Business E-mail Cc: Use

When is it appropriate to use the Cc: (Carbon Copy) feature in your business e-mail? That’s a discretionary call that some are unable to properly make.  Specifically when I notice that sometimes politics or wanting to CYA can come into play when using this feature.

Using the Cc: field is up to one’s better judgment based on the situation at hand. And, what is “appropriate” is subjective.   As I am sure you know, the most common use is to keep folks involved in a particular issue on the same page.   By Cc’ing them they are then considered informed but are not required to reply.

You don’t Cc: contacts on an e-mail sent to you alone unless they need to be brought into or made aware of the current conversation. You don’t Cc: contacts on an e-mail sent only to you who are not involved in the specific issue at hand between you and the Sender. Cc: should not be overused or abused as a way to FYI everyone and their brother simply to FYI. Unless they are specifically involved in that particular conversation, event or issue and it is important that the be informed, you don’t Cc: them.

In addition, if you down-edit your reply and bring in third parties that have nothing to do with the conversation at hand after the fact by Cc’ing them, you risk the original Sender’s message being misinterpreted.

Be cautious though, if you Cc: for political reasons alone don’t be surprised when the others involved do the same to you. You could end up looking petty and you should consider if Cc’ing certain parties will be received positively.

In addition, do not hit “Reply to All” if “all” do not need to be involved in the reply.  Reply to All, using the Cc: or BCc: fields as a way to e-tattle certainly does not reflect positively on you.  It is always prudent to remove any recipients that are not necessary to, or interested in, the ongoing conversation and review the addresses on the Cc: list.

Courtesy is not clogging other’s inboxes with irrelevant, petty or CYA e-mail that does not apply to them.

Some More Info for You:

1. 3 Tips to Manage Group E-mail Conversations
2. Business E-mail Forwarding Considerations
3. Think Twice Before Replying to All
4. Who Should You To: or Cc: ?
5. What To Do When You Are Cc:’d