Cc: is simply for their information—with no expectation that they will take action on the email, other than receive it. Productivity weblog GTD Times points out a simple one: knowing the difference between "To" and "CC.". So why are we always running into communications snafus because someone…, Email Best Practices for Teams | GTD Times. E-Mail Etiquette Introduction. More often, people respond to this fear using the CC field. The human brain takes in a ton of information from the five senses and uses shortcuts to keep from being overloaded. But email-related actions still have consequences (and causes). But lengthy autobiographical emails can cause more harm than good, particularly when they get out of hand. Cc (Carbon Copy ) is a field in an email that contains the list of recipients. When to use CC vs. BCC: CC means Carbon copy. Save it as a draft until you are ready to send it. And there is a time and a place for tooting your own horn. When you need to copy someone, you would normally add that person to the “cc” or carbon copy field. While you're at it, you should let them know whether you expect them to reply all, too. Step 3. Cc: stands for "carbon copy." It’s simple, straightforward, secure, and takes place in real time. This can be useful if you want to convey the same exact message to more than one person. Use this as an opportunity to discover more about yourself. CC stands for Carbon copy. Which meant a lot of emails about his thoughts and accomplishments…and a lot of people filling up the CC field. Others are so afraid of being held to their writing that they don’t respond at all. Step 4. A recipient of Cc field has a record of the email sent to the primary recipient under To: field that means a recipient of Cc field also get the exact copy (or carbon copy) of the email that is received by a recipient in To: field. Email is the preferred mode of communication in business, both internally and externally. Even if you don’t trust your coworker to follow through for you, copying the boss in an email is not the best strategy, says career expert Todd Dewett, PhD. If your company still relies on email to collaborate, then this antiquated acronym is stealing your time. They’re a result of trial and error in finding the best path from Point A to Point B. If you’re guilty of misusing or neglecting its power (and there’s a good chance you are), it’s time to repent and, in the process, cut down on spam and protect the privacy of your friends and family. In fact, this is one of our top email values that we've shared before. In computer systems, these would be “defaults.”. Using cc means that you send the email to another person — or other people — in addition to the primary recipient or recipients. It shows in black and white what you wrote on a particular date and to whom. Dr. Melissa’s philosophy is that personality may dictate our preferences for action, but our capacity is usually much higher. Blind Carbon Copy (BCC:) will hide the address list from all the recipients. Can you get the feedback you need during regularly scheduled meetings? The message becomes part of a saved record. A blind carbon copy is a copy sent to an addressee that is not visible to the main and carbon copy addressees. Few amenities in the modern digital workflow are so widely available but so widely ignored (or outright abused) as the the email BCC function. Some … Use Cc: (Carbon Copy) - for recipients you are sending a copy to. It offers an efficient, inexpensive and real time mean of distributing information among people. Click CC, as shown below. Let’s see how it … Similarly, we may think to ourselves, “The CC field is there! We designate the To: field for who has the action (could be multiple people). If your email program insists on at least one TO: address, enter your own. It must contain something!”. One of the most important strategies for dealing with inbox overload is making your messages easy to act on. This is not a "how-to" document, but rather a document that offers advice to make you more computer-worthy (probably more worthy than you desire) and to prevent you from embarrassing yourself at some point in the near future. This can be useful if you want to convey the same exact message to more than one person. Even if you don’t trust your coworker to follow through for you, copying the boss in an email is not the best strategy, says career expert Todd Dewett, PhD. Are you giving enough feedback and positive reinforcement to your team? Every recipient email address you enter into the “to” and “cc” fields will be able to see each other. Carbon copy can be used as a transitive verb with the meaning described under e-mail below related to the CC field of an e-mail message. A normal email address can have three classes of email recipients: the To recipients, the CC recipients, and the BCC recipients. Discuss the issue in the next regularly scheduled meeting. Both “cc” and “bcc” are additional fields you can enter when sending an email. The Cc: noted at the bottom of the letter let the person the letter was going to know who would get that “carbon copy”. Look, there’s nothing wrong with enjoying the positive feelings that result from a job well done. And, I appreciate when that distinction is made for me in return. This script will not be responsible for sending email to actual destination. Note: To send a message, you