Managing Your First Workplace Mess-Up

Managing Your First Workplace Mess-Up

So, you screwed the pooch, you bungled it, you goofed, you flubbed, you flopped, you fumbled.  

To put it plainly, you screwed up. 

It’s about time. Maybe this was a big one, maybe this was just a tiny one. Either way, it was inevitable. The screw-ups come for us all. Some of us lucky ones get hit with a few of them, because when it rains it pours, right? Luckily, mistakes are learning opportunities. And let’s just say that I have been blessed with PLENTY of learning opportunities. So do your best Billy Mays impression, make like a Sham-Wow, and absorb.  

BUT, before we dive in, it’s important to know that fixing a major mistake is rarely, if ever easy (because if it’s easy, then it wasn’t that major). With that said, you will also rarely encounter a mistake that is unfixable.   

So, let’s get to some of my hard-earned lessons about messing up. 

Own up to it and get help… QUICKLY 

There are some mistakes that we make that we can quickly fix on our own. I’m not talking about those mistakes. You will know when you make a mistake that you can’t fix on your own, and when that happens, it’s always best to get help QUICKLY. The longer you wait, the longer you panic, the more difficult it will be to fix the mistake. When mistakes are made, pride needs to go out the window. Taking responsibility and being proactive in seeking out assistance will always give you the best chance to fix the mistake before it spirals out of control. 

It is fine to be precise in your explanation but do your best not to be defensive 

Temperatures can often run high in these situations. If that is the case, being defensive is not helpful. As the person who made the mistake, your sole focus should be to rectify it, and taking some lumps may be necessary for the sake of time and efficiency.  

When all is said and done, and the crisis is averted, maybe there will be an opportunity to explain what happened and why the mistake was made. But in the thick of it, you should be singularly focused on fixing the problem, not explaining why it happened. 

Don’t throw your teammates under the bus 

Sometimes mistakes rest solely on one person’s shoulders, but frequently enough, they are the product of a cascade of minor mistakes or miscommunications by a few different people. When the temperatures are running high and people are franticly working to fix the error, that is NOT the time to direct the blame to one of your teammates.  

As I’ve said before, your sole focus (as well as that of your team’s) should be to fix the mistake. After the dust settles and everything is taken care of, if you feel you need to clarify some of the details regarding who may have played a role in the error or if blame has been unjustly assigned, have at it. (But have some tact, because NOBODY likes a tattle tale) 

Learn your lesson 

Learn your lesson from me and learn your lesson when the time comes. Mistakes happen, that’s just the way it goes. Try as we may, there is no way to avoid every mistake. But that doesn’t mean everyone will be fine and dandy with it. So, when you do screw the pooch, you best make sure to learn your lesson. 

• What went wrong?  
• How did we fix this?  
• What can be done to prevent this from happening?  
• What can be done to resolve the issue quicker next time? 

If you are going to make a mistake, be the person who never makes the same mistake twice. Be the person who learns from their mistakes and uses that experience to help their colleagues avoid the pitfalls that you have been lucky enough to fall victim to. Be the work bestie that everyone needs, the one who leads by example and looks out for their coworkers. 

So, to conclude my SamTalk, I leave you with these final words:

Everyone is bound to have a major screw up. Remember that the best employees own up to their mistakes, learn from them, and use that experience to support their coworkers.