Have you ever had 'cc' in an email used 'against you' at work?

[chomalungma]

Email is great. A valuable business tool. But I do hate it when conversations you have with it suddenly don't become 'private'.

Obviously nothing in email is secret. It's incredibly easy to reply to people, cc a few others into it and before you know it. lots of people can see what's been written. In the 'old days', that wouldn't have happened as much.

As an example, there is something on my 'to do' list - but it is a low priority. The manager who wants me to do the task has emailed me about when it will be done - and 'cc'd' my manager into it. It wouldn't have hurt to simply email me - rather than 'cc' my manager in . I don't have a particularly good relationship with my manager at the moment.

I can think of other 'email' chains - where people have been 'cc'd' in - yet really they don't need to know. Incidents could have been resolved with simple talking to people - or just directly involving people in emails - rather than people just getting one side of a story.

Maybe I am being a bit sensitive - but I do think that sometimes 'cc' in an email chain is used against people.

Inappropriate, shit stirring cc-ing gives me the rage. As does the lazy “I’ve cc’d you in on this massive email chain because I can’t be bothered to discuss the case with you”

I have a colleague who does this all the time; she sends me a novel telling me how she thinks I should do my very niche role (which she still does not understand), includes endless amounts of personal details about employees and then cc’s in every man and his dog. Makes herself look like a total twat, and then says I’m bullying her for having to raise with her manager (again) the fact that the concept of confidentiality seems to have fully escaped her.

Why she can’t just pick the phone up and ask me a simple question I do not know. I find it intensely aggravating that she lives for the opportunity to try to tattletale

Yes, I got an email essentially saying I hadn't done something with lots of senior colleagues cc'd in including a director. Director sits near me so I called across "x, why are you cc'd in on this email?! I'm assuming you're not actually interested but in case you are, I haven't done it yet because it's not a key strategic priority but it will be done by end of the month and I've told them this." Director laughter and said "I get cc'd in on every bloody thing. Don't worry dragons, I know you know what you're doing. I'm judging the sender more than you!"

I do cc my boss in occasionally but b that's so he's informed incase he gets a call when I'm not there. I usually laugh and say oh look y is really cross with me she's even ccing directors in

I love this
Hopefully will work???
www.google.com/search?q=why+do+people+cc+in+email&client=tablet-android-pega&prmd=inv&sxsrf=ACYBGNSJdQPmOgOZAtz_0M6JtSIDB4iDeg:1572091015123&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi28oq077nlAhWNOcAKHYAkBuEQ_AUoAXoECBAQAQ&biw=960&bih=600&dpr=2#imgrc=xePUyv9Jh55o_M%3A

Don't know about cc'ing, but bccing was incredibly helpful once, when a colleague "lost" an email I had sent. They didn't know that my team had been instructed to bcc the team leader in on all emails.

Ouch.

yess cc'ing the manager is playground tactics. I always reply to the sender and take the manager off with something generic like "yes, this is in hand, don't worry" and then just forward a reply to my manager only saying something like "this asswipe's being a dick, don't worry, it's all in hand and being dealt with, as he well knows"

Be sneakier.

I have a certain set of people for whom I use it because they lie about the emails.
So I'll say "You cannot access the room until 7:00 because there is a group using it until then."
They'll then arrive at 6:00 and tell the people before that they were told they had access from 6:00.
When told they didn't they said they had misread the email because it was so rude.

They hadn't noticed that I'd cc-ed the person they spoke to in, who told them firstly it was not rude at all, and in fact was considerably less rude than the one I was replying to, and that there was no chance of them misreading the email at all as it started with "You may access the room any time after 7:00..."

Funnily now that it's always cc-ed into the owner they suddenly have "gained" the ability to read, understand and obey emails.
They're now complaining about having the owner cc-ed in "as though you don't trust us."
Funny that. No, we don't trust them.

I think it is used when people don't trust you to do the task the need you to do. It is a way of covering themselves because they think you might start fudging things or deny you were asked to do it.

If I have used it, it is because someone has asked me to do something that doesn't sit with the guidelines we are getting from more senior staff.

What else can you do?

I don't get this. 'cc' stands for carbon copy (to), which shows that it has been around for a very long time.

In the olden days we would type a memo instead of send an email but the 'cc' would still be on it - usually under the main recipient's name.

It's usually the case that 'cc' keeps people in the loop so that they know what is going on. It has nothing to do with getting at people!

If I'm asking someone else to do something, I'm going to CC their manager so they know I am asking someone in their team to invest time into a task. Nothing to do with snitching.

I had an otherwise nice manager who would sometimes send me email bollockings and cc in others, occasionally junior colleagues. Humiliating.

Until I read this thread I truly had no idea how paranoid people are about 'cc'. In all the places I have ever worked it was a means of keeping people informed on a need-to-know basis about what was going on.

So if it needs to be spelled out, if my manager had asked me to contact Mr X about something, I would cc said manager so that he knew I had done it (he was often away) and that Mr X knew that the manager knew. It simply keeps people in the loop.

