Transcript Document

Reports, Memos and Minutes
Generally speaking the three typologies have fairly similar
functions, though they can, for simplicity’s sake, be
distinguished in the following way:
Reports refer to a wide variety of documents that provide
accounts of something witnessed or examined, work
carried out and results obtained, procedure, investigations
and ensuing conclusions.
Memos (short for internal memoranda) are brief internal
communications designed “to help the memory” and to
have a written record of something that has been said
verbally. As reminders to personnel, they usually contain
recommendations or instructions, occasionally proposals.
Minutes refer to the more or less verbatim report that is
drawn up at the end of an official meeting and which is
presented in a successive meeting to be approved by those
who were present on the previous occasion.
Style in all three typologies follows the basic rules that
characterize English generally and business English more
specifically, namely correctness or appropriateness of
language and stylistic convention, clarity by means of
simplicity of thought and structure, avoiding pretentious or
flowery language, and conciseness, by avoiding verbosity
in favour of coming to the point quickly, without ever
sacrificing correctness or clarity. It is a total misconception
to believe short, clear communications to be insignificant
communications.
Reports
Reports are normally of two kinds, routine or special.
The routine report is when a particular procedure or
moment requires it, such as the Director’s annual report,
the auditors’ report etc. and for which there is usually a
precedent.
The special or ad hoc report is generally commissioned
by a superior, client or authority and are once-only reports
usually with no precedent. They are often the concluding
document of the work carried out by a special, ad hoc
committee that has been set up to deal with a particular
problem or by an individual responsible for an
investigation or special task, for which a report is required
at the end for the approval of the Director(s) or the Board.
Report Types
Report typologies also depend somewhat on length, the
short, summary report being little more than a résumé
about something witnessed or read, or an interpretation of
figures or data. The full or detailed report, on the other
hand, is a complete document providing full, exhaustive
details of findings and, if required, recommendations. The
full report may have a short résumé at the beginning, a list of
contents or headings, the actual layout of the text being
similar in form to the chapter of a book.
Usually, the short report is contained in a letter, as long as
the subject matter is simple and linear, the format being more
or less the same as any business letter. The full report is
usually a separate document, or a mixture of letter
(containing the résumé) plus report document attached.
The standard report document layout normally consists of
résumé + contents + text or also contents + résumé + text.
The contents or headings correspond to the various
sections in the report and facilitate cross-referencing:
1.0
Contents
p. 1
2.0
Résumé
p. 1
3.0
Causes of Drop in Sales
p. 2
3.1
Previous 3-year trend
p. 2
3.2
2001 Situation
p. 5
3.3
Structural + Market Causes
p. 14
Recommendations
p. 22
4.0
Internal Memos
The memo or memorandum (plural: memoranda) is usually an
unsolicited short report from an executive to staff about some
matter that s/he has been thinking or worrying about The sort
of subject that is often dealt with is how to improve office
efficiency or company policy with regard to a given situation,
event or problem. Memos normally are written on pre-printed
schematised forms with a header indicating little more than
addresser, source department, addressee(s) and date:
IBM Italy Spa
Department ...................................Date...............................
From .............................................. To..................................
The memo form normally contains a very limited space for the
actual text which consists of little more than introductory
reasons for the memo, followed by the actual instructions,
reminders or arrangements the memo is dealing with. They are
generally unsigned
The wording of the memo should be direct, unambiguous,
relevant and kept to a minimum. It is generally friendly in
tone, especially if it is the first time the memo goes out. Final
warnings are of course likely to be more severe in tone, though
polite at all times.
They are the most common form of internal written
communication in large companies and the day-to-day running
of the organisaton depends on this form of clear, concise
transmission of information.
Minutes of a Meeting
For all meetings, adequate notice must be given to those who
are to participate, notice which may simply be oral if the
meeting is informal, but which must be in writing well in
advance (receipt at least 10 days prior) for formal meetings.
Indeed, public announcements or advertisements in the daily
newspapers are also used for large very formal meetings like
general assemblies or annual meetings of shareholders.
The convening notice must be dated and mention the date,
time and venue of the meeting. It normally contains the
agenda for the meeting or at least mentions the main points for
discussion. The notice should be sent to all persons entitled to
attend and it is common practice for people unable to attend to
send an apology, so that the organisers know that everyone has
received the notice.
IBM Italia Spa – AGM
Notice is hereby given that the 32nd Annual Meeting of the
Shareholders will be held in the IBM Conference Hall, via
Ponticchio 10, Milan on the 19th Day of January, 2002 at 11
a.m. with the purpose of considering the following points to
be included in the agenda:
•Director’s Report and Statement of Accounts for Year ended 31st
December 2001;
•Election of Directors and Appointment of Auditors for the Years 20022003;
•a.o.b..
A member entitled to attend and vote may appoint a proxy.
Signed and dated this 27th Day of December 2001, by order
of the Board,
xxxxxx
Company Secretary
The Agenda is simply the formal list of items to be discussed
during a meeting. It may or may not be prepared in advance,
according to the Company Rules. It is normally the appointed
secretary who draws up the agenda, although it may be the
chairperson who does it in very small committee meetings.
The agenda establishes the items and the order in which these
items are discussed. Many of the items you will see on the
agenda are standard company procedure, whereas the various
individual motions vary from company to company.
The most formal meetings require that the motions be written
into the agenda as well as the names of the moving proposer
and seconder. In less formal meetings, the proposal may be
moved orally and a seconder found from among the
participants of the meeting.
