14+ SAMPLE Interoffice Memo

What Is an Interoffice Memo?

An interoffice Memo is also called an interoffice memorandum, and the interoffice memo meaning is that it is a business document that seeks to engage employees within a company and communicates important messages about meetings, company policies, and corporate business. Often internal communication messages sent through email can go unnoticed by your fellow employees and oftentimes, an interoffice memo is not enough to shoulder a strong call to action. Working your way around that can significantly affect how your recipients react and respond to the content you send out. The available interoffice memo templates show the essential sections of the document.

Tips to Efficiently Write a Memo

Even in this day and age of instant communication and email, Business Memos are still a common choice for formal communication within the workplace. People pay more attention to them and keep them for longer than they would a simple email. Whether your memo is about a minor pantry issue in the office or a shift in the roles regarding who is handling the department and leadership change, you will need to know how to write a business memo effectively so that busy employees can read and understand it.

Understand Your Audience: Knowing your audience is critical as you prepare to write your memo. To understand your audience, ask yourself who these people are and whether or not a memo will be read by important decision-makers or a higher-up. Begin writing the memo by asking yourself what the reader needs to know. Consider the reader’s position and responsibilities; for example, a real estate agent may benefit from the information and use it to prepare for live viewing of the property. Determine how much information the reader requires in order to make an informed decision.State Outright Purpose of the Memo: A business memo should be brief and to the point. Business Memorandums are not supposed to be long pieces of information. The most important aspects of how to write an interoffice memo are to state the memo’s purpose in the title, write the most important information first and try to stay on point throughout your message, and consider what subjects and topics are most essential to your recipients and emphasize those elements at the start of your memo. Most people appreciate brevity when reading business memos, so make your point quickly.Only Include Necessary Details: A brief memo will be read by more people. You should only include the necessary information. Attach any large forms or documents to the memo so that your audience can read them for more details if they wish. If you are asking all employees to complete a questionnaire, the memo should simply state the purpose of the survey and how the outcomes will be used for their benefit, followed by a mention that the exact form is included as an attachment.Make Use of Simple Sentence Structure: Your sentence structure should be simple. Company jargon and technical terms should be avoided. Write with clarity by using the appropriate word and avoiding complex words. Make use of an outline to stay organized and focused on what you want to say next. An example of this is if you have a long sentence with a comma in it, you may have a clause and can divide the sentence into two shorter sentences. Ponder whether or not it is possible for you to break the sentence into two or not.Use the Proper Tone: Interoffice memos should be direct and confident. However, you must consider your target audience as well as the content of your memo before choosing the best tone to convey your message. Sending a memo with the wrong tone can be just as perplexing and ineffective as sending a memo with incorrect information. A sensitive human resources memo, for example, may require a more understanding or methodical tone. A memo about landing a big client, on the other hand, could be joyful and celebratory. In any case, keep your memo’s tone concise, convenient, and business-like.Examine the Memo: Check the memo for typos and make sure you haven’t misspelled anything. You will frequently discover that you can revise the memo to make it more readable. Check your sentence structure and read it thoroughly before printing or sending the memo through Email. Read it aloud if you can. Don’t send the memo right away after writing it. Allow it to sit for 30 minutes before rereading it with fresh eyes. Request that a colleague or friend read it and provide feedback. They may ask a question that others will ask, which you can answer by rewriting just one phrase or sentence.

Types of Memos

A memo is an abbreviation for memorandum, which is a brief written message used for workplace communication. It could be a noticeboard bulletin, a policy change, a meeting schedule, or team reminders. The purpose of the memorandum determines its format. Different types of memos are frequently employed as a means of mass communication within a company instead of personal one-to-one messaging.

Request Memo: The goal of these memos is to get a favorable response to a request. Since the goal of a request memo is to persuade others, it should use persuasive language. Assume you have discovered a business conference that is relevant to your position. You will send a request memo to persuade your boss to let you attend this conference. The memo is direct and clear, but it is not appropriate from the reader’s perspective. As a result, it may even fail to meet its goal. Consider the situation of the manager. If many departmental employees make similar Requests, the manager may have to limit the number of people who can attend.Confirmation Memo: A confirmation memo is intended to put in writing what has been agreed upon verbally. Consider the sales manager who promises to provide sales coverage in six additional cities if the general manager provides him with three more salespeople. When the managing partner and the marketing director agree on a course of action, it is common for the general manager to confirm the agreement in writing. The important guidelines when writing out this specific type of memo is to be specific when it comes to discussing major points, ensuring to enumerate the major points to emphasize them, and allowing and encouraging feedback when there are unclear points that could have been misunderstood.Periodic Report Memo: At regular intervals, periodic report memos such as monthly cost control reports and quarterly sales reports are submitted. Because these memos are frequently written, they are designed and preprinted to allow the writer to complete them quickly. Remember that the memo should be designed as a fill-in form where data can be quickly entered. In addition, the form should be designed to be duplicated and reused.Ideas and Suggestions Memo: Memos are sometimes used to convey ideas or suggestions. Managers frequently solicit suggestions from subordinates on how to solve specific problems. In such cases, a memo of ideas and suggestions is required. Begin with positive remarks about the current situation and then present change suggestions tactfully. Group ideas by subject and highlight them with headings. Finally, stay on topic and avoid deviating from another conversation. It is most important that the writer is able to distinguish and indicate how the mentioned recommendations are able to be implemented.Informal Study Results Memo: Organizational personnel is occasionally asked to record the findings of an informal study in a memo. The message’s goal is to present the information in an easy-to-read, understandable format. The guidelines for this type of memo are to state the purpose in the header section of the document, use headings and sub-headings to make the flow of reading much easier, stay on the topic of the discussion and address different issues separately, and finally, write the memo in an informal language and use personal pronouns.

