Business Documents (Part 2)

1. Business Documents (Part 2) Agenda, Minutes, Reports, Itinerary, Table of Content & New Release

2. Agenda • An agenda –a list of items to be discussed or acted upon, prepared before meetings, events, and conferences • Margins • If the agenda is very short, it may be centered horizontally and/or vertically • Adjust margins (top and side) so that the agenda is attractively presented on the page • If letterhead stationery is used, leave .5 inches between the letterhead and the beginning of the agenda

3. Agenda Components: • Heading section – the organization name, date, location, and time of the meeting centered at top • Body – time slots, topics, and speakers/presenters Guidelines for keying • May include columns of times, topics, speakers, and locations or may simply be represented as a list of items • May be formatted with dot leader tabs to control the left-to-right flow of the text • Format varies according to the needs and preferences of each organization • If the agenda includes a list of incomplete sentences, no periods are required • Use a double space between numbered items • If the meeting or conference will last more than one day, list the day and date at the beginning of each section in bold • For agendas in column format, use the table feature

4. Minutes • Minutes – used to describe the discussions, decisions, and actions that occurred during a business meeting • In some cases, the minutes are detailed to cover every point of discussion because they may be used later for legal justification and documentation • Margins • Adjust margins (top and side) so that the document is attractively presented on the page • If letterhead stationery is used, leave .5 inches between the letterhead and the beginning of the document

5. Minutes Components: • Heading information • Name of organization or committee • Type of meeting, for example Regular Board Meeting • Date and time of meeting • Location of the meeting • Call to Order – formal declaration by the chairperson of the meeting that it has officially begun • Approval of Minutes – review of previous minutes by board members • Minutes may be emailed to board members prior to meeting to save time • Recommended edits and corrections are made during the approval of the minutes • Committee Reports – progress reports presented by sub-committee chairs • Old Business – unresolved discussions from a previous meeting • New Business – new topics and issues • Adjournment – notation of who adjourned the meeting • Signature line for recording secretary

6. Itinerary • Itinerary – used to indicate travel arrangements. Some itineraries include minute details about each day, while others simply list departure and arrival information including airline, departure/arrival gate, dates, and times • Margins • Adjust margins (top and side) so that the document is attractively presented on the page • If letterhead stationery is used, leave .5 inches between the letterhead and the beginning of the document

7. Itinerary • Components: • Name of traveler • Date and time of departure • Departure information – if by air, name of airport(s), gate numbers and flight numbers, airline, plane type, seat assignment, number of stops or layovers, flight change information, etc. • Lodging information including date and time of check-in and check-out, type of room, and amenities provided • Meeting times and locations, contacts, travel arrangements to and from meetings, times, and locations • Return times – same as departure information and transportation to departure site and to home from airport • Area attractions and other tourist-type information (optional)

8. Reports • Research report – a multi-page document that usually contains several sub-topics of information related to one main topic • MLA is a style used for reports that dictates specific punctuation styles, abbreviation uses, headings, margins, and arrangement of text • MLA format includes specific guidelines on the use parenthetical citations and works cited pages for the purpose of providing readers easy access to references used in the report • These formatting guidelines are in accordance with the MLA style • Margins – All margins should be set to one inch(unless bound)

9. Reports • Components • Title page (optional) – includes the, the name of the document, writer’s name, teacher/professor’s name (optional), and date of publication • Title – (required) – the identifying information keyed in the top left margin of the report • Header –writer’s last name and the page number • Body – the content • Parenthetical citations –reference note keyed in the body of the report • Endnotes/Footnotes – another type of reference format used in reports, but recommended for use only when necessary to add commentary or clarify • Endnotes are typically used to add commentary • References are used to cite a source • Works Cited – a complete listing of references cited parenthetically in the reportand keyed on a separate page • Notes – a complete list of resources and references used to accompany endnotes and keyed on a separate page

10. Table of Contents • Table of contents – used to accompany a report, document, or manuscript to list the topics and subtopics in the order in which they occur • Margins – same as the document it accompanies • Components • Table of Contents (title) • List of topics and subtopics and their respective pages • Page number – in roman numeral style at the bottom of the page

11. Table of Contents • Guidelines for keying • A table of contents may be prepared using the software’s automatic feature or manually • Center the heading Table of Contents in all caps and bold 2 inches from the top of the page. Use a double or triple space after the title • Double space all entries • The content of the table of contents is a list of each element of the report or document following the table of contents • Key each element at the left margin • Set a right dot leader tab and key the corresponding page number in the right margin • Subtopics within a topic should be indented an additional .5 spaces from the left • Include a page number in roman numeral format in the bottom center of each page • Single space multiple-line entries • Key entries in initial caps • Use a double or triple space before the appendix listing on the table of contents • Double space the items at the end of the report, such as the appendices and bibliography

12. News/Press Release • News/pressrelease – issued by an organization to emphasize specific information that it considers important. It is sent to members of the media and other stakeholders for the purpose of spreading the information to the public quickly. • Margins – no less than .5 inches • Components of a News/Press Release • The heading News Release, For Immediate Release, or Press Release • Date, time, location (city) of event • Description of the event

13. Software Features • Mailmerge is a feature that allows a user to create mass mailings of letters, mailing labels, and other documents and personalize the information in each • Macros are tools that allow a user to program repetitive tasks into the computer’s memory so that they can be quickly accomplished with the touch of a couple of keys that the user has selected • Trackchanges is a feature used when editing documents that allows the user and other editors to view changes that have been made to the document • Searchandreplace is a feature that allows global edits to a document • Styles are global formats for headings and other text within a document • The formatpainter is a feature that allows a user to copy the format of text to other areas in a document • The thesaurus is a handy feature that provides alternative word choices in a document • Comments is a feature used to add editorial remarks to a document • TemplatesandWizards are features used to automate the creation of documents. A template contains fields that are completed by the user. A wizard uses a template and adds helpful prompts for the user