Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Notes Unit 3 Professional Skills
Notes Unit 3 Professional Skills
Purpose of a memo
As business memos solve problems and act as a means of decision-making, they serve many
purposes. They may:
Describe problems
Request for information or additional resources
Contain proposals or requests for proposals
Explain policy statements
Contain office instructions or guidelines
Persuade the reader to take an action
Invite the reader to business meetings/conferences
Give feedback, suggestions, or recommendations
Seek explanations or clarifications
Be just polite reminders.
7. Signature
8. Optional elements – References, attachments and distribution lists may be attached if
required.
Writing Strategies
Sample of Mamo:
Interoffice Memorandum
With the addition of four new departments and the consequent increase in the number of faculty
members and students, the volume of work in the reprography unit has considerably increased.
The two CopyFast photocopiers that we have at present are no longer adequate to meet the
demand. These machines were bought nine years ago and have become obsolete. Moreover, they
break down frequently and need major repairs. We have spent Rs 26000/- this year alone to keep
them in working condition.
Our estimate shows that we now require at least three more photocopiers to cope with the
increasing demand. We have also studied the features and costs of various brands of
photocopiers currently available in the market.
We recommend the purchase of three ImageX5 photocopiers from Singhania Imaging Ltd,
Mumbai. The price list is enclosed.
TB Gupta
Notices
Notice is used as a form of written communication, to give or exchange information with the
staff. Notices are commonly found on a notice board, specially meant to bring attention to the
people who pass by. The notice covers the information which we want to be noticed (paid
attention to) by a maximum number of people. A notice may be sent individually.
Many organizations have notice boards at notable places, all over the office, so that they can be
seen by all to whom it is meant. Every member of the organization is expected to read its
contents. It is also shown on the company’s website.
Drafting of notice
Be precise and to the point. It is a formal form of communication so the language used should be
formal as well—no flowery text. Use passive voice as far as possible. Present your notices in a
proper format in a box. The presentation should be neat and thus be appealing to the eye. The
following points may be considered while drafting.
1. The company’s letterhead must be used for writing or printing the notice.
2. Notice should be complete as regards the day, time, date, and venue of the meeting.
3. The names of those members who are attending the meeting should be mentioned.
4. The names of those members who are presiding over the meeting should also be stated.
5. It has to be single-spaced and left-aligned. Further, one line should be left between
paragraphs.
6. It must contain the meeting agenda.
Purpose
Notices are primarily used to grab the attention of the staff towards special matters. It also plays
an important role in ending legal contracts such as employment contracts. Notices may be used
for:
Format of Notice:
Sample of Notice:
Circulars
Circular is a tool of internal communication that is used to convey the message to various
addressees within the organization. Circulars are used for sending instructions and information in
common or to all branches of the organization. A circular is used to circulate information in any
direction. They are addressed impersonally e. g. "To all Branch Managers", or "To all Accounts
Section staff” A circular is like an advertisement, commonly printed on a page or leaflet, to
disseminate information across a wide network of people, i.e. employees, departments or
branches of an organization, business customers, etc.
During business, several events may take place which requires sending circular letters. With the
help of these circulars, the sender intends to provide some information to the persons concerned.
The process of sending circulars to different addresses is termed circulating.
Circulars are a written form of formal documents. Companies send circulars to specific people or
the public. They are a form of interdepartmental communication. The different types of circulars
are Administration, trade, financial, recruitment, public, general, and sales circulars. Circulars
communicate information like policy changes, upcoming events, sales, promotions, etc. They
provide information and instructions in detail. Since the intended audience receives circulars in
their hand, circulars use a small font. These are used for several purposes or events.
Objective of Circular:
1. To issue directions
2. To inform about new policies and procedures.
3. To gain publicity of the goods to be purchased or sold.
4. To influence the readers, with factual points about the company and its offerings.
5. To create interest of readers in the contents.
6. To gain the reader’s confidence.
7. To encourage sales.
8. To invite suggestions
Drafting a Circular:
Circulars are prepared once and then they are cyclostyled with a space left for variable details,
for circulation to different recipients. To personalize the circular letter – name, address, and
individual salutations can be inserted in those spaces after it is cyclostyled and may be sent to
one individual by way of post. However, they can also be randomly distributed. It can also be
issued like an advertisement in the newspaper.
Types of circulars: It is to be noted that the circulars differ in their layout, content, and matter.
