Topic 4

Memo Writing
 Outline
• Memo compared to Email and Letter
• Purpose
• Formatting
• Contents
• Elements to Check
• Ways to Make Reading Easier
 Emails, Memos, and Letters
Emails
• people within an organization and outside an organization,
• when the subject is relatively informal and routine.

Memos
• within an organization,
• when the subject is more formal, non-routine, and more serious than
what you’d write in an email.

Letters
• sent to recipients outside an organization.
• within an organization if the topic is very formal and/or non-routine.
c. 2007-2014 Lamoreux 3
Emails, Memos, and Letters

Emails: Inside and Outside organization

Memos: Inside organization

Letters: Outside organization (usually)

c. 2007-2014 Lamoreux 4
MEMO
•Known as Memorandum or Internal Memo

•External memo is used for sister companies

•It helps members to communicate, without the need for time-

consuming meetings.

•Originally used only in hard copy, they are now often processed
electronically.

•Staffs have to sign or initial to indicate that they have read

Purpose

•To inform
•Policies
•Meetings
•Updates

•To announce

•To request action

•Follow-ups
Topics/Subject

To inform:

•Change of office hour

•Effective date to use new car stickers for parking
•New procedure for travel claim
•New policy for insurance
•Recruitment of new production manager
•To collect lunch coupon from admin manager
Formatting
•No salutation.
•No complimentary close.
•The writer does not need to sign the message
•A place for staffs to sign or initial (Chop)

•single-spaced with double spacing between

paragraphs.
 Contents
•Letter head with “Memo”
•Heading (Date, To, From, Subject)
•Introduction (Purpose, subject matter)
“I am writing here to draw your attention to…”
“With reference to…, I would like to…”

•Body: explain the ideas in details

•Closing (What action to be taken)
“Please finish this no later than…”
“Would you please…?”
Letterhead Examples

c. 2007-2014 Lamoreux 10
Elements to Check

Tone
Structure
Visual appeal

•Spelling
•Grammar
•Punctuation
 MEMO
Sample Memo
TO: All Employees
FROM: Arthur Dahlquist, General Manager
DATE: June 21, 2018
SUBJECT: Wide Area Telephone Service (WATS) Lines
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

WATS lines were installed three years ago to give all employees easier
telephone access to our customers and suppliers in other parts of the country.
In fact, our company's growth rate has increased since then, and we attribute
at least part of that growth to the new telephone system.

As sales have increased, so have our telephone bills. But, over the past few
months, those bills have been growing faster than sales. It seems that a few
people have been using the long-distance lines to make personal calls. Such
misuse of the WATS lines reduces our profits (and thus the amount available
for profit sharing by all employees), and it ties up lines that are needed for
business calls.

Please do your part to keep our company profitable and healthy. If you
 Formatting Example # 1
Capitalizing only first letter of main/major words.
Date: September 30, 2015

To: Ray Charles, Marketing Manager

From: Bruce King, Events Manager BK

Subject: Conference Planning

c. 2007-2014 Lamoreux 13
 Ways to Make Reading Easier

1. Underlining

•Underline the keywords to attract attention

•Specific details are important (e.g. reminder of a meeting)
•e.g. All members should arrive at Central Station before 9:00 am
to make arrangements.
•“All members”: People who are members should follow this
instruction
•“Central Station”: The specific location
•“before 9:00am”: Be punctual
Ways to Make Reading Easier

• Underline the keywords in each instruction:

1. Take / seriously
2. Move / at once
3. Don’t / retrieve belongings
4. Report / foremen
Ways to Make Reading Easier

2. Make the sentences more straightforward so that

they can be used in the memo…

We have come to the decision that it is not possible for our

company to accept the offer.

 We have decided that our company cannot accept the

offer.
Ways to Make Reading Easier

3. Logical order

•Write what reader need to know first, followed by

logical flow of information

•Use bullets and numbers where necessary

Analysis of a Poorly Phrased Persuasive Memo
Date: Mon, 22 September 2008
From: Susannah Beech, Human Resources Administrator
To: Metro Power Employees
Subject: Coping tactics for technical failures

This is a reminder that computer problems should be reported to Bart Stone immediately,
and the violent tempers in the workplace cannot be tolerated.
Recently, three Metro employees were fired because of violent outbursts after an
equipment failure. One woman was kicking her printer and screaming obscenities. A man
threw his keyboard across the room when he couldn’t get on the Intranet, and a third
employee put a fist through his computer screen after the system failed. We try to avoid
firing people, but these employees frightened co-workers, so we had no choice.
We will do the same to anyone who screams at their computers or kicks their printers in
the future. You can laugh, but it’s not funny. This is akin to workplace terrorism.
Computers should be turned off at night, cleaned with cleaning cloths, and food and drink
products avoided. There are many ways to combat rising tempers. Walks around the
building are a good tactic for calming down.
Technology glitches are not some unholy terror. They are commonplace. Let’s behave
like adults in the future, shall we?
Susannah Beech, Human Resources Administrator
Improved Version
Date: Mon, 22 September 2008
From: Susannah Beech
To: Metro Power Employees
Subject: Coping tactics for technical failures
We all know the stress of racing toward a deadline and suddenly having
your equipment fail. Here are a few suggestions to help you stave off—
and cope with—technical equipment and systems failures when they do
occur:
• Stay cool. Tech failures are commonplace in business; your bosses
and co-workers will understand.
• Practice preventive maintenance. Use cleaning cloths and sprays
regularly, keep liquids and foods away from sensitive keyboards and
printers, and make sure systems are shut down when you leave at
night.
• For faster repair assistance, promptly report computer failures to Bart
Stone, assistant director of information services, ext. 2238.
The last suggestion is perhaps the most important to keep your career
on track. Lost tempers, violent outbursts, and rude language are
Mid-term Examination (10%)

MCQ (25 questions) and 1 Writing Question.

 28th March, 19

3:30 to 4:30 pm

E41
Coursework
Mid-term Examination (10%): MCQ (25 questions) and 1 Writing Question.

Group Assignment (20%): In your group with 5 members, you are to come
up with a proposal for a project to be submitted to a real organization seeking
for a sponsorship for a student programme. Your success in securing a funding
will earn you a BONUS mark towards your final grades. So do your research
and prepare a good proposal. Deadline to submit is 14/5/19.

Individual Assignment (20%):

•Presentation : 10%
•Essay: My life at USM : 5% (Deadline:12/3/18)
•Email: Letter of apology in response to a customer complaint about a
product defect or delayed shipment or late delivery. Choose one of
them: 5% (Deadline:18/4/18)
 Hands On Exercise
•You are an HR Manager of Berjaya Sdn. Bhd. and you need
to inform all your staffs about the change of office hours.
(8am-5:30am) changed to (8:30 to 6pm)
•Write a Memo on a sheet of paper

•Make a pair with your friend next to you and correct each
other’s work.

•Indicate: Current & new office hour of your company

Effective Date, what you need them to do

Fill in here for your Group

•https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1sEXMHmq3SWH-
1X1pUdyquPMy2ApGe0Gx3nvaYkOVUJk/edit#gid=0