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Inter-Office Correspondence

Inter-office communications include memorandums, meeting minutes, emails, and reports. Memorandums contain a heading, subject line, and message. Meeting minutes record topics discussed, decisions, action items, and open issues. Emails should follow smart practices like correct addressing and avoiding humor. Reports inform about periodic, situational, investigative, and compliance information.

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Joielyn Cabiltes
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254 views

Inter-Office Correspondence

Inter-office communications include memorandums, meeting minutes, emails, and reports. Memorandums contain a heading, subject line, and message. Meeting minutes record topics discussed, decisions, action items, and open issues. Emails should follow smart practices like correct addressing and avoiding humor. Reports inform about periodic, situational, investigative, and compliance information.

Uploaded by

Joielyn Cabiltes
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Inter-Office

Correspondence
Inter-Office
Correspondence

Are written
communications
within an office.
1. Memorandums
2. Minutes of Meetings
3. Emails
4. Office Reports
THE MEMORANDUM
— Is written to give reminders,
suggestions, information or to transmit
papers or documents and the like.
— It differs from a letter because the
inside address, salutation and
complimentary close are omitted.
A good memo contains a subject line that
summarizes the message, an opening that
reveals the main idea immediately, a body
that explains and justifies the main idea and
an action closing.
3 PARTS OF A MEMO
THE
HEADING THE
SUBJECT
THE
MESSAGE
Subject Line
Should summarize the central idea
Often without articles
Should not be a complete sentence
Does not end with a period
Need not be long
The first letter of each major word
in the subject line should be
capitalized
Examples:

Repair of Air-Conditioning Units


Seminar on Customer Relations
Employees’ Performance
Appraisal
OPENING
Begin by frontloading (using direct opening)
Reveal the main idea immediately
Even though the purpose of the memo is
summarized in the subject line, that purpose
should be restated and amplified in the first
sentence
BODY
Explains and discusses the subject logically
Provides more information about the
reason for writing
Makes liberal use of graphic highlighting to
make important ideas stand out and to
improve readability
Example:

Hard-to-Read Paragraph Version

Effective immediately are the following air travel


guidelines. Between now and December 31, only
account executives may take company-approved
trips. These individuals will be allowed to take a
maximum of two trips, and they are to travel
economy or budget class only.
Improved Version with Graphic Highlighting

Effective immediately are the following air travel


guidelines:

Who may travel: Account executives only


How many trips: A maximum of 2 trips
By when: Between now and Dec. 31
Air class: Economy or budget class only
CLOSING

Generally end with:

Action information dates or


deadlines
A summary of the message
A closing thought
Examples:
1. Please submit your report by June 15
so that we can have your data before
our July planning session.
2. These are cost-reduction steps we’ve
taken thus far.
3. This sounds like a useful project.
Characteristics of good memos:

Memos do not have inside address,


salutation, complimentary close and
notation
Memos never indent paragraphs
Headings are optional
Never use a heading for the first paragraph
Characteristics of good memos

• Some organizations alter the


order of items in the heading.
• Some organizations prefer that
their memos are signed rather
than simply initialed.
Characteristics of good memos:

Single Topic - Good memos discuss only


one topic . Limiting the topic helps the
receiver act on the subject and file it
appropriately.
Characteristics of good memos:
Conversational Tone - The tone of memos is
expected to be conversational because the
communicators are usually familiar with one
another. This means using occasional
contractions (I’m, you’ll) and first person
pronouns. Yet, the tone should also be
professional. The tone should also be warm
and friendly but should not be emotional.
Characteristics of good memos:
Conciseness - As functional form of
communication, memo messages should
contain only what’s necessary to convey
meaning.
Characteristics of good memos:

Memos require less background explanation and


less attention to goodwill efforts than do letters
to outsiders.
Graphic Highlighting - To make important ideas
stand out and to improve readability, make liberal
use of graphic highlighting techniques which
includes numbered and bulleted lists and
headings.
Sample Memo
Minutes of Meetings

-Is the written record of the


proceedings that took place in a
meeting.
What should be recorded?
4 important information:

Topics discussed
Decisions reached
Action items
Open issues
1.Date, time, venue, presiding
officer
2.The attendance, who are present
and absent
3.Wording of motions and
ammendments as well as the vote
4.Committee reports
Characteristics:

• It should be in a narrative form


• Everything should be recorded
except those that were
considered by the body as “off-
the-record”
SMART E-MAIL PRACTICES:

1. Get the address right


2. Avoid misleading subject lines
3. Be concise
4. Don’t send anything you wouldn’t want
published
SMART E-MAIL PRACTICES:

5. Don’t use e-mail to avoid contact


6. Never respond when you are angry
7. Care about correctness
8. Resist humor
9. Limit any tendency to send blanket copies
SMART E-MAIL PRACTICES:

10. Use design to improve readability


11. Consider cultural differences
12. Double-check before hitting the send button
13. Protect against email break-ins
SMART E-MAIL PRACTICES:

10. Use design to improve readability


11. Consider cultural differences
12. Double-check before hitting the send button
13. Protect against email break-ins
OFFICE REPORTS
Informational Reports
Periodic Reports
Situational Reports
Investigative Reports
Compliance Reports
Informational
reports- provide data
on periodic and
situational activities
for readers who do
not need to be
persuaded.
Periodic reports-
keep management
informed of
operations and
activities. They are
written at a regular
interval like weekly,
monthly etc.
Situational reports-
they cover non-
recurring events like
trips, conventions,
etc. a little more
difficult to write
because samples are
unavailable to serve
as models.
Progress reports-
describe ongoing
status of projects
which can be
available to both
internal and external
readers.
Investigative
reports- deliver data
for a specific situation
without offering
interpretation or
recommendations
Compliance reports-
Mostly required by
the government to
verify compliance
with laws from
among business
organizations.

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