The basic types are;
General Circular
Official Circular
Business Circular
Sales Circular or Trade Circular
Format of Circular
Sample of circular
Difference between notice and circular
One should take note that, the tone of both circular and notice should be in the form of a request
rather than a command. Also, both can be written for the same purpose or reason. The only
difference is notice is pinned on the board; circulars are meant for circulation. Here we are going
to discuss the difference between the two, using formats and examples.
Book Review
Books are considered “tools for communication between two minds.” A well-written and
comprehensive review can let you know whether that book worked as a communication tool
between the author and reader or not. The scholarly book review is a kind of academic writing
that helps to explain and critically appraise the subject matter, value, sense, and importance of a
book. Usually, book reviewing is an unpaid job, considered a service to the profession.
Therefore, it is necessary that the reviewer should be willing to contribute to the field and should
have knowledge of the subject.
A review is a personal reflection of the reviewer’s opinion about the book, in which he/she
communicates to the readers; such as was the book good and worth reading. Was it thought-
provoking and informative? To whom (audience) it is recommended? There is some difference
between reviewing fiction and non-fiction books. In this article, our focus is reviewing a non-
fiction book.
There is no hard and fast rule regarding the length of the review. However, a review comprising
500-1000 words is good enough. It provides sufficient space for a reviewer to present his/her
ideas or comments with considerable supportive examples and arguments. Mostly, journals have
a word limit for writing a book review. However, the worth of a review rarely has a connection
with its length.
There are two approaches to book reviewing such as descriptive and critical.
Descriptive reviews: In this type, the reviewer gives an objective account of the information in
the book. The reviewer is expected to give a brief description of the book by stating the purpose
of the book.
Critical reviews: It may include a descriptive note, but it also appraises the book according to
the recognized “academic, scholastic and literary” norms.
Purpose: A book review is a snapshot of a newly published book to prospective readers, and it
succinctly introduces the book content and expresses the reviewer’s opinion about it. A good
book review helps the readers to decide whether or not to read/ buy/recommend a book. Book
reviews are beneficial to textbook editors and authors for improving their next editions, and for
the publishers to work out for future books.
The literature points out that there is no absolute rules for writing a book review, however, a
broad rule of thumb is that a good book review should have three components.
An introductory paragraph: It describes the main theme and contribution of the book in the
field. Thus, basically it explains what the book is about. It also describes the pertinent
information about the author and what’s his/her standing in the field.
The body of the review: It describes the key points of the book. It is the responsibility of a
reviewer to avoid too much detail and discuss only a few core points, and provide concrete
evidence for assertions. In this section, a few quotes or phrases can be used from the book to
elucidate the reviewer’s points.
A conclusion: In this section, the reviewer critiques the book and points out the weaknesses and
strengths in the use of evidence/s, the kind of provided evidence/s, and the inferences are drawn.
For concluding the write-up, the reviewer is required to sum up the ideas to provide the reader
with an outcome regarding the book.
A good book review is considered a commentary on the book not a summary of the book.
Therefore, one should focus on giving his/her opinions and reflections on the book instead of
providing a detailed description of the contents. An effective review should be educational,
attractive and opinionated. Ideally, a book review should be written by an expert but anyone else
who has some basic core knowledge of the subject, that the book covers can also do this job and
write a satisfactory review.
While reviewing a book, one must look at the following points carefully:
While reviewing any book, first of all carefully read its preface, it will give you the objective of
writing that book and other related information. In the next step, every book written by an
eminent author is already reviewed by some expert or eminent personality in that particular field
whom the authors usually invite to write a foreword for that book. It will help you a great deal
and guide you about the authenticity of the issues, and subjects discussed in the book, which is
always covered by those writing the foreword.
While reading the book the first time, one can highlight the important points, which will be
useful while writing the review. While writing the review, make sure that you do not miss any
important point or message in the book. A subject specialist or any other reviewer with basic
core knowledge on that particular subject should be able to point out any shortcomings, or
information missed by the author besides pointing out inaccuracies, if any. Point out for whom
the book under review will be informative and useful, who should read it and whether is it worth
being on the bookshelf of students, experts in that particular field as well as related libraries. The
review should be as comprehensive as possible and not only give enough information about the
book to the reader but also attract him/her to buy and read the book. Look at the price and
whether it is reasonable keeping in view the number of pages, the information it contains, the
paper used and the overall quality of printing. At the end of the review do not forget to give
information on where the book is available.
One of the important responsibilities of the reviewer is to elucidate whether the claimed/stated
purpose of the book writing has been achieved or not. It is expected the reviewer to clarify how
does or does not the author/s meet the claimed objective/s.