ENGLISH BUSINESS LETTER

1. ENGLISH BUSINESS LETTER How to Write Memos

2. 传真的写作 传真扉页一定要提供详细的人名，所在的部门或公司，传真的时间。而且越简洁、越清晰越好。传真文字的格式和风格与商业书信相似，但有时不如书信那么正规，特别是处理紧急事件时。不过传真中基本的格式和礼貌语言仍然是保留的。在某些商业情况下，手写的传真也能被接受，因为传真机就是用来快书传递文字信息的。写作原则与书信一样。

3. FAX Message To: June K Tan TrendssetterS Inc. Sales Director 160a New Texas Avenue,New Island Silks York,USA 6 Golden Plaza Tel: 75924366 Fax: 57924367 Beach Island Page 1 of 1 Hong Kong Tel: (852) 4659013 Fax: (852) 4659014 July 18, 2008 ________________________________________________ Miriam Designer Collection Silk Scarves -------- (signature)

4. What is a memo? • A memo is: • a hard-copy (sent on paper) document • used for communicating inside an organization • usually short

5. What is a memo? • A memo is: • contains To, From, Date, Subject Headings and Message sections • does not need to be signed, but sometimes has the sender's name at the bottom to be more friendly, or the sender's full name to be more formal.

6. Example Memos • MEMO • To: Katherine Chu, Regional Manager • From: Stephen Yu, Sales • Date: 29 May 2008 • Subject: Notification of My Resignation • I am writing to inform you of my intention to resign from G & S Holdings.

7. Example Memos • MEMO • I have appreciated very much my four years working for the company. The training has been excellent and I have gained valuable experience working within an efficient and professional team environment. In particular, I have appreciated your personal guidance during these first years of my career. • I feel now that it is time to further develop my knowledge and skills base in a different environment.

8. Example Memos • MEMO • I would like to leave, if possible, in a month's time on Saturday, 28 June. This will allow me to complete my current workload. I hope that this suggested arrangement is acceptable to the company. • Once again, thank you for your support.

9. Example Memos • MEMO • To:  Health & Safety Committee • From: Joe Chan, Chairperson, H&S Ctte • Date: 29 May '08  • Subject:  Room change for next meeting • The meeting on Saturday, 28 June has been changed to Room 101.

10. Why write memos? • Memos are useful in situations where e-mails or text messages are not suitable. For example, if you are sending an object, such as a book or a paper that needs to be signed, through internal office mail, you can use a memo as a covering note to explain what the receiver should do.

11. How to write a memo • Memos should have the following sections and content:

12. How to write a memo 1.A 'To' section containing the name of the receiver. For informal memos, the receiver's given name; e.g. 'To: Andy' is enough. For more formal memos, use the receiver's full name. If the receiver is in another department, use the full name and the department name.  It is usually not necessary to use Mr., Mrs., Miss or Ms unless the memo is very formal.

13. How to write a memo 2.A 'From' section containing the name of the sender. For informal memos, the sender's other name; e.g. 'From: Bill' is enough. For more formal memos, use the sender's full name. If the receiver is in another department, use the full name and the department name. It is usually not necessary to use Mr., Mrs., Miss or Ms unless the memo is very formal.

14. How to write a memo 3.A 'Date' section. To avoid confusion between the British and American date systems, write the month as a word or an abbreviation; e.g. 'January' or 'Jan'. 4. A Subject Heading.

15. How to write a memo 5.The message. Unless the memo is a brief note, a well-organised memo message should contain the following sections:

16. How to write a memo a. Situation - an Introduction or the purpose of the memo b. Problem (optional) - for example: "Since the move to the new office in Kowloon Bay, staff have difficulty in finding a nearby place to buy lunch."

17. How to write a memo c. Solution (optional) - for example: "Providing a microwave oven in the pantry would enable staff to bring in their own lunchboxes and reheat their food." d. Action - this may be the same as the solution, or be the part of the solution that the receiver needs to carry out; e.g. "we would appreciate it if you could authorise up to $3,000"

18. How to write a memo • e.Politeness - to avoid the receiver refusing to take the action you want, it is important to end with a polite expression; e.g. "Once again, thank you for your support.", or more informally "Thanks".

19. How to write a memo 6.Signature

20. How to Write a Business Report • Terms of Reference • Margaret Anderson, Director of Personnel has requested this report on employee benefits satisfaction. The report was to be submitted to her by 28 June.

21. How to Write a Business Report • Procedure • A representative selection of 15% of all employees were interviewed in the period between April 1st and April 15th concerning: 1. Overall satisfaction with our current benefits package 2. Problems encountered when dealing with the personnel department 3.Suggestions for the improvement of communication policies 4. Problems encountered when dealing with our HMO(Health Maintenance Organization)

22. How to Write a Business Report • Findings 1. Employees were generally satisfied with the current benefits package. 2. Some problems were encountered when requesting vacation due to what is perceived as long approval waiting periods. 3. Older employees repeatedly had problems with HMO prescription drugs procedures. 4. Employees between the ages of 22 and 30 report few problems with HMO. 5. Most employees complain about the lack of dental insurance in our benefits package. 6. The most common suggestion for improvement was for the ability to process benefits requests online.

23. How to Write a Business Report • Conclusions 1. Older employees, those over 50, are having serious problems with our HMO's ability to provide prescription drugs. 2. Our benefits request (petition for)system needs to be revised as most complaints concerning in-house processing. 3. Improvements need to take place in personnel department response time. 4. Information technology improvements should be considered as employees become more technologically savvy(intelligence).

24. How to Write a Business Report • Recommendations 1. Meet with HMO representatives to discuss the serious nature of complaints concerning prescription drug benefits for older employees. 2. Give priority to vacation request response time as employees need faster approval in order to be able to plan their vacations. 3. Take no special actions for the benefits package of younger employees. 4. Discuss the possibility of adding an online benefits requests system to our company Intranet.

25. How to Write a Business Report • Important Points to Remember • 2. A report is divided into four areas: • Terms of Reference- This section gives background information on the reason for the report. It usually includes the person requesting the report. • Procedure- The procedure provides the exact steps taken and methods used for the report. • Findings- The findings point out discoveries made during the course of the report investigation.

26. How to Write a Business Report • Conclusions- The conclusions provide logical conclusions based on the findings. • Recommendations- The recommendations state actions that the writer of the report feels need to be taken based on the findings and conclusions.

27. How to Write a Business Report 2. Reports should be concise and factual. Opinions are given in the "conclusions" section. However, these opinions should be based on facts presented in the "findings". 3. Use simple tenses (usually the present simple) to express facts. 4. Use the imperative form (Discuss the possibility ..., Give priority ..., etc.) in the "recommendations" section as these apply to the company as a whole.