list all of its members individually, follow MTo:H with an identifying classification, such as "Faculty and Staff1 or
"Process Engineers."

Date: Write the full name of the month or use its standard abbreviation (i.e., don't use numerals).

From: Place your own name on this line, and do not use a courtesy title. If you believe that the reader may not
know you, then use a job title or department name to identify yourself. If you choose to sign the memo to
personalize it or to indicate authorization, write your initials above, below, or to the right of your typewritten
name. Practices vary considerably in this respect, so it's best to follow local preferences. A memo is always
official even if it isn't signed.

Subject: "Re:" (Latin for thing, affair, or concern) is occasionally used in place of "Subject:", but many of
today's businesspeople regard "Re" as obsolete. The statement of subject should be concise yet accurate,
since it often determines where or how the memo will be filed.

The first page of a memo should be printed on company letterhead. Second and subsequent pages should be
on plain paper or sheets that match the letterhead without the logo or business insignia. After the first page,
include the name of the recipient, the date and the page number in the upper-left corner. For example:

Jeffrey Jones
Feb. 26,2002
page 2

Audience

Before writing the memo, consider for whom you are writing. Are you writing for your supervisor who k
busy? Are you writing for a certain group of employees who need information on a particular project oi
These considerations will affect how your memo is organized. See the Organization section for rri
information.
Also, audience will affect content. Perhaps you will need to define special terms or explain technical
operations. Think about who you are writing for and what kind of knowledge or experience that person has.

Purpose

Purpose statements typically are one or two sentences at the beginning of the memo stating why you are *
writing the memo. Here are a few sample purpose statements:

Based upon our previous discussion, I would like to join the following professional societies that relate to
my position at ABC Company...

Please find below a status report for the Gizmo development project.

When your memo includes several purposes, one way to develop a purpose statement is to define the most
important idea involved in your subject. For example:

This memo presents the test results for the Fuel Efficiency Project. Additionally, I have included
recommendations for improvements and sample data from similar tests performed.

In this case, the author decided the most important information in the memo would be the test results. The
recommendations and sample data are secondary information for the reader.
Organization

Memos need to be informative, direct and concise. Before writing a memo, it often helps to make a quick
outline of the main ideas and points you want to cover and then organize that information into a logical
sequence.

Keep things under control. Present your material coherently, and decide on the pattern of organization that
best suits your purpose. The two most common patterns of organization for business and technical memos are
deduction (decreasing order of importance) and induction (increasing order of importance).

Deduction: Deduction, presenting ideas in decreasing order of importance, generally assumes that the reader is
well acquainted with the topic under discussion. In writing a deductive memo, present your most salient point
first (but don't simply repeat the "Subject" statement). This strategy spares readers needless loss of time
wading through data they may already know. Place supporting facts in subsequent sentences for readers who
may be unfamiliar with the subject. Place the background data last. Those who want or need to read this
information to understand the message will take the time to do so; others may scan it or bypass it entirely. Most
business memos use this pattern of organization.

Induction: Induction, presenting ideas in increasing order of importance, draws upon a different set of
assumptions than does deduction. The reasons to use induction vary, but they may include the following: you
have to announce bad news or your reader(s) may not understand the main idea without significant prior
preparation. In such cases, organize your thoughts by leading up to the most forceful idea, and present that
idea at the end of the memo. Keep in mind that such memos often take longer to write.

When organizing a longer memo, use section headings to direct the reader's attention, just as you would in a
longer report. Section headings are described below.

Summary: Always include a Summary section when writing for a manager. This should be not mon
half-page long and should include the essentials of the memo, including the purpose statement, any f>
or recommendations, and bottom line costs. (However, a memo that is one page or less does not necessary
need a summary.)

Background: The purpose of the Background section is to adequately acquaint your reader with the memo's
subject. The extent of background you include depends upon your audience. If you are writing to a colleague
who is very familiar with a project you are working on, you may not need much background detail. However, if
you are writing to a new supervisor who knows nothing about your project, you will need more information
here.

Discussion: This typically is the main body of your memo and will include the majority of the details on your
subject. Again, be concise. Don't include information that the reader doesn't need to know. If the purpose of
your memo is to persuade, include sufficient, concrete evidence to support your case. Bullet lists are perfectly
acceptable within a memo and can help a reader find information more quickly.

Action Items: If you are writing a memo that requires action by other employees, state clearly who should be
doing what. You might also include sections such as Benefits, Cost Analysis, Design Concepts or whatever
else fits the topic of your memo. The Summary section always should go first, but the other memo sections
can be ordered in whatever manner is most logical for your subject.

Memo Style

If writing a memo turns out to be more difficult than you anticipated, you may find that a quick outline will help
you organize your thoughts. In composing such an outline, focus your attention on the main ideas rather than
on introductions or transitions. Strive to be plain, direct, and concise while using a comfortable, natural style.
Because memos are generally brief, the outline need only provide structure and proportion; nevertheless, it
should not leave gaps in logic or omit important details. The outline can take the form of brief phrases listed
sequentially, thereby giving order to the body and establishing relationships between the ideas. If necessary,
you can develop your outline into a rough draft by expanding your notes into paragraphs. Write quickly, and
pretend you are speaking to someone across the table.

