Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.
Speaker 1: Good Morning, This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.
Speaker 1: Today's tip is about how to handle things when you
Speaker 1: make a mistake at work. Today's tip, like a few
Speaker 1: other recent ones, comes from management expert Alison Green's book
Speaker 1: Ask a Manager. This book covers all sorts of workplace
Speaker 1: sticky situations and how to deal with them. This includes
Speaker 1: major screw ups. We all like to pride ourselves on
Speaker 1: our great performance, but you're going to make a mistake
Speaker 1: at some point, Green rights, because you're human and that
Speaker 1: is what we do. She notes that this category of
Speaker 1: people who make mistakes most definitely includes her. She shares
Speaker 1: that every high performer she has ever managed has likewise
Speaker 1: royally screwed up once or twice. The important thing to know,
Speaker 1: she says, is that the way you handle it can
Speaker 1: end up being more important than the mistake itself. So
Speaker 1: here's what you do. First, tell your boss what happened
Speaker 1: right away. Don't put it off because you're dreading the conversation,
Speaker 1: Green rights. Delaying will make things worse, partly because it
Speaker 1: will send the message that you value your own comfort
Speaker 1: over the needs of your work Second, take responsibility for
Speaker 1: what happened. Don't make excuses if you act like it
Speaker 1: wasn't a big deal or you aren't responsible for it.
Speaker 1: This will compound the damage because now your boss will
Speaker 1: be alarmed that your cavalier about errors or don't take
Speaker 1: ownership of them. Green rights, Basically, if you show that
Speaker 1: you know the situation is serious, your boss will be
Speaker 1: in a better mindset about the mistake already because she
Speaker 1: no longer has to convince you that it's a problem. Third,
Speaker 1: briefly explain how the mistake happened. As Green notes, this
Speaker 1: is important not only because your boss might want to
Speaker 1: know the particularly because she'll want to know that you know.
Speaker 1: If you don't understand how a mistake happened, it's more
Speaker 1: likely to happen again, and both of you would like
Speaker 1: to avoid that scenario. So finally, you need to explain
Speaker 1: how you plan to ensure that it doesn't happen again.
Speaker 1: Green writes that in a lot of cases, your boss
Speaker 1: won't care so much about the details of your plan.
Speaker 1: She'll just want to know that you have a plan,
Speaker 1: that you're taking it seriously and will work to prevent
Speaker 1: similar mistakes in the future. If you do these things,
Speaker 1: you're likely to convince everyone that you're learning and growing
Speaker 1: in your role. You're on an upward trajectory. Indeed, in
Speaker 1: some ways, setbacks can become opportunities. You can have a
Speaker 1: real honest chat with your manager about your performance, how
Speaker 1: you can improve, and you can convince her that you
Speaker 1: are responsible and trustworthy. Life is never completely charmed. Something
Speaker 1: is always going to go wrong somewhere, and when the
Speaker 1: people who work with you know that you can stay
Speaker 1: calm and focused on solutions, they'll trust you to handle
Speaker 1: more and more. If you've ever made a big mistake
Speaker 1: at work, I'd love to hear about how you recovered
Speaker 1: and turned it into an opportunity. You can email me
Speaker 1: at Before Breakfast Podcast at iHeart media dot com. In
Speaker 1: the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's
Speaker 1: to making the most of our time. Hey, everybody, I'd
Speaker 1: love to hear from you. You can send me your tips,
Speaker 1: your questions, or anything else. Just connect with me on Twitter,
Speaker 1: Facebook and Instagram at Before Breakfast Pod that's b E
Speaker 1: the number four then Breakfast p o D. You can
Speaker 1: also shoot me an email at Before Breakfast Podcast at
Speaker 1: i Heeart Media dot com that before Breakfast is spelled
Speaker 1: out with all the letters. Thanks so much, I look
Speaker 1: forward to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is a production
Speaker 1: of I heart Radio. For more podcasts from I heart Radio,
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Speaker 1: you listen to your favorite shows.