Colleague cc boss to try to make me look bad - how to complain?

[Midgeroo247]

This is a regular thing, if they don't get their own way they cc their boss and sometimes mine to try to get what they want so they don't have to do any work! They are constantly rude on email, some of my contacts have complained about them! I had another similar email & ive had enough & want to complain directly to her boss - how to do this without sounding like... He said - she said type whinge?

But if you are not doing anything wrong, what have you got to worry about?

It's hard to say. When I deal with a difficult coworker then I will cc my boss just so she can see what I'm dealing with and how we are communicating. It seems, perhaps, your coworker sees you as the problem. I think you need to have a meeting to discuss things with your coworker and your bosses.

How often is this happening? It sounds petty so I'd be reluctant to make a fuss based on what you've said.

If clients have complained about rudeness then that's worth discussing separately to the cc thing.

I'd ignore it. All sounds a bit childish and if people are complaining about her then I suggest you sit tight and see what happens. Had a similar thing myself and they got rid of the offender a month or so later much to my relief!

Happens all the time in my workplace and I do it to. Mostly its to evidence I am doing what is expected of me, but also when someone is not helping me out.

Eg our marketing department take ages to do something and often 'forget' conversations. They aren't a popular department so there's a lot of managerial cc in. It can be effective in getting things done I'm afraid.

Maybe she thinks you either aren't doing something, or being slow?

I don't think cc'ing management is an effective way of dealing with a problem.

I'm a PA and Directors regularly get cc'ed on things. Very often, it's not clear why. My last Director was completely overloaded and I managed his inbox. A lot of cc'ing can be incredibly irritating. If you have a problem, it is far better to monitor the situation then have a word with management. In other words... "I'm having a problem with Nicola in Marketing coming back to me on queries.... Request 1 was 10 days ago and I've chased her twice since. Request 2 took a week to come back to me with three chases, etc, etc. I've tried emailing, ringing and standing at her desk. Have asked her if she is overloaded and each time she says no." In other words, you have tried to resolve the situation but it is impacting on your work and need someone from above to intervene.

Oh god, I HATE it it when people do that! I'm supposed to feel scared that their boss, or mine is copied in.

If you really want to make an issue of this (and I'm not saying not to) you have various options:

1. (Formal) Gather evidence of the work avoidance and rudeness and send to her manager and yours.
2. (Passive aggressive) Email her with a friendly note to say that you have had complaints about her rudeness, and CC it to managers

Or

1. (Easy) Just ignore. If you are doing nothing wrong the managers will get pissed off at being CC'd in on everything, and deal with her.

I have this too. Usually when I've asked a tricky but necessary question and the person who does this doesn't understand. For example, I'll get an email requesting abc information and how it relates to def. I'll say no problem, but please confirm what exactly it is you want when abc is normally indicative of hij, in which case klm will apply.

I then get "like I said, please provide abc asap".

So I'll ask again.

Then I'll get a reply cc-ing in service manager.

It used to upset me but as I'm senior to this person I now find it amusing.

Thanks for all your comments ;). The trouble is I have already spoken with the line manager and it was all good but it seems like they this person is untouchable or their boss is scared of them. This time they are saying I haven't sent something which is holding everything up, cc their line manager but I sent everything over before Christmas but their manager won't see this so it just looks like I'm the guilty party and they get away with slacking off?

Reply to everyone and nicely remind her that you sent all of the requested documents on (date), and to let you know if she needs them resending.

"Dear Useless Colleague,

All the information you requested was sent to you before Christmas on XX/12/15. It's unfortunate that the project has been held up because this has been misplaced, please let me know if you would like me to resend it .

Regards

Midgeroo247"

Can you not resend the original email that you sent and copy both bosses in?

I would also forward the original cc her, her manager and your manager in and put all the details in the email as per stillunexpecteds response.

Yes, reply (copying the world and his wife in) saying that you had already provided the information and attaching said email.

Don't you just love office politics? NOT!