Letters, Memos, Emails

Module 6

Letters, memos and emails

are a few of the types of correspondence used in the workplace.

Heading

Date

Inside Address

Salutation

Body

Complimentary Close

Signature

BASIC PARTS OF BUSINESS LETTER (HDISBCS)

Modern heading/Letterhead

Conventional heading

2 types of heading (MC)

Modern heading (letterhead)

– used by the company

Conventional heading

– used by individual

DATE

This is placed for the purpose of recording business events.

INSIDE ADDRESS

This is placed at the left-hand margin at approximately four or five single spaces below the date

SALUTATION

It serves as a greeting for the addressee. Use colon, instead of comma

BODY

This is the message of the letter. It has three parts: opening, body, closing.

COMPLIMENTARY CLOSE

This serves to end the message just as goodbye serves to end the conversation.

Signature

This contains the name of the writer.

company responsibility

individual responsibility

2 TYPES OF SIGNATURE (CI)

3, 4, 5

how many lines for company responsibility

2, 3, 4

how many lines for individual responsibility

Attention Line

Subject Line

Carbon Copy Notation

Blind Carbon Copy Notation

Reference Initials

Enclosure

Confidential

7 Miscellaneous Parts of a Business Letter (ASCBREC)

ATTENTION LINE

This is used by writers when a letter is addressed to a company in general.

ATTENTION LINE

This device is used for the purpose of directing the letter to the attention of a specific person or group within the company that can take care of handling the message.

SUBJECT LINE

This is a device used to indicate the subject with which the letter deals.

2 SPACES BELOW THE SALUTATION

CARBON COPY NOTATION

This device is used to by the writer when he sends duplicate copies of the letter to other people other than the addressee.

CARBON COPY NOTATION

This is written below the reference initials and is indicated on all copies of the letter

BLIND CARBON COPY NOTATION

– The writer uses this notation when he sends copies of the letter to other people other than the addressee.

BLIND CARBON COPY NOTATION

This is written only on the carbon copies but never on the original copy of the addressee because the writer does not want the addressee to know that he is furnishing copies of the letter to others.

POSTSCRIPT

This is written when the writer forgets to include an important point in the message

REFERENCE INITIALS

These are written two spaces below the last line of the signature at the left-hand margin. The initials include the secretary and the typist.

ENCLOSURE

– This is used if there are things enclosed in the letter.

Full Block Style

Block Style

Semi-Block Style

3 Types of Business Letter Formats/Styles

Full Block Style

all the parts are aligned at the left margin

Block Style

the heading (conventional heading), date, complimentary close and signature are written at the right margin. The body is not indented.

Semi – block style

the heading (conventional heading), date, complimentary close and signature are written at the right margin. The body is indented.

Inquiry letter

Complaint letter

Adjustment letter

Job application letter

Follow – up letter

Different Types of Letters (ICAJF)

Inquiry letter

ask a question or elicit information from the recipient

Complaint letter

The words and tone you choose to use in a letter complaining to a business may be the deciding factor on whether your complaint is satisfied.

Adjustment letter

normally sent in response to a claim or complaint.

Job application letter

also known as a cover letter, is a document sent with your resume to provide additional information about your skills and experience to an employer.

Follow – up letter

are usually sent after some type of initial communication.

memorandum

a document sent by one person or department to another usually within the same organization

memorare

to remember

memorandum

It is often routed, posted, and forwarded, which means it can reach a lot of people quickly.

Memos

have no salutation line and no signature area at the end.

to inform

to confirm

to suggest

to request

to explain

to announce

to report

7 PURPOSES OF MEMO (ICSREAR)

Heading

Body

Notations

PARTS OF MEMO

downward communication

upward communication

horizontal communication

3 Types of Memo According to Route

Routine memo

Non – routine memo

directive memorandum

3 Types of Memo According to Content or Nature

Routine memo

has a nature of a notice like notice of meeting, general assembly, formal and informal gathering, introduction of new staff, promotion and lateral transfer of an employee, and performance appraisal notice.

Non – routine memo

has the nature of an informal report and it is much monger compared to a standard routine memo.

directive memorandum

a policy or procedure you want the reader or co – worker to follow

electronic mail

Email

Email

allows transmission of letters, memos and other documents from one computer to another through a series of computer networks.

people

_____ use email daily because of the speedy transmission and the convenience

header

message

signature

attachment

4 component parts of email

to

from

date

subject

4 components parts of the header

Carbon Copy

means that you send the email to another person — or other people — in addition to the primary recipient or recipients. When you use cc, everyone who receives the email can see who else received it.

Blind Carbon Copy

also sends a copy of the email to one or more people beyond the primary recipient(s). But, in this case, anyone you bcc won’t be visible to the other recipients.

Disadvantage

People sometimes write overly long messages because email does not provide an automatic image of length. Is this an advantage or disadvantage of using email?

Advantage

Employees can make quick decisions using email and avoiding a time-consuming meeting. Is this an advantage or disadvantage of using email?

Disadvantage

Email can get lost in a daily sea of genuine email and spam. Is this an advantage or disadvantage of using email?

Advantage

Email creates a written record. Is this an advantage or disadvantage of using email?

Advantage

Managers can reach dozens of employees quickly. Is this an advantage or disadvantage of using email?

Advantage

Team members working on projects can communicate easily about email points without meeting. Is this an advantage or disadvantage of using email?

Advantage

People can avoid playing "telephone tag," which is frustrating and time-consuming. Is this an advantage or disadvantage of using email?

Advantage

People can communicate over long distances without regard to time zone differences. Is this an advantage or disadvantage of using email?

Disadvantage

People sometimes dash off hastily written, hardly planned, and negative messages without thinking. Is this an advantage or disadvantage of using email?

Advantage

Companies can save postage and paper costs. Is this an advantage or disadvantage of using email?

Disadvantage

Important communication is sometimes devalued if it arrives via email and not as a formal report. Is this an advantage or disadvantage of using email?

Disadvantage

A genuine email can be accidentally deleted or overlooked as the person tries to clear the inbox. Is this an advantage or disadvantage of using email?