Reader Expectations

Generally your fellow employees expect a document to be a routine part of the day. They expect it to formally address them as the company's employees, and quickly deliver its point. They also expect (or hope) that internal documents are not long, as most will not feel like reading an extensive amount of writing.

Format Requirements

The general layout of most internal documents will be in memo form. This includes a standard company letterhead, and a to, from, date and subject section before beginning any content. There is also to be no signature, such as sincerely, in any type of memo formatted document.

Organization

As with most types of writing an internal document should begin with an introductory paragraph. Here you may want to start with a positive attention getter, such as boasting the great job employees have been doing recently, or reporting great sales. Continue with a sentence that gives a general idea of what the body of your document will be about, which you can follow with a transition, if necessary.

In the body of your document, you will be delivering your purpose, so this is where your strongest and most to-the-point writing should be.

The conclusion can involve a slight reiteration of the purpose, and close with your contact information if an employee has any questions or wants to discuss the topic further.

Visual Elements

As with any type of document, you want to make it look appealing within reason. If the document is an internal advertisement for a certain employee incentive program, then clearly it will be weighted much more on its visual design than a typical memo. Make sure that it does not look long, or difficult to read. Huge paragraphs and little white space often scare readers away before they ever actually read anything. Also, in the body of your document, if you have several main points you should always consider a bulleted or numbered list. This makes it much easier for the reader to find these points, and still understand the purpose of the document without reading the rest if they choose to do so.

Special Features

The only real special feature to look out for is to make sure you have followed memo format, and that you have not also included a signature since it already states who the document is from at the top. For further reference, examine the sample attached to the link below.

Sample