In its final form, the memorandum should be clear and informative. Generally, your tone will be neutral or
positive, but you may occasionally have to issue complaints or reprimands in memo form. Use caution in
negative situations, and be aware of the effect of your correspondence. If you are spiteful, blunt,
condescending, or too coldly formal, you'll wind up alienating people. Ostentatious language, excessively
technical jargon, or complicated syntax will make you sound pompous. Hence, try to be cordial,
straightforward, and lucid, avoiding chit-chat, but striving toward a relaxed and conversational style. If you
project an image of consideration, you stand a much greater chance of being viewed as knowledgeable and
competent in carrying out your professional responsibilities.

Compiled from:

The Writing Center At Rensselaer, Memos, available from \

http://www.rpi.edu/web/writinqcenter/wc web/handouts/Memos.pdf, accessed on September 24,2003

Murphy, D, Memos, available at http://www.rpi.edu/web/writingcenter/memos.html, accessed on September

24,2003

Tierney, E. (1998) 101 Ways to Better Communication, Kogan Page

Bovee, C.L. and Thill, J.V. (1989) Business Communication Today, 2 n d ed., McGraw-Hill

Murphy, H.A., Hildebrandt, H.W. and Thomas, JP. (1997) Effective Business Communication, 7* ed.,
McGraw-Hill
Sample Memo

Industrial Management Enterprises, LLC

Memo

To: Rebecca Smith, Industrial Client Services Manager

From: Jenny Taylor, Documentation Specialist
Subject: Reasons to Invest in Page Layout Software
Date: February 4,2002

Summary
Considering the volume of documents that the Technical Documentation Department will be
producing this year, as well as the length of these documents and manuals, I recommend that we
purchase page layout software to ease the completion of our projects.

Reasons to Buy:
• Precise, efficient control over document design
• Industry standard for technical document production
• Proper software for commercial printing
• Money saved by bringing typesetting and design in-house

The expected cost is $700 to $900, depending on the chosen software package.

Background - Definition of Page Layout Software

Page layout software, also known as DTP (desktop publishing) software, allows users to easily
manipulate large amounts of text and graphics, as well as prepare files for commercial printing. It
allows for precise control over the positioning, sizing and design of text and graphics. Page layout
software has design capabilities not typically found in word processors, such as Microsoft Word or
WordPerfect. This kind of software is an industry standard in the technical documentation field, with
the most common programs being Quark Xpress, Adobe Framemaker, Adobe PageMaker and Corel
Ventura.

Discussion of Features
Page layout software has a multitude of features that make creating documents much easier than in a
word processor.

Text Handling
Programs such as Quark and Framemaker can handle text documents with ease using functions such
as styles and templates, which update the look and format of text automatically. These programs work
well for long documents (such as our industrial engineering manuals) because they can build book
files up to 2,000 pages long. While a word processor can create long documents, it cannot easily
R.Jones
February 4, 2002
page 2

handle the many changes that come up during the documentation process. Programs like Quark can
handle changes without the need for laborious hand editing. For example, it can insert, delete and
move pages and text sections in the middle of a document, create automatic "continued on" and
"continued from" page numbers that update themselves, and link multiple files created by the
documentation team in a network environment.

Graphics
Images can be imported, scaled and integrated within text more quickly. The software also allows
designers to place image holders for graphics that are not available yet and to automatically update
graphics that have been changed by the technical illustrator. Graphical elements, such as boxes and
lines, can be drawn in the document with a click of a button. Additionally, graphics can be color
managed within the software for printing purposes.

Indexing
Many page layout programs come with automatic table of contents and index generation functions.
Certain words and heading styles are "tagged" to create the table of contents and indexes. The
indexing function can also create cross-references for specified words.

Commercial Printing
Most commercial print houses print documents created in page layout software, rather than word
processing software, because the page iayout programs can easily convert files into the programming
language (Postscript) required by the imagesetter (a high resolution printer). Commercial printers
typically don't except files created in Word or WordPerfect.

Web Capabilities
New page layout software can convert files to HTML and XML to allow companies to put their
manuals and documentation on the web without re-editing and re-formatting.

Overall, page layout software has features that allow users to efficiently create documents for
commercial publishing, especially book-length documents. Word processors have some of these
same features, but they do not allow users to have the precise control needed for professional
designs, cannot easily handle changes midstream for long documents, and cannot create the proper
files for high-quality printing.

Cost Justification
Without page layout software, we would have to hire a desktop publishing service to complete and
prepare the manuals for commercial printing. The cost for outsourcing can range anywhere from $30
to $70 per hour. Spending $700 to $900 for a program such as Framemaker or Quark will lower the
company's costs and pay for itself in the long run.