The Writing of Business Memo on Memos

Date:	August 24, 1998
From:	Bob Inkster
To:	Members of English 332
Subject:	What To Do With The Memos

Following the schedule in our calendar for the course, I would like you to write me a series of memoranda that discuss your work and your thinking in English 332. As the note on the syllabus says, there are two different kinds of memos: Memos to the File (MTF) and Memos to Bob (MTB).

Purpose, Audience, Content?

We should treat these memos as we would if we were in a business or government organization. In fact, we are in a large state university, which is government organization, and one that to a large extent lives by the memo, so we don't have to pretend. I am the interested supervisor who wants you to do well personally and professionally in this organization. Therefore, I am interested in both your problems and your triumphs. I want to know what you're thinking/working on and how it's going. I also want to hear any ideas and suggestions you have about this class: people and other resources we should all know about, things you'd like more help on, etc.

In particular, you should use the Memo to Bob (MTB) to comment on the work you have just completed or that you have in progress: reactions, critiques, analyses, jeremiads, etc., on what you have just written. In contrast, the Memo to the File (MTF) is your processing of what you've just read. The memos should become a important way of guiding our learning together, identifying good questions and exploring good answers.

Format, Length?

Use the same format I'm using here. Unless you have an awful lot on your mind, these memos should be a page maximum. The header on the memo should indicate whether it's a memo to the file or a memo to me. I'll just scan the memos to the file quickly, but I'll read the memos to me more closely, and I'll respond, however briefly, to them, usually with just marginal notes back to you.

Why Do I Want to Do These Memos?

First, I believe we need to get as good as we can at using writing as a tool to help process our world and our work more effectively. Hence, the MTF's. Second, I need the feedback from you to help make this an effective course and me an effective teacher. Hence, the MTB's. Each person in this class is a resource who has something to offer. The memos are one way of making that offering. Second, I want to help you nurture the habit of sharing ownership and responsibility in the agenda of a group where there are organizational constraints such as grades, assignments, deadlines, and other people's schedules, as well as stylistic constraints such as the format requirements that I've imposed for these memos. The challenge is to speak and write in such a way that you satisfy both the organizational constraints and your own needs as a student and writer--that you prosper as a productive member of the group without giving up your personal integrity or voice.

Special Format Note on E-mail Memos to Bob

When you use e-mail to send a memo to me, use the following convention for the subject line. First type MTB (for Memo to Bob), then a slash, then the date (for example, 5SEP), then another slash, then your initials. So if I were writing a memo to Bob on September 5th, the subject line would read as follows: SUBJ: MTB/5SEP/RPI

For questions and suggestions, please e-mail us at kilbornj@stcloudstate.edu or rinkster@stcloudstate.edu.