I have never heard someone complain that they were being 'got at' because of a simple cc. It seems that in this day and age offence is being taken where none was intended.

I am really lost by some of the responses on here. Surely it is the manager s job to sort things out if someone has cc'd them ? If they have felt the need to do this, doesn't that tell you something?

I am exhausted by how people cover their backs with lies. It has happened several times in jobs I have had where they have just completely lied about doing something/not doing something/changing the original idea and not keeping others in the loop.

I have used cc because I am sick of getting the blame for their mistakes. Is that unreasonable? Are managers secretly thinking negatively about me? When i have tried to deal with it myself, I have seen that they have tried to manipulate the situation so that they are the victim.

I've used it but not had it used against me.

I wouldn't use it as a first or even 2nd port of call, but when you still don't get what you need with no explanation then sometimes you need to escalate things.

I work in an area where I need to keep full records of everything though so generally use email, even if it's after a conversation.

So, speak to person A and agree some action, then follow up with email to A saying e.g. Thanks for your time earlier, we agreed that you would do X by Y and I said I'd pass Z spreadsheet to you, please see that attached above.

If X wasn't done by Y then I might drop by and remind or give a quick call, neither of which I'd record, if no response then I'd do an email basically saying, still waiting, what's the problem? If still no response then I'd so a follow up copying in their or my manager.

If they came back and actually said, I know we agrred X by Y but now something else has come up and I can't deliver by then, would next Tuesday still be okay? Then I'd usually be okay with that if I could be and no need to escalate to anyone. If my boss was then givingme grief I'd be happy to give the appropriate explanation.

It's lack of any response that causes issues.

@Wheat2Harvest @clockworklime I agree with you.

I have just finished a computer project involving a Team Head and one other colleague. Think we all cc' d one another throughout just to keep the loop open and avoid any information getting confused (it was very technical and involved two languages). The guys cc'd me in (in English - although I am sure it was easier for them to speak in their own language to one another) just so that I was informed and felt part of the team and not isolated.

@WaxOnFeckOff Well, that seems completely reasonable and professional.

If I'm asking someone else to do something, I'm going to CC their manager so they know I am asking someone in their team to invest time into a task. Nothing to do with snitching

This, exactly. Although I suppose it entirely depends on the organisational arrangements and the level of authority. I often use cc for a different department/organisation when I don’t necessarily know which level will deal with the request, or where it’s part of an ongoing project that everyone needs to know about.

In my field of work not ccing can be seen as not being transparent and can be hugely time wasting if some people are out of the loop.

Obviously, this doesn’t apply where there is confidential information, and I like other pp will take a dim view of the cc-er if they are being passive-aggressive to one of my team.

I have used it to "get at" someone, I find it useful when your manager blames you for his incompetence so you cc in his manager when you re-send him the info you emailed 3 weeks prior, which he had via email thank you for.

I do it sometimes if it is information that someone should know about without them needing direct involvement. And yes, sometimes it is a bit of a shot across the bows, but those types are very rare. I have had a male colleague try to stop me cc-ing people in replying to his mails because he wanted to send me nasty, bullying messages and didn't want anyone else to know. So I am a little skeptical to those who are so concerned with keeping mail private. What I don't like is bcc. If someone is reading the email, I think it is fair that the other person knows about it.

Someone I work with has a habit of cc'ing people's most senior manager with regards to very minor things (recently it's been desk arrangements in an office they rarely come to for example)

I've not been on the receiving end but recently this person cc'd in the MD of the whole of EMEA regarding my colleague's "unwillingness to work late" (said colleague is part time, always works late if need be but on this occasion needed to leave on time.... not even early!!)

Oh it's also possible to use it as a normal tool just to keep people aware, but I didn't think that was what the OP was talking about.

cc should be - You need to be aware of this but i'm not asking you to do anything specifically - it's for info.

Used in OP's scenario, it's very much letting the person know that you're fed up and escalating it.

Yeah this has happened to me in a number of occasions when a colleague complained about something he assumed I had done (I hadnt!) and ccd the big boss into it.
She didnt respond at all and neither did I. He ended up looking like a petty twat who is unable to handle difference and speak face to face about it.

I hate this. It's like a teacher's pet, dobbing you in, unnecessarily.

It depends how it is used. The two people who work for me cc me so that if an issue arises while they aren’t there I am not completely in the dark (one of them works part time and hopefully I can step in). I suppose it depends on your relationship with your team. It also means I can support if I see an issue.

there is a difference between cc-ing people to keep them in the loop and using it as a (dick) power move.

I get cc'd on hundreds of meaningless (for me) operational emails - I literally don't care. It annoys me and slows me down. Usually at the start of a project I email anyone who might be interested or knowledgeable and ask them to tell me who needs to be informed and make distribution lists based on that. And anyone who starts randomly adding cc people just to be lazy or as a dick move Feels My Ire.