Memo Tutorial and Sample Memos
Memo Tutorial
So now that you are familiar with what a memo is, the time has come for you to learn how to write your own memo.
Let us begin by discussing the first component of the memo that you will observe:
The Heading
The heading of a memo is broken down into several basic components. The first component that you will observe is a "To:" section. In this line, you will quite simply identify to whom you wish to send the memo. Let's assume you wish to send a memo to your boss, whose name happens to be Andrew Lucchesi. In the "To:" section you will write the name "Andrew Lucchesi".
To: Andrew Lucchesi
The following line is the "From:" section. For simplicity's sake let's call the sender Worker A. In the "From:" section, you would write "Worker A".
To: Andrew Lucchesi
From: Worker A
The next line contains the date the memo is being sent. In this "Date:" column, you should write out the date as a word or an abbreviation (for example, Feb.) You should refrain from writing the date in the numerical format so as to not confuse the American and British date systems. Let's say you are writing this memo on February 26, 2013.
To: Andrew Lucchesi
From: Worker A
Date: February 26, 2013
Next comes the subject heading titled "Subject:". In this section, you want to write a few words that encompass what you are going to say in the body of your memo. Let's say that Worker A is upset about the amount of work he has been receiving in the past few weeks. The title "Concern With Increased Workload" would suffice in this scenario as it properly addresses the main idea behind the sending of the memo. While other potential titles such as "Worker Oppression" and "I Be Angry!" might successfully convey your mood at the given moment, they leave a certain degree of ambiguity as to what your memo will be addressing and also lack the professionalism that you would like to display in your memo.
To: Andrew Lucchesi
From: Worker A
Date: February 26, 2013
Subject: Concern With Increased Workload
The Message
This is the main part of the memo where you will write what you have planned to say. The following guidelines are a good way to structure the message so that it will be written in a pithy and straightforward way.
- You should begin your memo by addressing the situation which has inspired you to write the memo. This introduction should put your memo into a particular context. For example, a good introduction to our hypothetical scenario could be stated as follows:
In the past few weeks I have been receiving increasingly large amounts of work. …
- You would then move on to elaborate slightly on the problem at hand. A good following sentence would be:
In the past few weeks I have been receiving increasingly large amounts of work.Because of the increase in workload, I have been unable to dedicate sufficient time to each of my assignments and have thus not been able to produce my best work. …
- It is now time to move on to the solution to the problem and the action to be taken to resolve it. In our situation we could say:
In the past few weeks I have been receiving increasingly large amounts of work. Because of the increase in workload, I have been unable to dedicate sufficient time to each of my assignments and have thus not been able to produce my best work. I feel that giving slightly fewer assignments would allow me to enhance my overall performance and improve the quality of my work. It is with this in mind that I suggest you give me fewer assignments so that I can focus on quality over quantity when working.
- You should then end your memo with a polite closing remark such as "Sincerely", "Thanks", or "Thanks a lot!" if you really wanted to get wild and crazy. Your signature would follow, marking the completion of your memo.
Our Pithy Memo
When every component is put together the memo should look something like this:
To: Andrew Lucchesi
From: Worker A
Date: February 26, 2013
Subject: Increasing Workload
In the past few weeks I have been receiving increasingly large amounts of work. Because of the increase in workload, I have been unable to dedicate sufficient time to each of my assignments and have thus not been able to produce my best work. I feel that giving slightly fewer assignments would allow me to enhance my overall performance and improve the quality of my work. It is with this in mind that I suggest you give me fewer assignments so that I can focus on quality over quantity when working.
Thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely,
Worker A
Sample Memo
Here is a real-life example of a memo as it is used in the technical world:
Source: How To Write a Memo, http://howtowriteamemo.wikidot.com/tutorial
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