Week 9
• Inter-Office Memo, Fax, & E-mail
• A. Inter-Office Memo
– Format
• A memo generally correspondence written from one person in
a company to another in the same company
• Most companies provide business forms and restrict interoffice memo to one subject at a time, to facilitate filing &
encourage conciseness, and clarity
• A memo can also be as an informal letter to someone outside
the company.
• Block format is usually used.
Week 9
• A. Inter-Office Memo
– Parts
• A memo generally has five parts:
– TO: Do not include an address or title, such as Mr. Or Ms.
– FROM: Instead of a signature, the sender signs his or her
initials next to his or her name. You can decide whether or not
to add the person’s job title, such as “Manager.”
– DATE: This is the date of the memo.
– SUBJECT: The subject line sometimes abbreviated as “SUB:”,
“SUBJ:”, “RE:”, or “REF” (for “Reference”). The subject line
tells what the memo is about.
– BODY: The body of a memo discusses the subject.
Week 9
• B. Fax
– Format
• A fax (short for facsimile) is a type of
correspondence sent electronically through phone
lines. A long fax is more expensive to send than a
short one.
• Most businesses have a separate telephone line for
receiving and sending faxes. This is called a
dedicated line.
Week 9
• B. Fax
– Parts
• A fax transmission often has two parts.
– Cover Sheet
» If a fax is more than one page, include a cover sheet. The
cover sheet is the first page pf the fax. This page may vary
from company to company, but usually includes the
following sections: addressee’s name & title, sender’s name
& title, sender’s fax & phone numbers, date, number of
pages, subject/reference line, and message.
» It is important to include how many pages are in the fax.
The recipient needs to know if all the pages were sent.
» It is also important to include phone numbers on the cover
sheet. If a page is missing or the fax is unclearly
transmitted, you can call and ask the sender to fax it again.
– Attachment
» An attachment is the material you are sending
Week 9
• C. E-Mail
– Format
• Many companies send messages both internally and externally
through their computers. These messages are called electronic
mail or e-mail. E-mail is a fast and inexpensive way to
communicate and a less formal method of correspondence.
• In addition to sending messages, you can attach an existing
file, such as a word-processed document or a spreadsheet or a
picture file, to an e-mail message
Week 9
• C. E-Mail
– Parts
• There are usually five parts to an e-mail message.
• The sender’s name and the date & the time are
provided automatically by the computer.
• The sender types in the e-mail address of the person
receiving the message, the subject, and the message.
Week 9
• C. E-Mail
– Guidelines
• 1. Don’t send messages in all capital letters. Typing in all
capital letters show anger or impatience.
• 2. Try to respond to e-mails immediately. Let the sender know
you’ve received the message. If you don’t have time to
respond completely, send a message saying when you will be
able to respond.
• 3. Re-read your e-mails before you send them. Once they are
sent, you can’t get them back. Be careful of your tone. The
recipient may not understand that you are saying something in
a humorous way, for example.
• 4. Write a short and specific description of your message in the
subject line.
• 5. If your e-mail program has a spell-check feature, use it.
Week 9
• C. E-Mail
– Guidelines
• 6. Your message is not private. Other people can read it, either
by mistake or on purpose. Your reader could send it to other
people. Be careful of what you say.
• 7. Be careful and safe about the information you share over email.
• 8. Check your e-mail inbox frequently.
• 9. Remember that not everyone has the same background as
you. They may not understand that Dr. Pepper is a soft drink
or that Kleenex is a tissue.
• 10. Be polite and professional. Try not to send e-mails that are
very long.
Week 9
– Homework Assignment
» 1. Write a memo asking your secretary to draft a
condolences letter to one of your employee.
» 2. Write a fax, include a cover sheet, about sending
your resume to a company.
» 3. Write an e-mail asking your secretary to draft a
congratulation letter for 50th wedding anniversary of
your friend.