Tips to Effective Memo Writing

What is a Memo?

The memo is an internal document of the organization. When creating up an internal memorandum, as a rule, greater freedom is allowed than when writing an external document. The writing style is less significant, but this does not mean that the style does not matter at all. Formal requirements for the structure of the document are also not so strict. It must meet the requirements of clarity and efficiency and indicate that its author has investigated all aspects of the problem.

A business memo, like almost any document, has an introductory part, the body of the text and conclusions. Sometimes, even within the same company, format variations are allowed, depending on the size of the document, the specifics of the issue, and the author’s presentation. Nevertheless, regardless of how the memo is formatted, its main structural parts should substantially cover the issues discussed below.

In addition to the business memo, there are many types of such a document. For example, there are quite effective ways to attract investors in world practice. One of them is the preparation of an investment memorandum and its presentation to potential investors. Any company needs additional capital for further development. The attraction of financial resources is possible both at the expense of own funds (profit, depreciation) and at the expense of external sources of financing. The investment memo is an investment proposal for a specific investor. This is the main document based on which the investor decides to invest money in the company. Read these helpful memo writing tips to create a good paper.

Memo Writing Format

When writing a memo, the informal style is usually used. The memo should not be too short and too formal, but conciseness is welcomed. The structure of the memo is as follows. The most important information is placed in the first paragraph, and it is explained in more detail in subsequent paragraphs. All types of the memo should have the following elements:

• Receiver’s name (aligned to the left and placed at the top of the page)
• Sender’s name (aligned to the left and placed directly below the receiver’s name)
• Date(aligned to the left and located under the sender’s name)
• Theme(aligned to the left, placed under the date)

It is customary to use white paper for memo, A4 or smaller format. Do not get carried away by sending out an excessive number of memos. Remember that every employee is busy and he or she has a lot of work to do. Some people think that memos are effective management tools, but this is not always true. Although memos can be used to guide the work and propositions, it is better to express criticism and praise a person personally.

Despite the fact that most of the information today is transmitted by sending messages via e-mail, the use of attached official memos (documents) remains an important element of business correspondence. When sending documents by e-mail, do not forget about their proper formatting.

How to Write a Memo Introduction

A Memo writing assignment implies an introduction. As a rule, it is devoted to the statement of the factual side of the question and a brief statement of the substance of the memorandum. In small documents, the introduction may not have a title. In addition to describing the situation, the introductory part should reflect two fundamentally important positions, determine the subject of the memorandum and give a brief answer to the posed question. When writing a legal memo, describe all the circumstances that are directly relevant to the answer to the posed question.

The Main Part of the Memo

Pay particular attention to the body of the text when writing a memo. The main part of the legal memo provides legal analysis and discusses the aspects of the problem. This is the most voluminous part of the memorandum. The process of creating a memo consists of two stages. At the first stage, the author, as a rule, reflects on the study, analyzes the received information, reveals the internal connections between different elements and comes to the conclusions. The second stage is the creation of the text itself.

The main part of the memo should be as specific as possible and refrain from abstract theoretical reasoning. One should move forward gradually, from the known to the unknown, from the simple to the more complex things, from the fundamental to the more detailed descriptions, from the general to the particular, observing the logic of presentation.

Conclusions

Conclusions are an integral part of the document. In the voluminous documents relating to various issues of activity, conclusions are given at the end of each section, in which the relevant issues are analyzed.

However, repeating the main findings at the end of the document may be useful. Firstly, this is the summary of the memo. This is what the reader should understand from your document. You ought to realize that your audience is not guided in the subject of the memo as well as you are, and it is easy for them to get lost in your text. The conclusion will help the reader to define the main things. Secondly, the conclusion gives the document a finished look. If you think that the structure of this document type is very complex for you, you may download the memo template on the Internet and use it to make sure that your text is written and formatted correctly.