Write and send a memo

Memos and circulars are written on an official template, approved by the right officer, and then circulated to the staff you choose. This page takes you from a blank memo to one on its way for approval.

Memos live under Memos & Circulars in the Workspace group of the menu. You need permission to write memos; if you do not see Write a memo, ask your head of unit or secretary to draft it for you.

How a memo goes out

1. You write it and select Save draft. Only you can see a draft.
2. You select Submit for approval. It gets its reference number and goes to the approvers the template names (for example your head of unit, or the CMD for a CMD circular).
3. When the last approver approves, it is circulated automatically: everyone in its audience is notified and it appears under For me on their Memos & Circulars page.

Nobody except you and the approvers sees the memo until it is circulated.

The Memos & Circulars page

1. Write a memo. Opens a new memo.
2. Views. For me is what has been circulated to you. Written by me holds your drafts, memos in approval and the ones you sent. Approvers also see Awaiting approval.
3. Search. By subject or reference.
4. A memo. Who sent it, when, the subject and the first line. Urgent and High priority memos are marked. Select it to read it.

Write the memo

1. Select Write a memo. The composer opens with a page that looks like the printed memo.
2. Choose the template in the box at the top. It sets the letterhead, the reference number and who approves it (see the table below). The one you use most is chosen for you.
3. Fill in the head of the memo. To: is the addressee as printed (for example “All Heads of Department”); it is required on the letterhead templates. Through: appears on templates that have it. From: is filled in with your name and position. Ref. No. says Given when it is approved: you never type it.
4. Type the subject where it says What is this memo about? It prints in capitals.
5. Write the body where it says Write the memo…. Use the toolbar for headings, bold, lists and tables.

1. Memo template. Choose the kind of memo.
2. Write / Preview / Letterhead. Switch between writing, a plain preview, and the memo exactly as it will print on the letterhead.
3. Save draft. Saves the memo and opens its page.
4. Subject.
5. Body.
6. Who can see it. Everyone, or Selected units and people.
7. Priority. Low, Normal, High or Urgent.

Templates at UATH

A memo can never be approved by the person who wrote it. That is why a secretary drafts a circular “from the CMD” and the CMD approves it.

The last option in the list, Plain memo (no letterhead, no approval), has no letterhead. It still needs an approver: when you submit it, you choose the approval route on the memo’s page.

Choose who receives it

Use the side panel on the right.

Who can see it

A new memo starts on Selected units and people with nobody chosen. Everyone sends it to every member of staff. Selected units and people lets you pick Units (a unit includes all its sub-units) and individual People. If you choose nobody you are warned Nobody chosen yet; you cannot submit it like that.

Priority

Normal unless it needs action quickly. High and Urgent memos are marked in the list and show on the recipients’ home page under Needs your attention.

Stop showing it after (optional)

A date after which it drops off the For me list. Use it for notices that expire, such as a meeting reminder.

The What happens next box at the bottom of the panel tells you which approval route the template will use.

Preview it

1. Select Preview to read the page without the editing tools.
2. Select Letterhead to see it exactly as it will print: letterhead, reference, date and signature block.
3. Select Write to go back and change anything.

Save and send it for approval

1. Select Save draft. If something is missing you see Some details are missing; the missing parts are outlined. The memo’s page opens.
2. Check the details in About this memo on the right: Sent to, Status (Draft), Template.
3. Select Submit for approval. A box asks Send this memo for approval? and warns that you cannot edit it while it is reviewed.
4. Select Submit. The memo gets its reference number, its status becomes In progress, and the first approver is notified.

1. Submit for approval.
2. Edit. Reopens the composer while it is a draft.
3. About this memo. Who it goes to, its status, reference and template.

If the memo is a plain memo, or its template does not name an approval route, a card Who approves this memo? appears first. Choose the route from Choose an approval workflow, then submit.

After you submit

• Follow it under Written by me, or on the memo’s page, where the Approval chain shows who holds it.
• Changed your mind? Select Withdraw from approval on the memo’s page. It goes back to Draft and you can edit it.
• Sent back? If an approver rejects it, you are notified with their comment and the status becomes Rejected. Select Edit, make the changes, save, and Submit for approval again.
• Circulated. When it is finally approved, its status becomes Circulated and everyone in the audience is notified in the suite and by email.
• Need to change a circulated memo? Select New version on it. A copy opens for editing and goes through approval again. Archive takes a memo off the staff lists but keeps it on record.

Related

• Take a memo through approval
• Memos reference
• Memo templates (for administrators)