must always specify at least one recipient in the "To:" field. If not, a simple heads up on the etiquette surrounding this feature could really help you out. CC. CC stands for “carbon copy.” If you’ve never seen carbon paper, it’s a type of waxy tissue paper that is used for duplicating typing or writing from one sheet to another. Click Compose to open a new message. It's not that hard! CC-ing isn’t always a bad idea. On a daily basis since 2007, Dr. Melissa has helped business people worldwide be more focused, balanced, and productive. Construct a single daily or weekly status update email to your manager in lieu of copying them on emails. At this point a carbon copy would be created and this eliminated the need to send the same document to several people. Adding a CC to themselves immediately puts the item as unread in their inbox until they process it appropriately. It’s not a weakness to desire reinforcement – it’s a variant in human behavior. All other recipients of that message can see that the person you designated as a Cc: recipient has received a copy of the message. It has its origin in how office assistants would send mail to a second recipient. BCC. The “cc” line can be placed in the heading, next to the heading, or at the bottom of the document. Here’s my advice to you: Don’t let fear dictate your choices at the keyboard. The CC field. However, sometimes our defaults are unproductive. In other words, email breeds. Definition of Cc. Using CC in current email language means you’re sending an email not only to the primary recipient in the “To” field, but also to one or more secondary recipients. The "Cc:" option is often used in business communications when a message is intended for one person, but is relevant to other people as well. Nope. The “To” field is used for your primary recipients — people who are required to act in response to your email. If you’re the person who copies others on your emails in anticipation of appreciative replies, then pause and reconsider. This sends a copy of the email to the recipients as well as the people being cc’d. Liz Roscher. – Luhar Oct 5 '12 at 23:21 in their inbox is a way to make it more visible than in their sent items folder. If someone needs to be copied without the others on the list receiving his or her email, use “bcc” or blind carbon copy. In this case, putting emails that indicate that something requires action (a task, something to follow up on, etc.) Make. Cc: and Bcc: (‘carbon copy’ and ‘blind carbon copy’) Copying individuals on an email is a good way to send your message to the main recipient while also sending someone else a copy at the same time. BCC is an abbreviation used in email, which means simply Blind Carbon Copy. This meant that my client’s inbox was full of emails that did not require any actions on her part. Cc stands for carbon copy which means that whose address appears after the Cc: header would receive a copy of the message. Speaking from experience it was a real pain when you made a typo! In some circumstances, the typist creating a paper correspondence must ensure that multiple recipients of such a document do not see the names of other recipients. One was in a leadership role and found herself being CC-ed on the majority of emails written by a member of her staff. There are some downsides to sending email carbon copies. There are rational reasons to copy others on an email: As long as we stay disciplined and rational with our CC habits, we’re in good shape. The email addresses you add to the “bcc” […] That’s likely why 281 billion emails were sent daily in 2018. For example, a retail employee may e-mail another employee saying he can work for her on a certain day. The Subject field indicates the purpose of e-mail. managing emailpersonal productivitybusiness communication. If the main motivation of copying others is to allay your own fears, pause and reconsider before hitting send. There are some downsides to sending email carbon copies. Ish. Anyone listed in the Cc: field of a message receives a copy of that message when you send it. Consider these options before CC-ing people on your next email: As you start to become more mindful of how you CC others, you may begin to notice your own habits and patterns. Even more importantly, BCC. Email is a service which allows us to send the message in electronic mode over the internet. Enter the email address of recipients who’ll receive a copy of the email in the CC field. The CC (carbon copy) field allows you to send an email to multiple recipients. 1. The motivating factor in both of these cases was a need for positive reinforcement on the part of the sender. She became increasingly annoyed with this person on her team. With greater awareness, you may uncover insights that you can use to CC less — and streamline and improve your work communication across the board. How do we respond to that fear? This document [ Adobe Acrobat (pdf) version] is intended to offer guidance to users of electronic mail (e-mail) systems. Cc: is simply for their information—with no expectation that they will take action on the email, other than receive it. The cc (“carbon copy”) connotes the same thing as the “Bcc” — the cc’d person is on the email but is not expected to respond — but it does so openly. You might want to keep your colleague in the loop because of a communication breakdown that happened