Emily Price* says there is a good way to respond when a passive-aggressive co-worker unnecessarily involves your boss in an email chain.
At some point, we’ve all had the misfortune of working with a passive-aggressive co-worker.
You know that guy who is bringing your project down but somehow thinks all the issues are someone else’s fault, so much so that he makes a point to tell anyone and everyone that will listen – including your boss – but won’t chat with you directly.
Chances are good your co-workers already have a good idea that he or she is actually the problem, but the same might not be true of your boss – whom that person is going to try and somehow involve in any conflict you have by tattling like they’re in primary school.
Recently Inc made a great suggestion for when that happens via email: Just ask your boss if they want to be involved.
Chances are they don’t.
The idea here is pretty simple: Typically, Mr Passive-Aggressive is copying your boss in on an email because they want to appear to be the boss’s ally in the situation.
Yes, there are perfectly reasonable reasons to include your boss in an email chain as well – we’re not talking about those.
We’re talking about the email chains where there’s absolutely no reason for your boss to be included except to tattle about some “wrong” you did or for your co-worker to make himself look like the hero of a project.
When you get one of those emails you have the choice of either continuing to CC everyone, essentially proving their point, or to not CC your boss, which if your co-worker CCs them again makes it look like you were trying to hide something.
Neither is great.
The elusive third option is perfect: Forward the CC’d email to your boss, CC your co-worker, and then ask: “Do you want to be looped in on this?”
Maybe they do, but they probably do not, and sending an email like this gives your boss an out in the situation.
It also points the blame for including them in the first place on your co-worker and highlights the potential absurdity of your co-worker trying to bring them into the situation in the first place.
It’s obviously not the best solution for every situation, but for the ones that it is, it’s brilliant.
* Emily Price is a freelance journalist. She tweets at @Emily.
This article first appeared at www.lifehacker.com.au
