I get very annoyed with emails at work in which the whole world has been copied. It does not matter if those copied have no interest or say in the matter.
How do you tell those suckers to mind their manners and copy someone only when you want to escalate the matter. But then again everything is not escalated to all the bigwigs in the office.
Re: Need your bright ideas.
I don't say anything. Eventually those who have a clue get it.
Sometimes the not copying approach adds to inefficiency. For example, I may ask two people for some information - persons A and B. Person A is our admin. PERSON B knows the info. Sens that info to person A cause B doesn't know me, but knows A. So person A has to forward that info to me. Makes no sense.
Especially if it is critical and i have stated as such. If Person A has gone for the day, I lose 12 hours.
So for me, when in doubt, cc the person. Too much time can be spent on thinking who is relevant who is not. Give it 5 sec and go with it
Re: Need your bright ideas.
Tell me about it man.. sigh! I get hit by a zillion emails everyday and without checking i can say most of them are irrelevant. But you cant ignore that as you’ve to dig in to find the one thats for you. And God forbid if you miss a single email that was intended for you, its gona be a mess. The only way out is using the rules.
Now regarding the question how to tell them not to do this, i think you can walk to them and ask if you can be missed out in the next email but that wont last long cuz how many times would u do that ?!
You know na, “Paas kar ya bardasht kar”! 
Re: Need your bright ideas.
What does paas kar ya bardasht kar mean? I know each word's meaning. But not the sentence.
Can't bardasht the mystery.
Re: Need your bright ideas.
^^ that seems like a slogan on a slow moving Truck.
it means either go around or stay back and be patient!
Re: Need your bright ideas.
=lol…ek truck ke peechhe likhaa thaa:
“PASS ke liye: Horn deN, maiN bahraa huN ; haath hilaayeN, maiN andhaa huN” 
means…stay back and watch my rear! 
Re: Need your bright ideas.
Yes , exactly what SID said , the best strategy really is to set up rules .. coz that way all the usual knick knack mails that arent very important in your opinion can go to a certain folder that you can check when you have more time at hand. Leave the Inbox free for any urgent mails or mails from people that are directly involved in your projects.
The point being, 99% of the times you are being sent emails coz you are supposed to go through them and know things. Its just a matter of time management at your end.
Re: Need your bright ideas.
How does one leave inbox free for people directly involved in one's projects. There are outside vendors collaborators internal colleagues. Does one keep adding and deleting these folks from ones preferred list. That in and of itself seems like a full time job.
Side note: back home we have "Horn OK please" as sign in back of lorries. For the longest time I wondered what it meant.
cc: biryani , 012345678910, sentry, pisiform, tlk, kkf, muqawee, rv, monk, waleed, hunt, Sid ny, humtumdost
Re: Need your bright ideas.
well if it seems difficult to control the incoming mail from the vendors , you can at least control the ones that you know are constant hassle emails !
Like for example, internal people not directly connected to your projects sending you stuff that doesnt need urgent attention , you can set rules to move them into a folder that can be read later.
Dont you guys keep time aside for the email sorting? I used to have 15 minutes of every hour purely for this and it almost never created issues for me.
Re: Need your bright ideas.
I have tons of rules , tons of folders and then I have index of folders etc. My rant is not about people copying me. My rant is against folks who think that if they copy everybody in an email it will get better results. In many cases I send a friendly email and let the sender know that copying everybody on every email is not good office etiquette. They should be sending email to the person they expect an action from. If they need to escalate something to someone they need to send a direct email to that person, if they want to escalate something to VP of IT and they just copy him/her , he/she will never read or take any action on it.
Re: Need your bright ideas.
well if it seems difficult to control the incoming mail from the vendors , you can at least control the ones that you know are constant hassle emails !
Like for example, internal people not directly connected to your projects sending you stuff that doesnt need urgent attention , you can set rules to move them into a folder that can be read later.
Dont you guys keep time aside for the email sorting? I used to have 15 minutes of every hour purely for this and it almost never created issues for me.
Ms. Biryani,
15 minutes of every hour purely for email sorting is 25 pct of one's time. And of course, after sorting, one has to read it. That means email sorting and reading and responding may take up 100 pct of one's time. While that may keep ones email portion of work scope in order, not sure how that is good for productivity.
cc: cricketnama, all views, world affairs, PA, culture and history
BCC: beafridi
Re: Need your bright ideas.
Simple rule- anyone being asked for action is in to field, cc is people who need to be kept informed but no action is required. Others should not be on cc, filing cc with a-z is a CYA
I practice this simple rule, share the approach as a good practice. Those who fill my inbox with junk get ignored. If I am asked a question and I am on CC and not in the TO field, I may miss it until I get to the emails I am cc'ed one. People learn.
Re: Need your bright ideas.
Is there a way to sort emails based on whether one appears on to or cc field?
Yeah mon, I can teach you for $200
Re: Need your bright ideas.
Discount for senior citizens available?
Re: Need your bright ideas.
okay $199.98
Re: Need your bright ideas.
Deal!
Read this for starters
http://www.hanselman.com/blog/TheThreeMostImportantOutlookRulesForProcessingMail.aspx
Here is a little trick, be nice to the desktop support guy and tell him what you need and they will do it. 
Re: Need your bright ideas.
Thanks! Very useful.
Yes, am one of the favorites of the IT folks. They do a great job and I always give a good appraisal of their work. Ditto the Crafts people. Built a good mutually respectful relationship.