![]() What a writer puts in a memo will be driven by the rhetorical situation. If you chose an executive summary, you would focus primarily on Discussion and Results, with little or no mention of Methods.įor more discussion and examples of pure summaries, executive summaries, and a third type of summary (abstracts) see Chapter 18: Proposals, Chapter 19: Informational Reports, and Chapter 20: Recommendation Reports. ![]() If you chose to write a pure summary, you would give equal weight to Methods, Results, and Discussion. Although both types of summary are meant for audiences who don’t need (or intend) to read the full memo, the executive summary is more pragmatic and narrowly focused.įor example, say you were writing a memo about a research study you conducted. ![]() Executive summaries, by contrast, privilege information that enables a high-ranking organizational audience to make an informed decision. Pure summaries provide a comprehensive overview of the entire memo, giving relatively equal weight to all subsequent sections. Summary sections in memos typically fall under one of two types of summary: pure or executive. Note how the Summary elaborates on the Purpose while also helping the reader to anticipate the takeaways in the memo’s discussion of each task, which will be conducted in more detail in the main section. Based on the status of each task, we are going to amend our data collection schedule and allot more time to collecting survey data. ![]() The third task, surveying students involved in these cases, has not yet been completed. We are currently working on the second task, which is arranging an interview with the head of the SCO, but this has proven difficult. Summary: The first task in the project has been completed, which entailed a review of prior plagiarism cases investigated by Texas A&M’s Student Conduct Office (SCO).Purpose: The purpose of this memo is to report the current status of our project and explore next steps.The Summary should be longer than the Purpose section, because the Summary’s job is to cover the most important information in the memo, whereas the Purpose section simply explains the function of the memo. Memos typically open with a Summary section before moving to the main body. They may also include statements that align business with employee interests and underscore common ground and benefit. While memos do not normally include a call to action that requires personal spending, they often represent the business’s or organization’s interests. The company president noted that if everyone supported the company with purchases, it would benefit all. For example, on February 13, 2009, upper management at the Panasonic Corporation issued a declaration that all employees should buy at least $1,600 worth of Panasonic products. If a company wants employees to take action, they may also issue a memorandum. ![]() If budget cuts are a concern, then it may be wise to send a memo explaining what changes are imminent. One effective way to address informal, unofficial speculation is to spell out clearly for all employees what is going on with a particular issue. Rumors change and transform as they are passed from person to person, and before you know it, the word is out that they are shutting down your entire department. On the grapevine, one person may hear that someone else is going to be laid off and start passing the news around. The unofficial, informal communication network within an organization is often called the grapevine, and it is often characterized by speculation and rumor. All organizations have informal and formal communication networks. Memo PurposeĪ memo’s purpose is often to inform, but it occasionally includes an element of persuasion or a call to action. It may also be used to update a team on activities for a given project, or to inform a specific group within a company of an event, action, or observance. It is often written from a one-to-all perspective (like mass communication), which broadcasts a message to an audience, rather than a one-on-one interpersonal communication, which delivers a message to an individual. Annemarie Hamlin Chris Rubio Michele DeSilva Nicole Hagstrom-Schmidt Kalani Pattison and Matt McKinneyĪ memo (or memorandum, plural: memoranda or memorandums, meaning “reminder”) is normally used for communicating policies, procedures, or related official business within an organization. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |