Administrative Professional's Day

Correspondence Tutorial for Secretaries
Copyright © 2001-2005 N. Shearer

A tutorial for secretaries and office professionals that will teach you how to draft and type correspondence by letter, e-mail or fax. We'll give you guidelines for when and not to open correspondence addressed to your boss. 

• Correspondence
  • Inward Correspondence
  • Outward Correspondence
    • Letters
    • e-mail
    • Fax
• Dictaphone
  • Spare tapes
  • Typing tapes
  • Eraser

Letters, will be by far the biggest form of correspondence you will see pass over your desk.  We'll cover both inward and outward.

Inward Correspondence
When you receive correspondence, you need to take particular care as to how and to whom it is addressed before opening.  The way the envelope is addressed will determine what you can and cannot open.

As a general rule, you can open any letters addressed as follows:

Mr J Brown, Secretarialsite.com
Secretarialsite.com
Attention:  Mr J Brown, Secretarialsite.com

You should not open any letters addressed as follows:

Private - Mr J Brown
Confidential - Mr J Brown
Private & Confidential - Mr J Brown
Mr J Brown, c/- Secretarialsite.com

For those that you do open, you need to:

Once you understand how the office runs, you will find that you will be able to reply to all the routine correspondence without being told.  Things like database updates for office details, subscriptions etc.

Outward Correspondence

Letters
Outward correspondence is always done on company letterhead.  There are certain references you need to type on every letterhead as part of your reply.  A shortcut is to set yourself up a template to include this information as it would be the same information you type every time you do an outward letter - this will save you endless time.  Your template can include prompts so that everywhere you need to insert information, it will prompt you - very easy to set up. These references are:

The layout of your letter will be predetermined by your company.  Most businesses use BLOCK format - that's everything down the left margin.  No indentation.

Post Office's prefer no punctuation in addresses.

Always use a footer to record the location of the letter on your computer in case you need to make amendments at a later date.  Someone else may need to amend it if you are not around.  This happens a lot. Always insert the file, pathname from the autotext insert so that no typing errors can be made, and if the file gets moved from one directory to the other, it automatically updates the location.  The autotext insert for the date is not recommended.  This is because some letters may refer to a phone call made 'today' (for example being 12th April so you really do need your letter to have this date on the top) and if you get your letter back to amend something, because the date is an automatic insert date, it will also update your letter to the current date. 

Remember to do a file copy as well unless you have electronic record filing, which I might add is absolutely fantastic.  Did you know you can actually call up inward and outward correspondence and have the whole electronic file sitting in front of you while you may be on the phone to someone enquiring about some aspect of the file.  Its absolutely fantastic.  Will keep you posted about this one.

Always use the first paragraph to say WHY you're writing to someone.  Keep the content of the letter direct and to the point. Always use a gentle friendly closing sentence so as not to have an abrupt ending. See some book titles on how to get your point across.

Now whether you justify the letter is up to you.  Some people say a letter with no justification is much easier to read, although justification does neaten the presentation.  You need to make the choice.

e-mail
Remember, e-mail is equivalent to an official letter coming from your company.  Always be very wary of what you say in your e-mail.  This means your e-mail should not be written in an informal manner. 

Use your e-mail to send outward correspondence wherever possible, as the letter will be received immediately.

Always include the following information on your outgoing e-mails:

With some of the e-mail software, such as Outlook Express, you can set up the autosignature to automatically insert this information for you.  It will save you heaps of time.

You may also consider putting a disclaimer on it should it land in the hands of a wrong person. This is the same message as faxes usually have on them.

Don't use your company e-mail address for personal reasons unless company policy allows it.

If responding to correspondence by e-mail, ensure a copy is put on your hard file so you have a record of it. 

Get some great e-mail writing advice in the book below - received great reviews by customers who purchased it.

You need to protect your computer from viruses being sent in e-mail messages by using an anti-virus scanner.  It only takes one e-mail with a virus to slip through and it could mean costly expenses for repairs, or worse still, put you out of action for days or kill your hard drive.....And if you are being bombarded with junk e-mail, you can use the anti-spam component included.  It does seem to be increasing by the day.  When you receive e-mail you did not ask for or from an unknown author, this is called spam.  There is now a solution to stopping it. 

Faxes
Faxes play a big part in any office.  Most companies use it instead of postage.  Originally it was used only for urgent matters but now that's not the case.  Some firms receive more inward correspondence by fax and e-mail than they do by postage.  

You need to set up what they call a fax header sheet and it should include such details as follows:

Usually a disclaimer is also put on it should the information be used for the wrong reasons. If you need to learn more about fax technology or how to set up your fax modem to start sending and receiving faxes, have a look at the book below.

