To hate it when a colleague replies to an email *copying in unrelated people*

[elemenopeee]

I've sent Susan a query. Nothing stressful, nothing concerning, just a straightforward question. Susan replies and copies in all manner of bosses and line managers.

Why do you do this Susan?

Firstly - if I wanted others to read my email to you I'd have copied them in.

Secondly - you are embarrassing me as the higher ups then feel they have to respond to me, and do. But it was a simple query, Susan, you should have found out the info yourself and got back to me. Now I feel like I'm wasting their time with a simple query.

I'm absolutely cringing with embarrassment.

Yeah, it’s really annoying. It often feels snitchy!

Agree.

That 'cc' line is one of the worst inventions ever, as is the 'reply all' button.

It feels snitchy because it IS snitchy!

This describes it perfectly

Agree!
Or the other way round.
You email someone high up with a personal query about pensions and they copy in Paul from Accounts for an answer

YANBU at all. I really hate it when people do that.

I also hate it when people copy me into emails and says it's just fyi. Don't include me unless there's something I need to do lol

Love that pie chart, where's it from?

I can only think with Susan it's some weird power move. She's not senior to me, so it's not that she needs to guilt me into doing anything. I wonder actually if it's her trying to suck up to managers to make her look busy... or something...?

It's getting to the point where I don't actually want to ask her anything now. Simple questions are being replied to with lots of people cc'd in, who can read the email chain, and it's making me not want to email her with more complex matters. I don't feel I can trust her!

The only way around this type of bullshit is to talk to them face to face. Not always feasible I know but I will if possible.

I know, she's at a different site, sadly. And only does part time hours, so is rarely there when I do visit.

I get this all the time from a colleague who is on the same level as me. It's a power move - she's sucking up to the senior managers. She will often email me with a negative comment on my team's activities and copy in senior managers too. I think the best way to react is probably to keep things as brief as possible and leave out all the cc'd folk in your reply. She's going to look petty and a bit daft if she re-cc's them all into her response.

I automatically move my ‘cc’s’ into a separate folder and look at them when I have time. If somebody wants me to respond/action something then it only happens if I’m in the ‘to’ field.

She’s doing it because she’s part time. She’s hoping someone else will pick it up and resolve it if she doesn’t.

YANBU, happens a lot where I work. Also the copying in my boss and your boss (plus everyone you've ever met, my mum, the office cat) when you want me to do something. I'm going to do it and dont need 400 people plus the cat all pecking at my head demanding to know if I have finished yet.

Arse covering as Susan is part time maybe?? Susan knows others have FOMO??

Only time I would cc, would be if someone needed to know the content.

Though I had about 30 managers who would cc their manager into the emails they sent me, when things were going well and they were actually doing their job, they wouldn’t when they weren’t and obviously I wouldn’t when I replied. But it was only so they could say ‘look I am sorting out training’. Little did they know I sent a report on them all at the end of the month not only to their manager but their Director and HR Director, which would be used in their supervisions etc. So everyone always knew what they were or were not doing anyway, so their cc malarkey was pointless, it just gave us a giggle in our meetings with the senior managers and directors.

Argh, YANBU

I had a colleague who did this all the time. I made it my mission to bond with her over a random hobby I discovered we both shared. Lets say it was hamsters.

So I took to ending every email with comments like I hoped her hamster was getting on well and was she aware of the hamster expo coming to town next month?

We worked in a relaxed sort of place where a bit of personal communication on the work emails was generally fine, so it worked a treat.

It's possible that there are disciplinary or grievance issues involving Susan that has led to her feeling that she needs to do this - or she may have been directed to.

I’d have to send her an email to ask why she copied all these people in. Obviously in a very polite tone

If you think “Cc” is the work of the devil, I had a colleague who would “bc” blind copy managers in certain emails. So sneaky.

It might be because she's part time. I work in a team of 3 part time staff. People will email one of us queries and we will always cc the other two in the reply, because we pick up the workload from each other through the week, and if we don't know what's been asked/said, we can't do that.

Invariably, our colleagues, who don't know quite how we work, will then simply 'reply' to the email, so we then need to cc the other two into the reply again to keep the chain going... It can be frustrating to make sure you've always got the whole message chain cc'd to all 3 in the team, but it's nothing to do with sneakiness or boasting.

I have been the recipient of many emails like this - I find its done either by someone who is so unsure of themselves they need constant reassurance or wants management to know how awesome they are, and look how busy they are, and look at how much they do, and Hemlock really needs to get her arse into gear.

I reply to all and change their spelling and grammar
Tho if you are doing this, make sure your font is in the right colour

I always cc’d people to cover my own back. To make sure I didn’t get the blame for something that wasn’t my fault. So there was proof that you knew this was happening, or so you can be a witness that I told someone about it, etc.

Is it at all possible that Susan feels harassed or bullied by you? I'd be wondering if she wasn't keeping a "paper trail" of your communication with her.

Maybe Susan needs to do so because she is micromanaged. Maybe it's procedure. Maybe Susan is trying to support you.

I often cc others in because I know that the person I am sending something to won't react or action something unless their boss is copied in. Don't like doing it but forced to. One boss specifically asked me to. She told me X had form for only doing stuff if she was copied in. I have tested it and have left her off and she was right.

My boss does this and the circle gets bigger and bigger and then she will issue instructions to me in the email which everyone else can see - which makes me look like an incompetent idiot (I am not).

This makes others then cc her I to everything and she replies before I get a chance (eg went out to get a sandwich) and she then takes over.

I just reply to all but remove her.