Mistakes happen all the time. So why do they feel so horrible?
Whether you’re new to the job, or you’re a decade-deep into your career mistakes can and will happen. As the old saying goes, it’s not about how many times you get knocked down, it’s about how many times you get back up!
So if you’ve just made your first mistake at work and you’re trying to figure out what to do, here’s our guide to recovering with minimal egg on your face.
Common Mistakes at Work
Not all mistakes look the same (generally a Web Developer might make different mistakes to a UX/UI Designer, as they’re working on different things) but they often come down to the same root causes.
You may even recognise your own from this list:
Poor communication: misunderstanding instructions, failing to follow up, not clarifying doubts
Time management issues: missing deadlines, overcommitting to tasks
Lack of attention to detail: failing to proofread/double check work, overlooking information
Prioritization errors: working on less important tasks, leaving no time for important ones, underestimating the time needed to complete a task
Ineffective use of technology: failing to back up important files, poor organization of digital assets
Lack of collaboration: failing to seek input from stakeholders, working in silos
Leadership errors: failing to delegate - or delegating too much, losing sight of the bigger picture, being inflexible
You’ve Just Made Your First Mistake! What Now?
The package has just arrived. You open it in a hurry, eager to see the beautiful mugs and water bottles with the company logo for the new employees. And then you realize that you forgot to send the new logo and the rebranding color to the printer. There are 500 goodies, there’s nothing left in the budget to fix it, and you have to tell your boss about the mistake. Ready to faint, you sweat profusely and lose your tongue. What should you do?
At the coffee machine, you tell your story to your fellow developer. She tells you that she made a code error that broke the JavaScript infrastructure of one of your clients, who hasn't realized it yet, and that she doesn’t know how to fix her mistake.
You both realize that mistakes (even those with serious consequences) can happen to anyone. Really anyone! You put it into perspective by saying to yourselves that at least you do not work in an ICU or in a nuclear power plant. While your mistakes feel like life and death in the moment…they’re probably not.
Taking a step back and staying calm is the first step in dealing with a mistake, no matter how big or small. Take a deep breath and put your brain in solution mode. What can you do to fix the problem? If you acknowledge your mistake and come up with a solution at the same time, your boss shouldn't hold it against you for long.
Gaining Perspective: Properly Sizing the Issue
The first step in problem solving, even if it’s you causing the problem, is to understand the scale of it. Is it a small oopsie that is embarrassing but can be fixed? Or are you dealing with a worst case scenario?
If it’s a small mistake, you can probably confess to those closest to the affected work with little stress. Chalk it up to human error, we’ve all been there! There’s no way you’re the only one in your team who has forgotten to reply to an email on time, or left a spelling mistake in a client pitch.
If it’s a medium-sized mistake, your higher-ups may need to be informed. If it’s something that is going to require resources to fix or will cause delays on important projects, try not to panic! It feels awful to give people more work or cost company money, but it’s all part of business.
If it’s a large mistake, (but doesn’t include serious interpersonal transgressions like assault) how you behave and communicate from now on is going to be crucial.
Communicating the Problem: Do’s and Don’ts
Your response can vary, but no matter the size of the problem there are some do’s and don’ts you can always follow:
✅ Own up to your own mistakes. “I take responsibility for this.”
❌ Try to pass the blame. “Actually, this is all Jackie’s fault. If she hadn’t asked me for help on XYZ I’d have had enough time to get this done…”
You’ll often hear in meetings that ‘we’re not here to point fingers.’ And that’s exactly what you should avoid! Passing the buck to someone else is often transparent, and all you’re going to do is turn people against you.
Saying that, if it really is someone else who caused the problem…
✅ Communicate the cause of the mistake in a respectful manner. “After going through the files to understand what happened, I can see that the mistake was made when I was OOO and Jackie was working on the document. I think we should get her perspective on this.”
❌ Accept blame you don’t deserve. “Jackie said it was my mistake? OK, I guess so…”
You have every right to stand up for yourself, as long as you’re doing it with the best intentions. Your goal should be to find the root of the problem to make sure it doesn’t happen again, not to get revenge or throw someone under the bus!
✅ Talk to the right people: “Hey Manager’s Name, can I speak to you privately? I have a problem I need to talk to you about.”
