Next steps, length, layout and file conventions

Move four — next steps

Smith's sample memo closes with a numbered list of what happens next; the recommendation memo does the same, and R-memo marks it: next steps: who does what by when, first checkpoint. This is module 7's list (L7.5) carried into the memo unchanged — an action a person can do, an owner by name, a date, and a first checkpoint that names the measure and the day it is reviewed. Lakeshore's, as it appears in the memo:

> Next steps > > 1. Priya approves the lease route — Priya Raman — by 22 November. > 2. Wren requests three lease quotes specifying a three-year term, an upgrade clause and a service-level agreement — Wren Advisory (S. Whitfield) — by 29 November. > 3. Priya selects a vendor and signs — Priya Raman — by 13 December. > 4. Press installed and both operators trained by the vendor — vendor and operators — first fortnight of January. > 5. Checkpoint: on-time delivery reviewed against the 96 % benchmark — Priya Raman and Wren Advisory — end of February; if it is still under 90 %, the SLA is invoked and this analysis reopened.

Monitor the situation and implement the recommendation fail the line for the reasons module 7 gave: no owner, no date, no measure.

Length

One to two pages, and a two-page memo is not a three-page memo squeezed into smaller type: 11–12 point, normal margins. What does not fit is not cut — it is moved. The calculations (the five-year cost comparison, the margin arithmetic on outsourcing, the loan-payment working), the quotes and any data tables go to an appendix, which the analysis section points to (the working is in Appendix A). Smith's rule for documents that are read, not studied: the reader should be able to find the recommendation, the totals and the next steps without reading a paragraph she does not need.

Layout

Module 8's scannability rules apply with force. Headings for each move and each criterion — Recommendation, Analysis, Annual cost (0.30), Next steps. The matrix as a table, titled and numbered (Table 1), in the analysis section or in the appendix the section points to. A numbered list for next steps. Bold for the recommendation sentence and the checkpoint. No decoration: no colour, no clip art, no logo other than the firm's letterhead. A reader who flips through should see the shape of the argument before reading a word of it.

File conventions

The memo is submitted as a file, and the file name is the first thing the marker sees. It carries the reader or case, the subject, the date and your name: Raman-press-recommendation-2026-11-15-Whitfield.docx. Dates in year-month-day so the folder sorts; no spaces; no final-v2-FINAL. The covering email (module 9) names the attachment and its length. If the memo is printed, initial beside the From line.

Write the clinic's

Next steps: 1. The dentists approve the move to online booking with reminders — the dentists — by 28 March. 2. Tomas obtains written quotes from the two shortlisted vendors, declining the referral bonus in writing — Tomas Reyes — by 11 April. 3. The dentists select and sign — the dentists — by 25 April. 4. Vendor onboarding for the receptionists in a quiet week; go-live the following Monday — Tomas Reyes and the receptionists — week of 12 May. 5. Checkpoint: no-show % and double-bookings per month reviewed against the 12 % and two-a-month baselines — Tomas Reyes to the dentists — 15 August. Appendix A: the vendor quotes and the cost comparison, referenced from the Annual cost section. File: Reyes-booking-recommendation-2026-03-20-<Name>.docx.

State the conventions cold

One to two pages; headings by move and by criterion; the matrix as a numbered table; calculations and quotes in an appendix the text points to; next steps numbered with owner, date and a checkpoint; a file name with the case, the subject, the date and your name.