As internal documents, memos are a great way to communicate one message to many employees simultaneously. Shorter than letters, memos summarize information and can direct employees to other sources, such as their supervisors, for ancillary details. If your company is planning a project, posting an all-hands-on-deck memo is an efficient way to call their attention to the pertinent details. Write a brief four- or five-paragraph memo, ensuring that you underscore the importance of their cooperation with the company project.

Type four underscore lines at the top of your memo, each at the far left margin and single-spaced, beginning with "Date," "To," "From" and "Subject." Place a colon after each word and follow with the proper information. After “To:,” direct the memo only to employees who will be working on the project. Fill the other lines accordingly.

Devote the first paragraph of your memo to an explicit overview of the project and why it’s important that employees do their part to ensure its completion. For example, say your company is planning to replace all computer hard drives, monitors and keyboards. Your introduction might say, “I am pleased to announce that XYZ Marketing will provide employees with completely new computer workstations on Friday, April 26. It is vital that you follow the procedures established by our tech department to ensure that this project is completed in a timely and efficient manner.”

Provide specific directions and explain those tasks that you expect employees to undertake. You might wish to summarize these details in bullet points. In this example, you should supply what time the transition will take place and precisely what you expect employees to do, such as save all their work by a certain time, shut down their computers, and leave their monitors and keyboards on their desks.

Anticipate and address employee questions to the best of your ability. In this case, you might assure employees that none of their work or files will be lost and tell them when the new computer system will be operational. You also might include a web link so they can get a preview of their new workstations and the features they contain.

Supply a rationale for why the project is being undertaken and what it is expected to achieve. Projects can either invigorate employees or unwittingly create stress, so try to “rally the troops” with a little public relations that depicts your company in a favorable light. In this example, you might say the new computer system was selected after employee consultations (if it was) and is designed to improve their efficiency and comfort when completing daily tasks.

Close your memo on a positive note, encouraging employees to consult their immediate supervisor if they have questions or concerns. Thank them “in advance” for cooperating with a project that you are “confident will enhance their day-to-day enjoyment of working for XYZ Marketing.”

Confer with the proper authorities before disseminating your memo – in this case, perhaps your immediate supervisor as well as your tech department. Verify the accuracy of your memo to avoid having to send out another memo to correct errors in the original.

Post your memo in prominent places and perhaps take the extra step of placing a copy on the desk of every affected employee or else email it. You might wish to write a reminder memo a day before the project begins.

Tip

To ensure that all employees have read your memo and intend to comply with your directives, you might wish to add a sentence in your memo asking employees to send you an email confirmation.