Henry Stone, a senior staff member in a regional accounting firm, could not understand why his colleague, Tim, was upset with him. Tim had CC’d Henry on an email Tim had written to a different manager. In the email, Tim requested that the manager review and analyze a report he planned to send to a client. Since he was CC’d, Henry assumed the email was merely informational and took no action. Tim was furious because Henry had not analyzed the report, too. “But you didn’t ask me to do it!” exclaimed Henry. “You just CC’d me!”
Confusion exists about whether to send an email “To”, “CC”, or “BCC”. These terms originate in the pre-computer world of typewriters and carbon paper. “CC” originally meant “carbon copy”, and was expanded to the term “BCC”, which means “blind carbon copy”. For those born after 1975, carbon paper was an inked paper that went between the original typed document and a blank piece of paper. As the typewriter struck the original, it automatically created a “carbon copy” of the document behind the carbon paper. Nowadays, CC has become a verb: “I CC’d you on the report.”
When to Use CC
But when should you CC a colleague? I have observed that in some organizations everyone is CC’ing everyone else, to the detriment of corporate productivity. Perhaps people do this to keep all their colleagues in the loop, or perhaps they do it to cover their derriere and show that they are doing their jobs. Regardless, it pays to think before using the CC function and only copy people who need to see the information in your email.
Before you use CC, consider how you would explain to your primary reader why you are including the others in your email. If you cannot clearly state your reasons for adding the other recipients, perhaps you should not CC them.
If you are in the habit of CC’ing certain managers or colleagues, take a moment to ask them if they want you to keep copying them on the contents of your emails. You might be surprised to discover that they routinely delete the messages you send.
Should You Use BCC?
BCC is even more problematic. While it works well for sending a notice to a large group of people when you do not want everyone’s email addresses to be shown, people sometimes use it to throw fellow employees under the bus. Let’s say someone does something dumb. In responding to that person, their less-than-friendly colleague blind-copies their manager, clearly referencing the dumb thing the first person did. This tattletale aspect of BCC can undermine trust in company culture, so save BCC for informational blasts.
When to Send TO
The ”TO” line should be reserved for individuals who need to act on the information in the email. Do not send an email TO someone who doesn’t really need to act on it. At the same time, do not CC someone who is supposed to act on the email’s contents. Like Henry, they are likely to blip over it without carefully reading it.
Here is a general guide to how to address your emails:
If you want action and attention, send TO.
Consider writing separate emails if you require action from more than one person.
Alternatively, you could write individual instructions to each person in the TO line.
For an FYI (for your information), with NO ACTION, send CC.
CC people who genuinely need to be apprised of the information in the email but do not need to act on it.
CC the whole group on a team if the message affects the project.
For a mass email when you don’t want to show everyone’s email addresses, use BCC
The best thing about BCC is that it keeps all recipients’ email addresses private. Other than that, avoid it.
Ultimately, deciding how to address an email depends on your intention in sending it. If you want action from someone, put them in the TO line. If you are sending relevant, non-actionable information, use CC. To protect the privacy of a large group of recipients, rely on BCC.
By addressing your emails appropriately, you gain the respect and cooperation of your peers.