Email has become the default method of business communication for almost all organisations but many professionals will admit to having a love-hate relationship with their inbox.  One thing that most of us would agree on is that we would like to receive fewer emails.  An easy fix that would enable us to help each other to reduce the size of our inboxes is to use the CC function more sparingly and to consider more carefully if we need to copy other recipients into our professional correspondence.  Having excellent professional email writing skills isn’t just the ability to write well but it is also about being courteous to your audience by observing simple rules of email etiquette.

‘CC-itis’ has become a modern day malaise with many employees copying managers and colleagues into their correspondence whether through laziness, lack of consideration or a desire to cover or sell themselves. 

You know you are suffering from ’CC-itis’ if you:

• Copy in your recipient’s superior to show them you are annoyed or frustrated with the recipient
• Copy someone into an email as a means of telling your recipient that this person is going to do something for them without having the consideration to check with them first
• Copy in your superiors or peers to show that you are working
• Copy in a number of parties that may or may not be interested parties

It is still ok to use the CC function to:

• Let someone know that you have contacted the recipient as requested
• Signal that you have dealt with something so that person in CC doesn’t need to
• Inform the recipient that the person in CC will be looking after their concerns in your absence
• Keep others informed of developments on projects they are involved in when they don’t need to do anything

Employees who remedy their symptoms of CC-itis either through their own personal development or through attending professional email writing training courses will find that they gain respect from their colleagues and are seen as efficient communicators.