MEMORANDUM (MEMO)

If used wisely, it is a powerful communication device for making one s time more effective and to work more efficient in large variety of supervisory situations.

ADVANTAGES OF A MEMO
y y y y y

Makes it possible for the supervisor to communicate. Help a supervisor fix responsibility Bring someone else update Deal with someone who just isn t the supervisor s type Deal with some one who is very busy and hard to approach

The memos have to be understandable and to the point, and each must answer the five famous and important newsworthy questions: y Who? y What? y When? y Where? y Why?

FORMAT
An ideal memo head begins like this: TO : FROM: DATE: Reply Requested (yes or No) In Reply to Memo of (if appropriate) Subject of Memo

TEXT OF A MEMO
y The text of memo should always be brief and informal. y There should always be a clear and logical reason for passing along some kind of information to somebody else within the/your organization. y In addition, the memo should always be written with a sensitivity to the reader as well as the desire to accomplish the communication task. y A good memo doesn t need is artificial embellishments.

DO s and Don t s for preparing a Memo

y Do think through the purpose of your memo. y Don t ask your recipient to refer to my memo of

September 21 or some other piece of auxiliary information. Find it for her/him and attach a copy of the document. Or give your recipient a thumbnail review of the essential information. One reason for this courtesy: the person is busy. Another is efficiency. You are much more likely to get your answer faster if you make it easy y But do observe economy when writing office memos.

y Don t write a memo unless you re sure that you

can t convey the same information, with the same effect, by some other method, such as a phone call or a meeting. y Always keep your memos short. (School yourself to ten lines maximum, unless the circumstances are exceptional.) y Write your own memos, either in longhand or by typing method. y Photocopy the sheet and retain it for your files

Types of Memo
1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Request memo Confirmation Periodic report Ideas and suggestions Informal study results

Request memo
DATE :December 13, 2011 TO : Kiran Kukreja FROM : Ramesh Singhal SUBJECT : Employee Turnover Data At the annual management meeting lastDecember, you mentioned that you had collected employee turnover. Could you send me a copy of this material by Friday? Thanks.

CONFIRMATION MEMO
DATE :December 13, 2011 TO : Kiran Kukreja FROM : Ramesh Singhal SUBJECT : Hiring new sales people This is a confirmation of our discussion of December 4, during which we agreed to hire new salespeople to expand focus of sales coverage in your region. If I do not hear from you within this week, I shall assume that this memo accurately reflects our conversation and you are taking steps to hire the three sales people.

PERIODIC REPORT MEMO

DATE :December 13, 2011 TO : Kiran Kukreja FROM : Ramesh Singhal SUBJECT : Quarterly Sales Report for the South Region for January 1 March 31 During the first quarter in the Kerala Karnataka area, T. Ramesh made sales of Rs. 184,612. This was an increase of Rs 22,340 over the first quarter last year .

Ideas and suggestions Memo

DATE : December 13, 2011 TO : Kiran Kukreja FROM : Ramesh Singhal SUBJECT : Suggestions for Reducing Absenteeism and Turnover I am happy to respond to your request about suggestions for reducing absenteeism and turnover. The current rate of absenteeism is not much higher that the industry average, so we do not need to make radical changes. However we should the steps like job redesign, union interface and provide competitive salaries. If you would like to discuss any of these ideas, please give me a call.

Informal study results

DATE TO FROM SUBJECT : December 13, 2011 : Kiran Kukreja : Ramesh Singhal : Review of Customer Complaints

In response to your request, I have examined the large number of customer complaints we have recently received about your electric hair blower. In all, there were 779, letters or postcards. Findings: Two thirds (552) of the letters reported that the product quality is poor. A related complaint is that the plastic casing cracks and the customer is afraid to use the unit. Recommendations: Create a team of engineers, product design personnel, and manufacturing people to examine a sample of returned units. The group should investigate how production costs can be reduced. I will be happy to discuss these ideas with you.