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.

@Bapa yes, that is how I have used it.

It does worry me that something I have done (thinking it was a good, helpful thing) could be construed as 'telling tales', etc.

The world of work is a minefield.

I did reply to the person, explaining what key projects I was working on at the moment - which she didn't know about - but she would have realised that these were high priority for the organisation and explained to her what I had done about her project and what I was waiting on. Her project is in hand but is progressing a bit slower than the other projects because it's much lower priority (I didn't say that bit - but that was the implication)

I did get a simple reply and I think she got the message about where her work was at. It will get done by the deadline - or even before if I can be bothered. But hassling me and CCing my manager into it doesn't endear me towards prioritising it.

I'm probably not getting the problem.
At our office we have the concept of 'resilience'. It actually means, we can cover each other, b/c we know what the others are doing.

So being cc'd as FYI is normal, means I can pick up a job if someone has to leave it, gets seconded elsewhere, goes off sick, etc.

Also we have a distinct customer group & when I reply (cc'ing my manager) then my manager knows more about the discussion development without having to ask me for updates. If a complaint comes back, my manager can either nip it in bud or have my back.

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.

I very occasionally do this, but it is more when I am emailing a customer, and it is worth my manager knowing what I have put, but the customer doesn't need to know who the random cc person is.

I only escalate via email when someone has ignored repeated requests or has been difficult with me in the past. It’s not the sender’s problem that you have a difficult relationship with your manager - they just need the information they need to get their job done.

I have used Cc in emails. It might not be priority for you, but it is for them. I would want to know what is happening and include those I see relevant especially if I haven't heard from them. Plus if I have to take my custom elsewhere, the persons manager is fully aware of the issues, by which time I have also CC'd in my manager.
I've also used it as standard with some companies/individuals when there have been previous difficulties.
Also used it when I sent emails praising something.

As a manager, it let me see how the person was responding to emails which if needed could be given whatever supported. Same with any positive/negative feedback. You would be amazed that some professionals send out emails that include hiya, hun and X at the end etc.

It's also given me the opportunity to back my staff when the customer is being an arse without the staff having to alert me to it. Same with my manager.

Petty internal emails that I am cc'd into. I either ignore or have a word depending on the situation.

It also gives another way to ensure the person isn't being overworked. A friendly how the work going on x project, especially low priority ones, as these are the ones that sometimes slip by. What's the alternative? Boss keeps piling on the work and not listening to when you say you are already doing too much if that's the situation for example.

I agree it’s not up to you to prioritize other people’s projects. For example a country audit / project might seem lower priority than global / strategic project to you, but when the shit hits the fan a country project tends to have bigger repurcussions to the bottom line.

I also use bcc when sending out emails. For example if the email involved health people and patients. Too right I would b their addresses. Imagine what it would be like if some patients got hold of their gp's email for example

Just because you might not use it, others would. And at times of desperation if I had my consultants actual email too right I would have used it and cc'd in any other medical email I had. Instead, I did the phone equivalent and left messages on random hospital departments I was under. I wasn't getting any response to enquiries about urgent surgery.

Me to whole unit:
Meeting on X date regarding Y for project Z I'm subbing for Senior A on.
Colleague B: I won't be there
Me to B: Oh, are you not on project Z any more?
(I know full well he is. He replies to that effect but says "the meeting wasn't productive last time" by which he means he actually had to collaborate and not do only his own stuff).
So normally I would reply cc-ing Senior A but I instead talked to her in person. She was not surprised and dealt with it. But a bit more subtle than CCZ.

My old boss used to do this. He'd cc my co worker I worked alongside. It felt like more of a 'make sure she does this' kind of thing. Was annoying because I was a hard worker, she in the other hand went out for a cigarette every 20 min

In the days when I had a work ‘To Do’ list I always tried to work with the ‘beneficiary’ of the task to agree a timescale. So, “when do you need this done by?” would be an obvious starter question. That used to save a lot of hassle.

You clearly cannot do everything at once.

The haggling would escalate to my boss at the ‘add to list’ stage, if necessary, when they thought they were the most important person in the place.

