ENG301 Assignment # 3 Solution

Question # 2 How can we differentiate between a memorandum and a circular?
A memorandum is limited to a single subject and its distribution within a company may be limited on a need to know basis.

A circular usually covers more than one topic, it is general in nature, and has wide distribution within a company.
Circular Introduction
Circular letters are used to send the same information to a number of people extensively used in sales campaigns and for announcing important developments in business,
such as extension, reorganizations, changes of address, etc.
A circular letter is prepared once only and it may then be duplicated for distribution to the various recipients. Names, addresses and individual salutations may be inserted after duplication in order to personalize the letter.
Writing Plan
Although circulars are being sent to many people, it is important to suggest an interest in the
recipient by giving them a personal touch. Remember the following rules:
• Be brief – people will not read a long circular
• Make the letter as personal as possible by addressing each letter to a particularly person, by name if you know it. Use dear Mr. Atif Faheem instead of Dear Reader, Dear Subscriber or Dear Customer instead of Dear Sir or Madam. Never use the plural form for the salutation – remember, one recipient will read each individual letter.
• Create the impression of personal interest by using you, never our customers, all customers, our clients, everyone.
• Explain why you are writing with more care than you would if you and your topic were already known to the recipient through previous specific contact. Given some suspicion of circulars, these days, you will have to establish your own credibility – or another motive for reading on – fairly quickly.
• Express yourself in a way that will be understandable and congenial to everyone in a wide audience with varying backgrounds and abilities.
• Don’t include detailed information or complex ideas.
• Make your letter more persuasive – not just to achieve its purposes, but to motivate the recipient to start reading it.
• Use word processing technology to personalize the circular to a very large extent.
Purpose of Memo
When you wish to write to someone within your own company, you will send a memorandum. Memos are used to communicate with other employees, may be located – whether in the same office, in the same building, or in a branch office many miles away.
Because the interoffice memorandum form was developed to save time, the formality of an inside addresses, salutation, and complimentary closing is omitted. Otherwise, however, office memos and letters have a great deal in common.
Formality is Omitted
The memorandum or ‘memo’ is a very flexible form used within an organization for
communication at all levels and for many different reasons. It performs internally the same function as a letter does in external communication by an organization, it is used for reports, briefings or instructions, brief messages or ‘notes’ and any kind of internal communication that is more easily or clearly conveyed in writing (rather than face-to-face or on the telephone).
In most companies and organization, memorandums are written in the first person, just as business letters are.The tone of the memo is influenced by the position held by the writer in relation to that held by the receiver.
An important factor is the personality of the individual receiving the memorandum. The president, for example, may insist on informality, whereas a peer might like a formal, impersonal tone.
Flow of Memo
A memorandum may be send upwards, downwards or sideways in the organization. It may be sent from one individual to another, from one department to another or from one individual to a department or larger body of staff. The channel will be the internal mail system of the organization, which may range from a bank of ‘pigeon holes’ for delivery and collection in person, to a desk-to-desk delivery system. Special ‘internal mail envelops’, designed for re-use (allowing each recipient name to be simply crossed out and replaced with the next), are commonly used.
Format
Memorandum format will vary slightly according to the degree of formality required and the organization’s policy on matters like filing and authorization of memoranda by their writer.

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