Business memo

From CEOpedia | Management online

A Business memo that is also called a memo and a report.

It is one of the most frequently used documents in the internal communication of enterprises, institutions and organizations. It is used to provide important messages between individual employees but also between different organizational units.

The note is in the form of an information magazine, which is to present the actual picture of reality, provide the recipient with information on a given issue in a reliable, objective and concise manner. It is a letter legally confirming the adopted arrangements and enables subsequent verification of actions taken.

Application

There are three reasons for the use of business memos:

  • when verbal communication is prevented (e.g. when employees work in two different offices),
  • in the situation of delegating tasks by the superior,
  • when there are special circumstances that require a written form of communication (e.g. when the note is also a confirmation of the transfer and receipt of the message).

The service note has no restrictions on use, it can be used wherever the sender considers it appropriate to record the message in a written form, and there is no need to create a thorough description of the situation. They are most often prepared in relation to interviews with inter-parents, clients, meetings between colleagues, but also in connection with the relevant provisions and actions taken from the organization's point of view.

Preparation and distribution

There is freedom in the way and technique of making business notes. They can be created both by computer, machine and by hand, as long as they remain legible and thus understandable. Consequently, they can be transferred using various communication routes. In the case of notes containing sensitive or sensitive data, the most common solution will be the use of traditional mail or electronic mail. Today, the e-mail route has the widest application, its main advantage is almost immediate information confirming the recipient's receipt of a message (in case of problems with the delivery of e-mails, the sender will receive feedback). In the case of overt content, it is practiced to forward messages, e.g. by placing them in compartments for correspondence of individual employees.

Like any office letter, a note must be made in accordance with the rules of spelling and punctuation. Her message should be specific and simple, enabling quick finding of key points. The note does not require the use of specialist vocabulary or official phrases used in many business magazines. It is a form characterized by a short time of message creation and decryption.

Constituents

There is no one official form of making business notes. Depending on the company, the subject of the message and the person preparing the notes, you can notice a variety of elements appearing in them. They are above all:

  • date and place of making a note,
  • name and surname of the sender,
  • name and surname of the recipient (in the case of a note addressed to one recipient),
  • short information about what the note concerns,
  • contents.

A business memo and a letter

Both the business memo and letter are one of the most popular forms of communication used in organizations. Because there are many similarities between them, it is important to specify those features that will make it possible to distinguish them.

  • One of the main differences between the letter and the note is the scope of their reach. In the case of letters, they are used when establishing contacts with persons or departments that are not part of the same organization as the author. They are used primarily for external communication. In the case of notes, they are used only to provide information inside the organization.
  • Note, unlike a letter, allows you to reach more than one person at a time with the message.
  • Letters prepared by organizations are usually written on a characteristic company paper, marked with a logo and the most important data on the subject of the institution. The note is usually drawn on plain paper.
  • The structure of the letters is much more formalized than the note. In the list, all elements (date and place of preparation, data of the sender, recipient's data) should be arranged in accordance with the generally accepted structure. In the case of a note, the structure is more loose and can be modified. The same applies to the degree of formalization of the language used in them.
  • While the nature of the letter requires elements such as introduction, development or ending, the note should contain only the essence of the issue without delving into less important details.
  • Given the degree of formalization of both forms, the list can be distinguished between official and unofficial, when the memo is purely formal


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References

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