Tips and suggestions to help you determine when to blind carbon copy or carbon copy recipients when sending professional emails.
Communicating by email has become a standard practice in corporate settings. Consider the following emailing guidelines to ensure that you are acting professionally when copying other recipients on emails.
Carbon Copy (Cc)
If you have been copied on an email, it is important to distinguish if you have be copied as an FYI (For Your Information) or whether the author is trying to let you know that this needs follow-up and/or other actions. Typically, cc’ing someone means that you want them to have the information, but you expect the person who the email is directed at (i.e. the person on the “to” line) to perform the action. When you are working on a project, it is important to make sure that everyone involved on the project is copied on any emails regarding that project. Pay attention to the Project Leader – if he or she copies certain people, follow suit. Also, when you are new on the job, your supervisor may want to be cc’d on all of your emails until a level of trust has been built.
Blind Carbon Copy (Bbc)
Blind copying is used to inform another person about a situation without the person the email is directed to (i.e. the person on the “to” line) knowing. This can be a passive aggressive form of communication and so it should only be used in extreme situations. Another use for blind copying is in institutions or organizations where privacy policies are strict and recipients must remain anonymous.
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