What Is the Proper Etiquette When Carbon Copying Management on Emails?

It might help you vent your frustration to a manager who has the authority to deal with an annoying co-worker, but sending a CC to her boss for an email calling her out on something negative could haunt you later on. If you do it to someone else, chances are that at some point someone will CC your own boss, highlighting a mistake you made. Rather than create bad karma for yourself, see if you can resolve the issue with your co-worker in a private email, or better yet in person. If you really need to speak to management about the issue, do it in person or over the phone -- not by email, as you always run the risk of management replying to you with a CC to the co-worker in question.

The best etiquette is to only send a manager a CC on a new conversation or as an FYI that doesn't require a reply. The quickest way to embarrass someone or share information with the wrong person is to CC a manager on an email replying to many other emails between you and the main recipient under the same thread. If the CC is absolutely necessary for the latest email in the thread, delete previous emails in the same thread if they reveal information only meant for you and the main recipient. Likewise, don't bother CCing a manager on emails with no real necessary information, such as those sent for a simple "Thanks!"

Find out in advance if it's okay with your co-workers and their bosses, or your bosses, to CC them on emails regarding touchy subjects such as another's job performance -- or which email subjects they prefer to receive a CC. If you make a mental record of who is okay with CCs and who is not, you are more likely to remain at peace with your co-workers and management. You might also discuss the issue with someone in human resources to find out if your company has a policy on which types of emails to send to those in middle or upper management. Management personnel often receive an extraordinary number of emails and will likely appreciate this courtesy.

Any electronic correspondence in which management receives a CC should be as professional and generic as possible. You might institute a policy whereby you never send CCs to management personnel that could be considered personal, passive-aggressive or controversial in any way. Better yet, to avoid risky CC errors, don't send CCs to management at all, opting for one-on-one emails or conversations in person instead. Also, avoid sending CCs to management if it would cause confusion regarding who must take responsibility for an action; if either the main recipient or CC-d manager think the other person will handle your email request, it may not be handled at all, or they could both duplicate efforts unnecessarily.