How to Write an Interoffice Memo

The purpose of a Memorandum or interoffice memo is to inform the reader, not to persuade. Since decision-makers must integrate the content faster and may use the memo as a reference long after it is written, brevity is essential when writing the memo. This section of the article shows the interoffice memorandum parts that you or anyone in your company assigned to write one should keep in mind otherwise the structure and effectivity will be different. The available sample interoffice memo format can also help you out as a reference in the appearance of the document.

1. Add Title and Date

The title of a memo is direct and succinct, and it is always at the forefront of the page. Ideally, you want your statement to stand out among the mountains of paperwork and emails that plague today’s workplace. This is accomplished by tailoring your title to the intended audience or recipient. Another important aspect you should not forget is the date. The date is required as a time reference. It shows the recipient when the document was written and, in many cases, gives the memo a sense of urgency, indicating that the memo’s contents and instructions should be taken seriously.

2. Include Designations

The “To” field specifies who receives the memo, whether it is an entire company department, such as the marketing department, or an individual, such as the lead marketer role. The “to” memo line can be organized alphabetically or by title. If you are writing to a group or team, including the name of the team’s leader, manager, or Supervisor. You may feel as though it can be uncalled for to direct the document to specific individuals, but keep in mind that it is better to let them know the contents are meant for them than not doing so. Otherwise, they may have a tendency to ignore it and leave it on read.

3. Clarify Who It Is From

This line identifies the author or sender of the memo by name and title. To emphasize the importance of the memo, the title frequently includes the sender’s signature in the form of initials. This usually happens when a subordinate writes a memo for a supervisor or manager; the manager will sign off on the memo to show recipients that every item in the memo has been approved and requires attention or a response. In most cases, the HR manager is also the one who would be disseminating the memos to the employees by email especially when the contents of the memo have something to do with the entirety of the company than a specific department.

4. Write the Subject

This line defines the topic of the memo and must always be worded clearly, concisely, and compellingly. Above all, you want your document to stand out and convey your message. That process begins with the subject line, which should clearly state what the notice is about. Write the Objective of the memo or the title or issue that you will discuss in the memo’s contents, in one or two lines. Don’t skip out on this part because you won’t want your memo email to be ignored or worse, overlooked especially if the contents are of urgent awareness.

5. Prepare the Body

This section goes into greater detail about the memo. The first line is critical because it sets the tone for the rest of the memo. It’s best to divide the body of the memo into short paragraphs which are three at most. Remember that the goal of a good memo is to be clear and concise. The final paragraph should include a call to action, which should be compelling enough to compel the recipient to act. Don’t forget to include or write in detail what recommended solutions have been suggested, the actions that have been required done, as well as the expected outcomes of following through with the contents of the interoffice memo.

6. Sign Off With Closing Statements

The final section of the memo may include a signature from the sender at the bottom, but it is not required. Simply sign and date the signature to signify that you are responsible for the contents within the memo and let the reader know who is sending it. It is more important, however, to end the memo with a strong call to action, informing your readers of the specific action to be taken.

FAQs

What does an interoffice memo provide?

Various interoffice memoranda are generally used to send policy updates, reminders, and other confidential information to various departments within the company. Its purpose is to inform readers, draw their attention to problems, or remind them of important Events, deadlines, or tasks.

What are the advantages of sending out memos?

The most common written tool for internal communication is the memo. Memos have the advantage of being brief and to the point. It is a timely achievement. They can provide a permanent record for future reference. It is also written to remind someone of action if necessary. Furthermore, they are inexpensive because the content they contain is often limited to one to two pages, allowing for ink and paper conservation.

What makes a memo different from a letter?

A memo, like a Letter, can be handwritten, typewritten, or printed from a computer. Unlike a letter, a memo does not always require the use of a courier because it is intended for a recipient within the organization, though memos can also be sent to other branches of the company.

Sending out a formal interoffice memo is at times relevant, then at other times, sending out emails of other kinds of documents would be much more necessary. It all comes down to the content you are including within the email and identifying which type is fit for your audience. Keep in mind that you are catering to them, so people with limited attention spans could benefit from a memo.