Making big mistake at work not end of world

By Judi Light Hopson, Emma Hopson and Ted Hagen
Knight Ridder News Service

Have you done something really stupid on the job lately?

Maybe you accidentally deleted critical information from computer files? Or, did you flub a big sale?

If you're in the company doghouse, try not to panic. You're not the first human to make a major mistake at work. In fact, your boss could probably share a personal story that would top yours.

Consider our editor friend whom we'll call Blake.

"As a young newspaper reporter, I covered a trial in the mid-60s," says Blake. "A man had set fire to a factory in our town. This arsonist was a former employee who wanted to get even with a boss who'd fired him."

Blake says he got up late on the morning of the trial. He flew to the courthouse and grabbed a seat in the back row. His pen was running out of ink, so he was forced to trust certain facts to memory.

"I sped back to the newspaper office to type up my story," Blake continues. "In my haste, I reported the factory owner as the person on trial!"

Miraculously, Blake wasn't fired.

"But I did write under a pen name from then on," he jokes.

It's normal to feel humiliated when you've made a major mistake at work. However, try to figure out why the mistake occurred and how you can avoid repeating it.

Here are some tips to consider:

• Do apologize to your boss and co-workers, even if the mistake isn't entirely your fault, you will appear more professional if you say, "I feel terrible that this happened."
• Don't over-apologize. Begging for forgiveness will only make you look and feel foolish.
• Don't point the finger of blame. Instead, take it slowly. This keeps you from convicting and hanging any slackers by yourself. Let higher-ups ask you, "Who failed to help?"
• Don't get melodramatic. Instead of picturing yourself facing a firing squad, use your energy to plan productive strategies. Ask your boss to help you do damage control. Ask him or her to help you assess which clients or associates to inform about the mistake.
• In some cases, do solicit help and opinions from co-workers on how to smooth out the mess. Co-workers can feel flattered if you say, "I need your opinion on fixing this problem. "This flattery can also keep them from slinging mud balls your way.
• Above all, take an honest look at the system that failed you. It's too easy to think that you failed the system.

"Insist that your company update any system that failed you," says a nurse we'll call Liz. "A big error demands this kind of cooperation."

For example, Liz and another nurse once overmedicated a patient. The patient almost died.

"The other nurse forgot to write down the injection on the patient's chart," says Liz. "It was the end of her shift and she just forgot. So, I repeated the injection when I came on duty."

Liz insisted that her hospital use checkoff sheets fixed to a bulletin board in each patient's room.

"It's just an added precaution," says Liz. "We just make a red check mark in addition to our other documentation when we give a pill or a shot. It forces us to think twice."

If anyone attacks you personally for making a mistake, keep cool.

Do accept responsibility, but again, don't play the victim's role. Steer the conversation to what happened and why.

Share information appropriately and professionally with co-workers and clients. However, maintain your dignity and self-worth in all conversations.

Don't try to fix the emotions of others. You don't have that kind of power.

Besides, seldom does one error kill anyone's career. All of us are judged on how we work and what we value over a long period of time.

Unless there is a huge breach of ethics on your part, few people will see you as inept or deserving to be fired. They know they could easily be in your shoes.

When you do flub up on the job, some people may try to use your mistake against you. However, don't slink around with a guilty face. Instead, move forward and stay confident and tough. Conduct business as usual.

If others try to define you by your mistake — rather than your talents and skills — that's their problem.

Judi Hopson and Emma Hopson are authors of a stress management book for paramedics, firefighters and police — "Burnout To Balance: EMS Stress," published by Prentice Hall/Brady Books. Ted Hagen is a family psychologist.