Length: No more than 1,000 words. Be concise and to the point. Write enough to convince your boss that you know what you are doing and need to do the research, but not so much that they do not read the entire memo.
Much of this course is about building an information-based case for the public relations or communications plan you recommend and then evaluating the success of that plan after it has been executed. The information is of no use to you or anyone else if you cannot marshal it to make the argument that your communications plan will help your organization achieve its business objectives. Every organization suffers from resource constraints, so in order to gather the information you need to develop your communications plan, you need to make the case to your management that having this information will increase the probability that your program will succeed and that your organization will achieve the germane business objective.
I’m asking you to do this because this is what you likely will need to do to get research approved at your organization. But no matter where you work or what you do, you will need to make these written or oral arguments to influence the people with whom you work and to drive events. In the best of all worlds, this exercise will help you to be not only a more effective communications manager, but a more effective manager in general.
Now, on to your Management Memo
Consider a high-impact business issue your research topic organization faces, and imagine you are the PR/PA director. (If you want to use an organization you are close to, but are uncomfortable using its actual name, feel free to rename it. But be sure to meet all requirements of the assignment and do not use material you already have done for work or school. However, I would be pleased if you could actually use your memo for this course at work to get funding for a real, work-related, campaign-driving research project. A number of my past students have done this, which I think is grand.)
Write a memo ( 1,000 words) to your boss laying out why it’s important to spend some of the organization’s limited funds on communications research. Your memo must include the following elements:
An objective statement for your research. What is the specific, critical knowledge that you hope to develop, and how will that drive important decisions for the organization? Try to tie this directly to your organization’s business objectives.
What topics your research will need to explore and why.
Relevant communications expert knowledge and benchmarking that supports your argument for research.
Your planning process for developing the research.
View the Management Memo Grading Criteria to help with your project.
Attached are successful Management Memo examples for your review.
Management Memo Larson (Word)
Management Memo PR (Word)
Public Relations Research Memo (Claflin University Health and Wellness Center) (Word)
Robbins Management Memo (Word)
