In many workplaces, memorandums serve as a convenient and effective means of communicating. By answering questions in a memorandum, instead of in face-to-face communication, you can both increase the number of workers that your answer reaches and provide workers with a physical or electronic document to reference later should they forget the answer you gave. To ensure that your memo is as effective as possible, format your communication properly, and carefully compose it with your audience in mind.
Create a memo heading. Include the "Date:" followed by the full date on which you are sending out your memo, “To:” with an explanation of who you are sending the memorandum to, “From:” with your name, and “Subject:” with a concise description of the subject. If preparing your memorandum via email, this heading will likely already be in place for you. If typing your memo, place all of this information at the top of the memo, aligned to the left.
Place the question in the subject line. If the question you are addressing was overly long, condense it by shortening it into a phrase of two or three meaningful words. If you plan to address more than one question in your memorandum, list the subject of the questions, followed by “Q&A” to alert employees to the contents of the memo. By placing this question or the Q&A notation in the subject line, you make it easier for employees to find the memo should they need to reference it later.
Answer the question or questions concisely yet clearly. Employees want the answers to their questions, not verbose rambling. By keeping your answer clear and short, you can increase the likelihood that readers can understand the answer and respond effectively to it.
Tell the employees whom they should contact if they need additional information. If you want to clear up any confusion regarding the questions yourself, ask them to speak to you. If there is another department within your business that would be better-suited to answering questions about the topic, tell your employees to reference a specific individual within this department, and include this individual's contact information.