Dictaphone
As a Secretary you may find you'll have to transcribe tapes that contain, letters, memos etc.  You will use a dictaphone to do this.  This is a very common practice in offices.  If you are not familiar with dictaphones, see one here.

There's not too much to say here as most units function much the same.  It allows settings to be used to earmark urgent recordings on the tape that your boss may need typed straight away.  You can also regulate the tape playing speed so that you can keep up with the recording when you type back the information.  It also allows you to use a foot control for playing and reversing the tape.  The good part is you can usually set the recall distance so that when you have to stop transcribing the tape, when it starts again it will repeat some of what you have already typed.  You could also use this type of dictaphone for recording meeting proceedings. 

It's a good habit to get into to remove the tape from your boss' dictaphone every morning and process its contents.  Also after typing the work up, always run the tape through the tape eraser so it is ready for the next session of recording.

You'll also need to have enough extra tapes in stock so that there are a couple on hand extra to the on you are transcribing.

If you're interested in medical transcription, enroll in this course:

Learn more with Transcription Skills for Business (5th Edition)

NEXT TUTORIAL - Meetings

 BUSINESS-IN-A-BOX - Download over 1,200 ready-to-use templates of business letters, agreements, contracts, checklists, policies and spreadsheets. Free Demo.

See below the type of information you can access right here:

What does the Role of a Secretary entail
The Secretarial role is not for everyone even though it is challenging and changing. See if you have the desired qualities.

Learn how to use Tips and Tricks in your Secretarial role
Working with tips and tricks could make all the difference in making you number one in your profession.  See what time saving and other techniques you can use in your daily routine.

Is there such a thing as Secretarial Ethics?
Secretaries throughout the world would certainly work using a code of Ethics - see how the ethics we have developed can assist you in becoming a valuable member in the workforce and could even assist you in climbing the corporate ladder. 

Books written specifically for the Secretarial profession
Books are still an invaluable learning aid used by the Secretary and great for continual reference.  You will be surprised how just one piece of advice will be used over and over in the office and as times continue to change you will have the need to reference these books time and time again.  

Does the one resume suit all the Secretarial jobs you apply for?
You need to know what to include, what not to, and most importantly how to adapt your resume to the job you are applying for. 

Free Office Tutorials in the following are available

Telephone Etiquette - Do you answer the telephone correctly?  Are you friendly and let the caller know you're listening and interested?  If not, don't distress, we have a lesson for you that will make your Company proud. 

Making Appointments - you will learn how to make appointments and what information your Manager needs so he has all the facts and is prepared. Only then will the meeting will be successful.

Writing Correspondence - Step by step instructions on how to lay out your office correspondence with all the relevant information.  You will even learn how to write your letter so the message is conveyed to the recipient successfully.

All about Meetings - There are many aspects to be aware of to make a meeting run smoothly.  If you are the key person responsible for setting up meetings from preparing meeting notices and agendas, to taking minutes of the meeting, you are in the right place.  You can choose formats and tools that will make your job easier.

Useful Links for any Secretary
Check out the links we've made available for you to be kept informed, save time, and awareness of training available.

Need training to master the advance or basic techniques
The training offered on this site is focused to assist you in your day to day duties whether you need to learn the basics first before proceeding to the more advanced lessons.  You make the choice.

A Secretarial Newsletter
What better way to keep informed then signing on to receive a copy of the www.secretarialsite.com newsletter.  It's totally FREE.

What is MOUS Certification?
Find out more about this certification.  You can even take the exam and receive your MOUS certificate.  If you're not quite ready, take the courses that you need to enable you to become certified.

Executary Seminars
The Secretarial Site has up to date news on various seminars focused towards Secretaries, Office Professionals, executive Secretaries, Administrative Assistants, and Personal Assistants, in locations that may suit you.

Recommended Employment Agencies
Employment agencies are listed in selected countries to save you time.

Can you touch type, or, do you know your typing speed?
You can quickly and easily take a typing test to check your speed.  You can learn to increase your speed and best of all you will learn how to touch type. 

Need to translate this website into another language?
Go now to the website that will make translation easy. All you need to do is copy and paste this URL   http://www.secretarialsite.com into the window on the website.

When is Administrative Professional's Day/Secretaries Day
Administrative Professional's Day is always the last Wednesday in the last full week of the month of April and this full week is dedicated to Administrative Professionals.  Mark it now in your diary so you and your fellow workers can celebrate.  Better still, spread the word and enter it into your Manager's diary so he/she is made aware of it.

But what happened to Secretaries Day?  It has been renamed to Administrative Professional's Day!  Did you know the National Secretaries Association, now known as IAAP, began this special recognition.

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