Write Effective Memos: Do your communications motivate or enervate?

It’s been a rough morning. You’re running late. You used your last K-cup yesterday and didn’t have time to pick up more. The line at Starbucks spans from the pick-up window to the parish outer limits. A pick-me-up just isn’t happening for you today.

So you come into the office and you can be one of two people: The person whose job it is to write corporate memos, or the one on the receiving end. If you’re the one writing the memo, you might want to hold off until you get your caffeine fix or you could end up the author of the infamous Air Commander memo which was leaked to InternalMemos.com by a disgruntled employee on the receiving end.

After reading the Air Commander memo, I threw my pen down, stood up, and exclaimed, “I quit!” Then I realized I can’t quit a company I don’t work for.

Never mind that the memo is:

1. Too long for a memo
2. Poorly written—grammatical errors abound
3. Formatted incorrectly

It’s overwhelmingly negative. 

Keep communications positive

Most likely your reader encountered the same line at Starbucks on their way to work. They aren’t going to be receptive to a reminder that not only do they suck at getting their caffeine fix, they also just suck in general. Thanks, boss!

So to avoid a full on insurrection, don’t start with complaints. When you communicate verbally with your co-workers, don’t you start with a pleasant greeting? A memo is the same way. Remind your audience that they are important. You value them. Because you value them, you have important information to share, and you take the time to make them feel good.

Once you’ve brightened their day, it can be tempting to slip in the problem section. You need to do this, that, and way better! NO! Don’t loose that positive voice now. Remind your team that they are always growing. These pointers are to help them improve the level of service they offer so they can grow, and in turn, the company will grow.

Pay sucks? Don’t keep reminding them!

On top of the negative tone and accusations of poor service, the author of the Air Commander memo frequently mentioned flight attendant’s pay issues. That’s a great way to remind an employee that they aren’t paid enough to put up with you. If there is an internal issue such as pay potentially affecting performance, now is not the time to remind them.

End on a high note

The author of the Air Commander memo attempted to end on a high note, but after a two-page rant it’s hard to believe it was sincere. In fact, the tone suggests poorly veiled contempt. A sudden tone switch will only further agitate an already agitated reader by adding insult to injury. Keep the tone positive throughout the entire communication, and end on a high note. 

Keep it relevant

If you absolutely have to alienate your audience, you don’t want to alienate the wrong audience. The examples of complaints the author provided are not even from the same region as the flight attendants being addressed. Perhaps the NW Regional Managing Director should be addressing his or her flight attendants. Hopefully that memo was more positively framed, but I have serious doubts. Air Commander has some very clear cultural issues within the company.

Be concise

Run-on sentences are peppered through this document. Points are repeated and are incredibly wordy. I wasn’t even entirely sure what the point of this memo was until I reached the second paragraph. At that point, I began to develop an inkling.

Every memo should have a subject line that concisely states the topic of the memo. A good memo stays on topic. Who cares who the largest competitors are? Good employees know their industry and know their competitors. Who cares what the complaining corporate accounts are worth? Every client is valuable and every experience should be consistent.

Too bad they didn’t have my help…

It’s too late for Air Commander, but it’s not too late for you to adjust the way you communicate. I recreated the offending memo as an example of how to properly construct your internal communication. Take a moment to view my example of a positive communication.

Hopefully you’ll remember these tips for your next internal memo. Don’t forget to stock up on those K-cups either!