Office Question

[CZroe]

Is it possible she simply doesn't understand email and thinks the reason she was cc'd was to get her input too?

 

[BikeJunkie]

are you her boss?

Nah, he said "she was just a peer."

 

[JManInPhoenix]

IShe is only CC'd because I want her to be kept in the loop of all communications.

Take her out of the loop OR live with her undercutting you.

 

[BikeJunkie]

Take her out of the loop OR live with her undercutting you.

Short, sweet, and to the point :thumbsup:

 

[olds]

Meh. Normally, if I am CC'd on something, I don't respond. I consider it more of an FYI than an email to me.
In this case, I would reply all to her email and either confirm or correct what she said.

 

[rudeguy]

Nah, he said "she was just a peer."

if a "peer" tried to order me around like the OP is ordering around this chick, there would be issues. OP is very close to meeting the big, bad, HR monster

 

[BikeJunkie]

if a "peer" tried to order me around like the OP is ordering around this chick, there would be issues. OP is very close to meeting the big, bad, HR monster

Maybe I missed this - I didn't see where he ordered her around?

 

[slag]

I know its a small thing, so I'm not gonna do anything. But the general question stands,

Is it rude for somebody to reply to an e-mail not directly addressed to them?

No, if they are on the "To:" line or CC line, the email is fair game. If you don't want someone to respond, then BCC them or don't include them, OR, set up expectations ahead of time that you will include them on emails but do not expect nor want them to reply to them.

 

[Capt Caveman]

Get remote access to your email.

/thread

 

[SamQuint]

Maybe management likes to cc her since she seems to respond quicker than you do.

Like others have said monitor your mail from your phone and you can reply just to her telling her that you will take care of it when you get in if you don't want her to respond.

I don't think it really is rude for her to respond. Management is asking a question. I would feel the need to respond to my management if they were asking me a question. However I usually wait 5 minutes and if nobody in the TO section replied then I would if I had the information they requested.

 

[mikeford]

Be nice to her, sounds like she might be your boss before too long.

 

[Tweak155]

I always talk up co-workers when I get the chance, highlighting when they did a good job or they did something that helped out the group. If you're in it for yourself, you'll be the only one that suffers when things go south. A "team" is just that, a team.

I remember a long while back, one of the new team members at a support gig sent this email out to supervisors + bashing the day crew (he was night) which was copied to all of us when one of the supervisors replied to make a general comment. I replied directly to the team member who originated the bashing, not copying anyone, suggesting to him that we are all on the same team and we have it hard during the day just as he does during the night, and I recommended he try to take that into consideration. Overall I didn't attack what he did, I just worded it in a way he should support the team.

The dude replied back, copied all of supervisors + again and basically told me to go to hell and justified why he stated what he did.

Months later I was talking with the main supervisor for our group and it was brought up that he had no idea why that guy responded the way he did and he thought my e-mail was perfectly fine.

Moral of the story? Higher ups can gauge these things and all you need to focus on is when you send out communications and do work, you do it right to the best of your ability. Do not focus on what other people do as they will make their own path.

 

[BikeJunkie]

Moral of the story? Higher ups can gauge these things and all you need to focus on is when you send out communications and do work, you do it right to the best of your ability. Do not focus on what other people do as they will make their own path.

Really good points. I have very little tolerance for serial CC'ers. I had a coworker who would email directly when she had questions or problems she couldn't solve... but god forbid she waste an opportunity to pull the trigger with me in the crosshairs. She'd CC our boss and anyone else she could think of if I slipped up. Ultimately she did herself in and became known as difficult to work with and untrustworthy.

In the instances where I was in a managerial or lead position and people would CC me for no reason other than to "expose" someone else, I called them out on it.

"Is this something you can work with so-and-so directly on, or do you honestly require management's involvement to solve this?"

That goes a LONG way in curtailing that sort of bullshit.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

In the instances where I was in a managerial or lead position and people would CC me for no reason other than to "expose" someone else, I called them out on it.

Ah, the office tattletale -- I have fun stories about those guys. My favorite was a couple of jobs ago -- I was managing a global rollout of Active Directory, new servers, and workstation refreshes. Our idiot Lotus Notes administrator (we'll call him "Joe") tattled on me and told my boss that my documentation was "all messed up and wrong" for the Lotus Notes migration piece.

My boss called me into his office and was visibly angry. The tattletale was standing by him smiling. My boss starts ripping into me: "Joe came to me and said all of our Notes installs are WRONG and that your documentation is completely WRONG!!!" I looked puzzled and said "Well, that's certainly terrible news -- especially since Joe wrote the Lotus Notes documentation and I merely copied it into the master document." His face turned beat red and he started ripping into Joe on the spot. Joe's stumbling and bumbling was epic. :awe:

 

[Sonikku]

L2Office Politics.

 

[nageov3t]

OP, the only real solution is to cut the person off the email chain. If I received an email in my inbox with a query from management that I was capable of answering, whether my name is in the To: or CC: box, I'd answer it.

I assume management is more interested in getting their issue resolved as quickly as possible rather than waiting for someone specific to do it.

In the instances where I was in a managerial or lead position and people would CC me for no reason other than to "expose" someone else, I called them out on it.

I'm partially guilty of that. it's not that I want to "expose" someone so much as I want management to at least be aware of what I'm dealing with without me having to escalate it into an actual sit-down conversation.