❌ Talk to the wrong people: “Hey everyone in this All Hands Meeting, guess who brought the website down? Yup, it was me!”
No matter where you work, office politics are always at play behind the scenes. It might make you feel good to announce your mistake to the CEO, but what if that gets your manager in trouble? It’s important to always communicate bad news through the right channels.
Why It’s Important Not to Hide Your Mistakes
To confess or not to confess, that is the question... This Shakespearean dilemma is in fact not one at all. Like a boomerang, your little or big lie may come back in your face if you cover up your blunder. You will live with a sword of Damocles hanging over your head, you don't want that, do you? So get up the courage to tell your bosses everything.
How do you phrase it in the most appropriate way?
Explain clearly and ask for help.
➤ "I made a mistake and I'd like to tell you about it so that you know about it and we can fix it together.
Say that you are coming with both the problem and the solution.
➤ "It's embarrassing, but I'm going to give you two ways I've thought of to fix my mistake.
Summarise the mistake.
➤ "In short, I... it had these consequences... etc".
Elaborate in a concise but precise manner, providing only the important details.
Propose the solution(s) you have thought of.
Be humble, calm and listen to your boss's reactions. You can say you are sorry or explain where the mistake came from, without trying too hard to clear your name or justify it. This posture will surely make your boss more empathetic!
Good Companies Let You Make Mistakes
Good companies and good leaders know that mistakes are part of the process. But they have their limits, and you have to make mistakes in the right way… Here are three tips that will help you make mistakes with panache and to make the most of your mistakes (for yourself and others).
Take 5 minutes (or rather, 4:51) to take a breath and watch this great video from TED-ed on overcoming your mistakes:
Own up to it
The stress of being wrong can lead anyone to be defensive, self-justifying or even unfaithful or aggressive.
Avoid these common parts and assume your mistakes with a clear head and composure.
This mature attitude will make you a much more trustworthy professional. Your bosses will also feel more reassured that you are taking responsibility and keeping a cool head. This will be a much better basis for the discussion you will have about how to fix what you did.
Feeling the fear of failure? Learn how to beat it!
Don’t Make the Same Mistake Twice
The key to successful mistake-making is to show that you learn from them.
One of my bosses used to say that I could make as many mistakes as I wanted but never in the same way. And he was right.
To err is human and some mistakes are inevitable. But the important thing is to understand how they came about and why, so that you don't fall for them again.
If we take the two examples given at the beginning of this article, drawing up a checklist before sending a brief to the printer will ensure that next time you do not forget the graphic elements. Similarly, the developer can rely on experienced colleagues to sort out the bug at the client's premises and set up a team to ensure that this does not happen again.
Here are three tried and tested tips to show that you learn from your mistakes:
Adjust the process that led you to a mistake to ensure you don't make it again.
Train yourself on what you didn't know how to do that made you go wrong.
Share the reasons for the failure with your colleagues to avoid the same unfortunate situation for others!
Run a post-mortem
In fact, sharing what you have learned by making mistakes is important at the company level. It does several things:
Let everyone understand how the mistake happened. Was it fatigue? Was it a moment of inattention? Were the company records confusing?
For the team to draw up a plan to ensure that the mistake does not happen again in the future.
There are several ways to do this:
Simply a note by email or on a corporate social network channel (Slack...)
On the company's internal documentation, for example by creating a Notion sub-page on a project
At a meeting where you are given a small amount of time to talk about the subject
By giving a mini conference in front of colleagues during lunch break, if it was a very big mistake.
Talking about your mistake to your team or even the whole company is impressive the first time. But it is the professionals with the most distance who do it best. It is therefore an indisputable mark of professional maturity.
In a nutshell
It's a bit of a vicious circle... We make more mistakes when we feel stressed at work, but admitting them puts a lot of pressure on us. Owning up to mistakes is the best solution to make the office climate more conducive to a calmer way of working. We hope these tips will help you grow in your handling of mistakes, big or small.
Looking for more advice on career growth and professional development? Check out these great articles:
About the Author:
Ellie Merryweather is a tech writer, and Marketing Lead. She writes about startup life, diversity in tech, and accessible education for the tech community.
