Tagged with: carbon-copy • email • paradox
Perhaps it is a sign I have too much time on my hands, or I should really get a good hobby… but … I spent some time going through my mailbox with all my mails from one of my last projects and came up with the following theory…
Photography by Mzelle Biscotte.
The carbon copy (cc) function in mail is only used to send people a copy of the mail if:
a) the sender is not sure about the content, and hopes a cc-er will check it;
b) the sender is not authorized about a certain aspect and uses the cc to cover his butt.
With increasing pressure on a project team, you will find more cc-recipients in the mails. People don’t have the time to check the content or get all the agreements needed, so they resolve to cc.
With increasing pressure, people have less time to read their mail, so they will skip all the mails that they received by carbon copy as it is not primary addressed to them.
See the paradox?
Well, it is just a theory.
Its true. The sender is trying to mitigate their personal risk by copying on others.
It’s possibly a cultural thing. In some organsaitions it helps manage conflict when things go wring, in others nobody cares about the fact you cc’ed someone. Your job is to deliver results.
Personally I am amused by how quickly cc’s get expanded.
I generally only use them in the case where somebody may be interested in a topic, but doesn’t need to read it.
Two more theories to add to the list …
1. People are lazy. They hit reply-all and don’t think about whether or not the recipients of their “agreed” “lol” or 24 page reply needs to see it;
2. People wish to ensure they can fall back on a “but you were copied in” when things go pear shaped. Including the world ensures they have “plausible denial” as “someone should have said something.”
And yes, you have too much time on your hands
Hey Ross, thanks for the addition! Or the days when someone added a scanned signature to the footer of the mail and sent the entire company a mail with a 4MB signature file attached
To reassure: I am now verrrrrry busy.