Business writing (деловое письмо). Палагина С.С. - 90 стр.

      6.4 The Form of the Memorandum

     Most companies have developed specific printed forms for their memos in an
attempt to reduce all details to a standard pattern. The ultimate purpose of any such
form should help the writer get on with his message as soon as possible. They place
at the top of the first page, where it is readily accessible in the files, all the
information about who wrote it, to whom it was sent, when it was written, and what
was its subject. These topics should be arranged for maximum efficiency in typing
and easy reading, as in the following typical example:
                        THE BLANK ELECTRIC COMPANY
                                    MEMORANDUM                          page no. 1

TO Members of                         FROM               C. W. Black DATE May 17, 1953
   Management Committee               PHONE              757
                                      SUBJECT            Advanced Management Program

     The individual elements of such a form will, of course, depend on the size,
diversity, and location of the business. Companies with plants or buldings in various
places usually have “Location” or “Plant” or “Bulding” in place of the phone
extension. Businesses with a large number of offices in the same building frequently
include “Room” or “Office” or “Department” under “To” and “From” so that internal
mail can be delivered easily. Small concerns often reduce the elements to “To”,
“From”, “Subject”, and “Date”. Practice varies considerably on whether titles are
used, either as part of the printed form or the typed information; for example, the use
of such titles as:

     TO: Ms. Florence E. Virden, Director of Personnel
FROM: Mr. Charles W. Black, Manager of Personnel Evaluation

should be cut to a minimum unless a very good reason exists for their use. Generally
speaking, the larger the company, the more information is needed; but even here,
every element on the memo form should be carefully scrutinized to see whether it is
absolutely necessery. The classic four W’s, which a good newspaper reporter should
answer in his or her lead, still constitute the best guide for material to be included on
a memo form – Who? What? When? Where?

      6.5 Writing the memorandum

    Probably the most widely used pattern for the memorandum is:
    1) Telling your reader what you are going to do and how you are going to do it;
    2) Doing what you said you were going to do in the way you said you would;
    3) Summing up what you have done or drawing conclusions or making
recommendations on the basis of what you have said.



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