Agenda
1. Election of Chairperson and Secretary (if necessary)
2. Reading of Convening Notice and Declaration of Quorum
3. Reading of Minutes of previous meeting
4. Points arising from minutes and approval of previous minutes
5. Correspondence
6. Chairperson’s opening remarks
7. Business adjourned from last meeting (if any)
8. Election of officers
9. First motion: that the company adopt a policy of flexitime to avoid
traffic congestion and overloading public transport between 8.309.30 a.m. and between 4.30 –5.30 p.m. (Smith & Jones)
10. a.o.b.
11. Vote of thanks to Chairperson
12. Meeting declared closed
Minutes of the Meeting are first and foremost a record of the
decisions taken and, once approved by the subsequent meeting
and signed by the chairperson and secretary, are legally
binding and may not be altered.
Essentially, the minutes should consist of date and place of
meeting, the names of those present with voting rights, the
proxies, the apologies and (if any) those present without
voting rights referred to as those in attendance. Then, of
course, the minutes will cover the items of business transacted,
following the order of the agenda (unless the chair varied the
order with the meeting’s approval).
The length varies from actual verbatim reports (committees at
the European Parliament) to simply a list of the motions
carried, known as resolutions.
It is important to find a happy balance between these two
extremes.Certainly, recording every single thing that is said is
an exaggeration, just as is a simple list of resolutions without
any background discussion at all. But at all times they must be
clear (no ambiguities!), accurate and concise:
MINUTES OF MEETING OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Present:
Apologies:
Mr Jack Murphy (Chair), Ms. G. Poncini, Ms. Julia
Roberts, Mr Frank Tyler, Mr Giulio Bruni, Ms.
Caterina Rossi, Mr Roberto Gubizza (secretary)
Sir Harry Putnam, Mr Chris Stevens.
In attendance:
Mr Paul Crockett (external auditor)
1. Reading of Notice and Declaration of Quorum The Secretary
reads the Convening Notice, notes the number of members present,
the proxy Sir Henry Putnam has given to Mr G. Bruni and, given
that the number exceeds the minimum required, declares the
meeting quorate and therefore in order to proceed. The Chair opens
the meeting at 11.05 a.m.
2. Reading of Minutes of previous meeting The Secretary reads the
minutes of the previous meeting held on the ....... at ......... p.m. in
........ Milan.
3. Points arising from minutes and approval of previous minutes
There being no points arising from the minutes, Ms. Poncini moves
that the minutes be approved, Mr Bruni seconds, and the motion is
carried unanimously.
4. Correspondence The Chair reads the following correspondence
directly addressed to the Board: letter dated 21/11/2001, ref. n°
AO/592/01, inviting members to Town Hall Christmas reception on
15th December 2001; letter from The Times dated 22/11/200, ref. n°
AO/622/01 requesting statement regarding Company’s development
plans in the rural area of Little Walston in Berkshire; letter of
thanks dated 29/11/01, ref. n° AO/ 634/2001, from Mr Paul Taylor for
his retirement gift presented to him at his farewell party at the end
of October.
5. Chairperson’s opening remarks: The Chair welcomes the
members present and reminds them that the meeting will have to
move quickly as there is a Press Conference at 5 p.m. and
warmly invites members to be present to put on a show of
solidarity.
6. Election of officers The Chair informs the meeting that the
election for staff representative on the Board of Directors has
been held. There were three candidates, Mr James Halford
(Sales), Ms Beatrice Cusumano (Human Resources) and Ms.
Caterina Rossi (Public Relations & Outgoing representative).
Staff turn-out was 67%, the candidates obtained the following
votes: Halford 22, Cusumano 40, Rossi 72. The Chairperson, on
behalf of all members, thanked all three candidates for their
participation, congratulates Ms Rossi and welcomes her back to
the Board.
7. First motion: that the company adopt a policy of flexitime to avoid
traffic congestion and overloading public transport between 8.309.30 a.m. and between 4.30 –5.30 p.m., that staff may arrive at
anytime in the morning between 7.30-9.30 and may leave in the
evening at any time between 4.30 –6.30 maintaining a total number of
working hours of not less than 7 per day proposed by Ms Rossi and
seconded by Mr Bruni led to further discussion as to whether or not
consideration should be made of congestion at lunch time and
whether or not to introduce a flexi-lunch hour. Ms Poncini proposes
and Ms Roberts seconds an amendment to the motion
that the words “ may take lunch at any time between 12.30-2.30 pm” to
be inserted between the words “9.30 ....and”.
The motion for amendment is carried unanimously. The substantive
motion
that the company adopt a policy of flexitime to avoid traffic congestion
and overloading public transport between 8.30-9.30 a.m. and between
4.30 –5.30 p.m., that staff may arrive at anytime in the morning
between 7.30-9.30, may take lunch at any time between 12.30-2.30 pm
and may leave in the evening at any time between 4.30 –6.30, while
maintaining a total number of working hours of not less than 7 per day
is carried by 6 votes for, 0 votes against, 1 abstention.
8. a.o.b. There being no further business from the Chair, the item is
opened to the floor. Ms Poncini apologizes for not being able to
be present at the Press Conference due to a prior engagement
and asks to put in the minutes her request that members be
informed of such events in the Convening Notice. Jack Murphy
replies that it is not possible to include events in the Notice if they
are arranged subsquently. Furthermore, there is no obligation to
attend, simply an invitation. He does however assure Ms. Poncini
that in future he will do his best to see that members are formally
invited in good time. There was no further business brought up
from the floor.
9. Vote of thanks to Chairperson Mr Giulio Bruni (Vice-President)
moves a motion of thanks to the Chair and mentions members’
particular appreciation for the speed and efficiency of the
meeting. Mr Tyler seconds. The motion is carried.
10. Meeting declared closed The Chairperson thanks the members
for their attention and for making his job so easy. Having
covered all the items on the agenda and there being no further
business, he declares the meeting closed.