Teamleader always in CC 12

[zanouk]

Hello all,

Some months ago two team leaders exchanged departments. I didn't mind too much at the time, as I can work with almost anybody and can do my job no matter the team leader (although I feel the former one was a person from which I had much more to learn from than the new one).
For a period of time there were no problems, but then the new team leader started being a complete control freak. I can manage most of her rules, but I have a hard time accepting the rule where I have to add her in CC to every email I send.
Don't judge too fast...on all my evaluations I was over their expectations in terms of communication, as my team leader always knew what I was working on, as I like to be as transparent as possible. When identifying a new topic to work on I would always send an email or tell them directly and mention how I would go about fixing it, but then I would have fixed it directly and send to the team leader an email when the problem was fixed (one email only with a whole conversation maybe, and the solution to it). I thought this was an elegant way of dealing with things, I was also able to construct some work relationships with colleagues in other departments, all was well.

The problems I have with this CC rule are:
- I think some people will interpret it badly and thing that I need to add "my mommy" in order to receive an answer from them => I don't really know what I'm doing/I'm not really confident
- I cannot be proactive and make my own decisions (although I am the responsible person in some projects) because she has the annoying habit of interfering (i.e. when I receive an answer she sometimes replies before I get the chance)
- I feel that I cannot connect as easily to people in other departments

Do any of you have the same rule - boss always in CC for every stupid email? How do you deal with it? Am I just analyzing this too much and all the points I have on not liking the cc rule are just stupid?

Any insight would be helpful.
D.

 

[CheckerHater]

"no email trails more than 3 replies deep "

Is there a setting for that (assuming Outlook)?

 

[loki3000]

no, what he meant was, that if you have a three replies deep email convo, it's better to pick up the phone and talk it out.

 

[ceac]

Honestly, I fail to see the problem here.

Maybe it's me that has an open relationship with my manager, where I do not work for him but we work together (he puts in the experience and vision, I do the grunt work) that is different?

I actually want him to be on most of my emails for documentation, we implemented a ticket based email protocol where we always put in the ID number in the subject and with a simple Outlook rule, emails get sorted into folders automatically and if needed he can skim through the information as needed.

And as others pointed out, this person is in charge. Did she started taking action based on all the emails or does she let you carry on with your work?
Have you considered that by having her on emails you are in fact buying a bit more freedom from her as she can assess your competency and keep track of what is going on without breathing down your neck?

 

[TehMightyEngineer]

My boss has me cc him on any email that should be part of the project record. So, short emails saying "Mr. Client, want to hit the course after work?" are not cc'd as they don't matter. When he gets his 500 emails a day he sorts them by project and doesn't read them. However, if he needs to go through a chain of emails to solve a problem and I'm not around he has all the relevant information. Makes sense to me, I plan to do the same if I ever become boss.

Maine EIT, Civil/Structural.

 

[carlharr]

I think it might be choice of communication method that causes the problem.

Email is great for sending a chunk of information to several people (no reply required), or for leaving a message for a single recipient if you know they aren't there, or it's not urgent. Think electronic versions of "normal mail" and "post-it notes".

But for discussions its hopeless, and should be a last ditch choice. Much easier to pick up the phone and you can get a lot more covered in a short time, rather than spending time "wording the email correctly", waiting for a response, replying to that and so on... Plus, tone of voice carries a lot more meaning than words alone, and any misunderstandings are cleared up instantly on the phone.

Afterwards, you can always use email for "minutes", once everything has been covered. And then cc the boss into just 1 email.

http://www.jcb.com

NX 8.5 with TC 8.3

 

[TehMightyEngineer]

Afterwards, you can always use email for "minutes", once everything has been covered. And then cc the boss into just 1 email.

Great point, best of both worlds.

Maine EIT, Civil/Structural.