It quite often turned out that they weren’t!

Yes, I had this used against me last year but it backfired on the member of staff in question as she got in trouble herself!

A colleague has recently made a complaint against me for the way I treated her. My crime? I advised her to go to the member of staff responsible for what she looking for. My line manager requested me to write this in an email which I promptly did. No further news, but why could she not have spoken to me instead on running to my line manager, who is up to his eyes with work? It's like some people lack the emotional intelligence to resolve conflict themselves and want to create drama when there is none!

I use the cc more for information sharing so people know what everyone is doing so they don't put additional pressure on the doer - but I can imagine it being used in a twattish way, too...

I cc my manager into a lot of stuff because I'm arse covering
There's a lot of "well that was never asked for" and then my manager can go "actually it was because Queen sent the email on X date, I saw it"

Yes OP it’s infuriating. Totally agree.

There's been another email recently - when I replied to a person and they replied back, cc'ing in people who I don't even recognise. God knows why they were CC'd in to it.

I think that if you do that, you should have the politeness to say that you are copying in certain people - and for what reason.

I find it to be an act of intimidation and threatening which is bullying.

I continuously tell people to not cc a manager unless something requires escalation. It otherwise creates the big brother effect.

'For info' is a get too widely used excuse for trying to show people up.

I'm sorry but I can understand why the requesting manager CC'd your manager. If you didn't respond, if you didn't deliver by the required date, alerting your manager at that point might be too late. By CC'ing your manager at this stage, they are making your manager additionally aware of the requirement so that your workload and priorities can be managed appropriately

Then what they should have done is emailed the op's manager, saying they have a requirement for some work to be done by x date and could they please ensure that the OP has time to do that task.

I agree that people use the cc to drop people in it. Years ago I used to make a point of replying to all and including the cc'd people, saying something like "I am replying to peter, helen and paul as you were all cc'd in, please let me know if you would like to be removed from the circulation list".

Some people ignore anything that they are cc'd in on but I think you need to be in a very senior position to be able to do that!

I am really surprised at the number of people who see it as a tactic used against them. Clearly, it can be, but it could also be someone else's way of keeping others informed instead of having to send them a separate email.

I think this is a reflection of the kind of places people work and the dynamics in those environments.

I only cc in someone’s manager when the person I’m emailing has previous for not doing their job and when all other previous emails have been ignored and/or the task is still not done. It’s amazing how fast I get things done by certain foot-draggers when someone above them also has ‘eyes on’.

One of our customers has a buyer who routinely ignores requests for additional files and support materials we need before we can even get started let alone fulfill their orders. When due dates are missed through no fault of ours and we’re the ones who get dinged for it - damned right I’m copying that buyer’s boss every time. Every. Time.

OP you should take heart in knowing that it makes the sender look aggressive/inept.

@EntropyRising I completely disagree.

Think it lets people know you are trying to keep things open, transparent and inclusive. I think it must be determined by the relationship between the sender, the object of the email and the people being cc'd. It is the underlying motive that defines the intention, not the actual tool.

Think it lets people know you are trying to keep things open, transparent and inclusive

If this person wants their job doing - even though it's not a priority for the organisation, it needs doing by January and it's a simple task, they can ring me or email me directly. They don't know the half of what I have on at the moment.

If they want it done sooner, they can either tell me the new deadline or ask my manager that I should prioritise it.

They don't need to cc my manager into it and just ask me if I had done it yet. Because there is a lot of passive aggressiveness in cc'ing my manager into it.

Anyway - I did email them back, explain what I had done, and then explained the much more important project I am working on that takes way more priority over there's - because the CEO said so.

And no, I didn't CC the CEO into that email. Even though I was tempted.

They don't need to cc my manager into it and just ask me if I had done it yet. Because there is a lot of passive aggressiveness in cc'ing my manager into it.

Is it possible your manager asked to be cc'd in? To make sure this person was n't demanding too much of your time?

Obviously, every situation is different. I am just really surprised at the number of people who take it personally when I have always seen it as a professional thing (ie good practice).