I have one coworker who is constantly bombarding me with questions. training is one thing, but this guy has been working for the company for 3 years and still asks newbie, basic process questions because he's so unsure of himself. usually when he sends an email directly to me, I'll reply back with the answer to his question but add the department mailing list to the CC line.

I had an issue a few jobs back where there was a particularly awful employee... after he got fired and everyone was trash talking him, the manager at the time couldn't believe that things were that bad for so long and complained about no one reporting the bad employee (instead, at least for the first year or so, the rest of us just picked up the extra slack, more interested in getting the job done than becoming the office "tattletale"... it wasn't until we stopped picking up the slack and let him fail on his own that management started to notice)

 

[rudeguy]

L2Office Politics.

I seriously don't get why someone would get mad that someone else replied to an email? What is the issue?

OP: I've gotten 37 emails since I came in today, haven't looked at one yet. I can give you my login info and you can reply all you want.

And you never answered: If its such a big deal, why aren't you replying from your phone? Also: What kind of work do you do and what is your title?

 

[rudeguy]

OP, the only real solution is to cut the person off the email chain. If I received an email in my inbox with a query from management that I was capable of answering, whether my name is in the To: or CC: box, I'd answer it.

I assume management is more interested in getting their issue resolved as quickly as possible rather than waiting for someone specific to do it.



I'm partially guilty of that. it's not that I want to "expose" someone so much as I want management to at least be aware of what I'm dealing with without me having to escalate it into an actual sit-down conversation.

I have one coworker who is constantly bombarding me with questions. training is one thing, but this guy has been working for the company for 3 years and still asks newbie, basic process questions because he's so unsure of himself. usually when he sends an email directly to me, I'll reply back with the answer to his question but add the department mailing list to the CC line.

I had an issue a few jobs back where there was a particularly awful employee... after he got fired and everyone was trash talking him, the manager at the time couldn't believe that things were that bad for so long and complained about no one reporting the bad employee (instead, at least for the first year or so, the rest of us just picked up the extra slack, more interested in getting the job done than becoming the office "tattletale"... it wasn't until we stopped picking up the slack and let him fail on his own that management started to notice)

Maybe he was cutting work so he could go on a raid?

:awe:

 

[BikeJunkie]

Meh, a problem employee is one thing. I was more referring to people who are merely opportunists who will broadcast anyone's mistakes - no matter how minor - if they think it will help them get ahead.

 

[nageov3t]

Maybe he was cutting work so he could go on a raid?

:awe:

ha.

tbh, I'm like 80% certain he was skipping out on work to do drugs (crack or coke)... he'd disappear for hours at a time only to return hyped up and bouncing off the walls.

this was back when I worked at a NOC, so within reason, one could disappear for a time without attracting much notice (if someone wasn't in the NOC, it was just assumed they were out somewhere in the data center working on a server, running cables, etc).

 

[rudeguy]

Meh, a problem employee is one thing. I was more referring to people who are merely opportunists who will broadcast anyone's mistakes - no matter how minor - if they think it will help them get ahead.

I hate anyone who tries to use email as a power trip.

"I'm going to CC your boss!" OK?
"I'm going to CC my boss!" OK?
"I'm going to CC the entire team so they can know what you did!" OK?
"I'm going to CC all of management so they can know what's going on!" OK?

I actually saw a guy get walked out for this once. He was playing the CC game and for some stupid reason he decided to start CCing the CEO. That did not end well.

 

[blackdogdeek]

Sometimes I will put someone on the to: line but cc: their group to get more input or for them to respond if the other person is taking too long.

If I am cc'ed I will comment if I feel I can add to the discussion.

These both seem to be common practice here.

 

[BikeJunkie]

I hate anyone who tries to use email as a power trip.

"I'm going to CC your boss!" OK?
"I'm going to CC my boss!" OK?
"I'm going to CC the entire team so they can know what you did!" OK?
"I'm going to CC all of management so they can know what's going on!" OK?

I actually saw a guy get walked out for this once. He was playing the CC game and for some stupid reason he decided to start CCing the CEO. That did not end well.

HAHA brilliant!

 

[Schfifty Five]

Getting a bit annoyed at my co-worker, so I'm wondering if I'm overreacting.

I've built some strong relationships with senior management and they usually come back to me with queries. The emails are always addressed directly to me.

My co worker, who is CC'd on these emails, always tries to butt herself in and answer the queries. She starts her day before me, so I'll get an email overnight and by the time I'm in she has already replied.

I'm pissed off cause I worked to build these relationships. It's anagolous to a co worker stealing your clients imo...

The funny thing is that she is shite at communication , everybody thinks she is all over the place (which is why they normally come to me with queries).

She hasn't done this once, but rather many many times. I don't mind being a team player, buts she's pissing me off by trying to involve herself in the good relationships / work I have built.

Ultimately I'm just going to let it go, cause she's no threat to my career advancement. But it just pisses me off that she's so competitive and selfish. I always try to respect her role so I never reply to an email directed at her without asking if she needs help.

Or am I overreacting?

Have you asked her politely to refrain from replying until you first reply? Tell her that she may miss communicate something or might not have all the answers so she should wait for you.

Don't be passive aggressive, just be polite and ask.

 

[OCGuy]

The dumbest part is that everyone thinks they are extremely slick or original when they BCC me in an email (and probably the next person up the chain in corporate as well) where they point out a mistake by a colleague.

I like knowing what kind of drama is happening on the floor, so I don't say anything. But in reality I look at the person who is BCC-ing me more negatively than the person they are trying to show as incompetent/bitchy/not a team player/etc