Table of Contents
What to do when you really screw up at work?
6 ways to recover if you screw up at work
- Pull Yourself Together. The variety of emotions experienced after your on-the-job error are likely to overwhelm you.
- Fess Up. This isn’t time for excuses.
- Clean Up the Mess.
- Don’t Dwell on It.
- Learn From It.
- Move Forward.
Is it normal to screw up at work?
To be clear, the answer is yes – it is normal to make mistakes at work. At the end of the day, you’re only human and mistakes happen, no matter how well-intentioned you may be. It’s even worse if you make a mistake at work and then attempt to hide it from your leader, downplay it, or place the blame on someone else.
How do you recover from messing up at work?
Here’s your seven-step recovery plan.
- Step 1: Allow Yourself to Feel Awful About it (But Not for Too Long)
- Step 2: Keep Things in Perspective.
- Step 3: Confront Your Worst-Case Scenario—Then Let it Go.
- Step 4: Apologize if You Need to—But Don’t Overdo It.
- Step 5: Create a Game Plan for Next Time.
Does throwing blame make you look bad as an employee?
Even if what happened wasn’t entirely your error, throwing blame around doesn’t make you look like a great employee, either. “It looks like you’re not taking responsibility for the mistake,” Coombs says. “If you’re involved in the overall error, it does fall on you.
Was Your Workplace Snafu a costly mistake?
Maybe your workplace snafu was a little bigger than that—a costly mistake that damaged your employer’s earnings, credibility, or public image. Or maybe you made a mistake that simply made you seem like a complete idiot, like double-booking VIP clients, so they both showed up to your office’s reception area to meet with you at the exact same time.
What happens when you make a mistake at work?
With very few exceptions—like if you’re a pilot, surgeon, or military personnel—making an error at work is not a life-or-death situation, and most mistakes can be resolved or corrected right away. So you uploaded the wrong file, double-booked an important meeting, showed up late for a presentation, or included a typo in an important report.
How long should you feel after making a mistake at work?
In response to a stressful scenario, like making a mistake at work, it’s natural to feel frustrated, embarrassed, or even distressed for, say, 10-15 seconds. But ideally, after 15 seconds, the feeling should pass.