The Memo Is Dead
Should We Still Teach Students How to Write One?
Amy Newman, ABC, New Orleans, October 2013
Gasping for Air
Mourning the
Demise
Resurrecting
Assignments
Gasping for Air
Mourning the
Demise
Resurrecting
Assignments
Gasping for Air
Surveyed Managers Spend No Time Writing Memos
40%
35%
30%
25%
20%
15%
10%
5%
0%
37%
20%
Lennox, Newman, and Wolfe, ABC Europe 2012
15%
11%
4%
4%
4%
3%
1%
“Memo” Is the New Q-tip
“Letters” Look a Lot Like Email
Gasping for Air
Mourning the
Demise
Resurrecting
Assignments
Will We Lose Learning Objectives?
Formatting
Paragraph development and transitions
Openings and closings
We need to spend more time teaching complex,
multi-channel, audience-focused
communication skills.
New Communication Model
Newman, Business Communication: In Person, In Print, Online, 9e
Gasping for Air
Mourning the
Demise
Resurrecting
Assignments
Breathing New Life into Assignments
Complex
• Add surrounding communications
• Switch audiences
MultiChannel
AudienceFocused
• Incorporate graphics
• Change formats
Add Surrounding Communications
Team Announcing a Change
Complex
MultiChannel
AudienceFocused
• Team Presentation of Bad News
• Employee Blog Comments
• Team Email Response
Resort or Restaurant Concept Proposal
• Standalone Proposal
• Cover Email
• Oral Presentation
• Voice Mail Message
Switch Audiences
Complex
Internal Benefit Report and Presentation
MultiChannel
AudienceFocused
• Report to an HR Manager Proposing a New
Employee Benefit
• Draft Email to Employees (Within the Report)
• Presentation to Employees Announcing the Program
Incorporate Graphics
Complex
MultiChannel
AudienceFocused
“One-Pager” (Written Summary)
•
•
•
•
Condensed Proposal
At Least One Graphic
Cover Email
Presentation (Meeting Format) with Handout
Incorporate Graphics: Example
Complex
MultiChannel
AudienceFocused
Change Formats
Complex
Creative Formats
MultiChannel
•
•
•
•
•
AudienceFocused
One-Pager
PPT Report
Blog Posts
Tweets
Facebook Posts
References
Andrew Beaujon, “Tim Armstrong Apologizes for Publicly Firing Abel Lenz,” Poynter, August 13, 2013,
http://www.poynter.org/latest-news/mediawire/221096/tim-armstrong-apologizes-for-publicly-firing-abel-lenz,
accessed August 14, 2013.
Martin Dickman, Termination of Disability Annuities, United States Railroad Retirement Board, April 21, 2013,
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/07/opinion/sunday/payback-on-the-lirr.html?nl=todaysheadlines
&emc=edit_th_20130707&_r=1&, accessed August 6, 2013.
Alison Doyle, “Resignation Email Letter Sample: Sample Letter of Resignation to Send by Email,” About.com, “Job
Searching,” http://jobsearch.about.com/od/resignationletters/a/resignemail.htm, accessed August 13, 2013.
Peter Kafka, “Tim Armstrong Apologizes for Publicly Firing Patch Employee,” All Things Digital, August 13, 2013,
http://allthingsd.com/20130813/tim-armstrong-apologizes-for-publicly-firing-patch-employee/comment-page-1/,
accessed August 14, 2013.
Leslie Kaufman, “AOL Chief Apologizes Over Firing of Worker,” The New York Times, August 13, 2013,
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/14/business/media/aols-armstrong-apologizes-to-staff-for-firing-ofemployee.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20130814, accessed August 14, 2013.
Cynthia King, “Introduction to the Rhetoric of Layoff Memos,” Business Communication Quarterly, September 2010,
Vol. 73, No. 3, pp. 320 – 322.
David Lennox, Amy Newman, Maria Wolfe, “How Business Leaders Communicate in 2012: Classroom Strategies for
Teaching Current Practices," ABC Europe, Nijmegen, The Netherlands, May 2012.
References (cont’d)
“Yahoo! Email: No More Working from Home,” BizCom in the News, February 25, 2013,
http://www.bizcominthenews.com/bizcom_in_the_news/2013/02/yahoo-memo-no-more-working-fromhome.html, accessed August 13, 2013.
Amy Newman, Business Communication: In Person, In Print, Online, 9e, (Mason, OH: Cengage Learning, 2013).
Amy Newman, “JPMorgan Chase Loses $2 Billion,” BizCom in the News, http://www.bizcominthenews.com/
bizcom_in_the_news/2012/05/jp-morgan-chase-loses-more-than-2b.html, accessed August 13, 2013.
Kara Swisher, “‘Physically Together’: Here’s the Internal Yahoo No-Work-From-Home Memo for Remote Workers
and Maybe More,” All Things Digital, February 22, 2013, http://allthingsd.com/20130222/physically-togetherheres-the-internal-yahoo-no-work-from-home-memo-which-extends-beyond-remote-workers/, accessed
August 13, 2013.
Jim Stevenson, Layoff Notice, SRI Homes, May 20, 2008 http://www.castanet.net/content/1211400840ice.jpg,
accessed August 6, 2013.
Phillip Stover, Budget Forecasting, Layoffs and Answers to Questions, San Diego Unified School District,
March 5, 2011, http://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/voiceofsandiego.org/content/tncms/assets/v3
/editorial/b/26/b26ae576-4a91-11e0-a317-001cc4c03286/4d77ecd634f78.pdf.pdf, accessed August 6, 2013.
United States Senate, Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, Committee on Homeland Security and
Governmental Affairs, “Exhibits,” Hearing on JPMorgan Chase Whale Trades: A Case History of Derivatives Risks &
Abuses, March 15, 2013, http://trendfollowing.com/whitepaper/jpm.pdf, pages 327 accessed August 13, 2013.
Thank You!
Amy Newman
Cornell University
amynewman@cornell.edu