two years ago. Do you have empty drawers or bookshelves in your home or office? Read more by Melissa Gratias, PhD », Your message is genuinely relevant for all recipients, All email recipients need to take actions. I think it is relevant to the question since the OP asks why people CC themselves in an email. A Welcome Email subject line should catch the reader’s attention, thank them for signing up, and give them a reason to open your email. But if you do use it, that way you don't get hit with dozens of reply-alls and leak everyone's email address to every virus-infected machine on the list. It was a very popular office supply decades ago, and can still be found in some places. But do your coworkers? To break out of a loop of unproductive defaults, pause and reconsider. We all develop habits, rituals, and mental maps that allow us to go on autopilot in familiar situations. That is, to send the message to additional recipients beyond the primary recipient. Maybe it's just my own little bubble, but it seems like even the older generations are actually finally starting to get the hang of computers. And, today, CC … When you use cc, everyone who receives the email can see who else received it. CC Sabathia has missed the point of retirement by getting totally jacked. Speaking from experience it was a real pain when you made a typo! Many e-mail systems, including the widely used Microsoft/Outlook Exchange Server and IBM Lotus Notes/Domino Server, offer a Message Recall feature. Hit Send when your message is complete. When referring to email, “cc” means carbon copy and “bbc” means “blind carbon copy”. It’s simply what we do. Now what?” Let them know they’re part of a community: Don’t be afraid to showcase your success as an email marketer. If you need to copy your boss on an email, copy your boss, but don’t pretend they aren’t copied. If you’ve got nothing to say to them, then why are they copied? It’s already in your calendar anyway. When you build a house, you start with the basement. Now, with email Cc: is referred to as “Courtesy Copy” being there is no tangible hard copy to send. Ever receive an email where it's unclear who has the action because everyone is in the "To:" field? So you have to make sure email server is properly configured and running on your machine to send email to the given email ID. On the flip side though, I've actually been seeing quite a lot less of those. Copying others and even hitting reply-all aren’t always the wrong choice. Copying others and even replying to all become a part of a culture of email communication. The CC feature ensures that all your recipients can see who has been added to your mail. As a psychologist who focuses on productivity and workplace behavior, there’s one topic that’s almost always guaranteed to lead to heightened emotions: email overload. I’ve worked with clients who write and rewrite emails to the point of obsession. If you’re sending from a personal address—for a job application or informational interview, for example—make sure your address is still professional sounding. It is a way in which I use CC-ing myself in the email. Reply only to people who are directly impacted by your response. Blind carbon copy (abbreviated Bcc) allows the sender of a message to conceal the person entered in the Bcc field from the other recipients.This concept originally applied to paper correspondence and now also applies to email.. The term “cc” is short for “carbon copy,” a holdover from the days when memos were written on a typewriter. It should be precise and to the point. Bcc (“blind carbon copy”) also sends a copy of the email to one or more people beyond the primary recipient (s). The abbreviation CC comes from “carbon copy.” By placing a sheet of carbon paper between two pieces of paper, the pressure from writing on the first piece of paper will push the ink from the carbon paper down onto the second piece of paper, producing an additional copy of the document. As measured by almost every personality test known to psychology, Dr. Melissa Gratias has the profile of a disorganized, scattered person who detests planning and thinks calendars are for wimps. Cc: and Bcc: (‘carbon copy’ and ‘blind carbon copy’) Copying individuals on an email is a good way to send your message to the main recipient while also sending someone else a copy at the same time. Some email programs place the phrase "undisclosed recipients" in the address field instead. All your recipients (primary + CC’d) will receive the email. When you use the Cc field, both the original recipient and all carbon copy recipients see the email addresses the message was sent to, and some people might object to their email address going public. Probably not. It is common practice to abbreviate the verb form, and many forms are used, including cc and cc:. If you're going to send an email out to a couple hundred people, chances are you should be using it (well, in many cases you should rethink sending it in the first place). It’s the way we’ve always done it. The email addresses you add to the “bcc” […] So, before we dive into the specific sections of your email, let’s take a look at the fundamentals.Even if you ignore or forget every single other part of this article, at the very least make sure you’ve checked these boxes. The Shortcomings of Cc . Email. 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