As an Administrative Professional your job demands that you compose correspondence.  When you begin working for an organisation, you may compose draft copies or correspondence.  As you learn your position and needs of the company, you may send out correspondence under your own signature or write final copies for your employer to sign. Being a competent and careful writer is important to your success.

The Administrative Professional produces four basic types of written messages:

Email – throughout the world billions of emails are sent each day not only in the workplace but also at homes, schools, and universities.  Initially emails were an informal way of sending messages between friends and a quick and convenient way to send messages to others in the workplace.  As time has moved on, email has become a vital communication tool in the workplace and when composing an email, the same care should be taken as if writing a formal business document.  Many business transactions take place over email today.

Memorandums – although email has pretty much taken over memorandums in most workplaces, there is sometimes still a need for a memorandum.  A memorandum can be used when the correspondence is relatively lengthy (longer than one-half of an A4 page) or when a signed document is needed.  It can also be used for short reports.

Letters – letters are a more formal way of communication than emails and memorandums.  They are still the preferred method of communication when writing to current and prospective clients and customers.  Letters provide formal documentation that you and your client may want for future reference.

Reports – reports may be formal (table of contents, body, appendices, and references) or informal (two to three pages) in nature.