Work Slip-Ups

We’ve all wished the ground would open up and swallow us after a cringe-making mistake. But that’s small comfort when you’re left feeling like the world’s most useless, most red-faced, soon-to-be-ex employee. However, all is not lost. In fact, success coach and co-author of Your Life Only A Gazillion Times Better (Health Communications), Judy May Murphy believes that, handled properly, slip-ups can actually be a good thing. ‘When you were a child you made lots of mistakes as you tried to find the right way to do things. But every time you messed up, you learnt something important.’

The key to determining what happens next is how you respond, says Manj Weerasekera, success coach and producer of Create The Life Of Your Dreams audio CD. ‘How you apologise and what you’re apologising for determines the outcome, your credibility and work relationships.’

Of course, different mistakes call for different responses. To make sure you don’t dig an even deeper hole for yourself, we’ve identified seven of the most common office screw-ups and come up with career-saving ways to survive them.

Slip-Up #1: E-mailing the person you’re actually ranting about	‘You need to make a controlled apology to the client,’ says Weerasekera. ‘Touch on the fact you were both passionate about what you believed in, but that you also see this relationship as a friendship and you regret jeopardising it. Ask them if they’re free for a drink and, when you do meet, don’t mention it again.’ If your relationship isn’t that familiar, ask to be put on another job to stop the situation deteriorating further. ‘Then ask your boss how she’d like you to apologise,’ suggests Murphy. ‘If, on a more serious note, the client has been inappropriate, this must also be taken seriously by your employers.’
Slip-Up #2: An oversight embarrasses your boss or costs your company money
Slip-Up #3: You have a major falling-out with a client
Slip-Up #4: Your boss finds out you’ve applied for another job
Slip-Up #5: Arriving for a meeting with your skirt tucked into your underwear
Slip-Up #6: Letting an ill-advised comment slip out
Slip-Up #7: Your secret office relationship is discovered

Author: Helen McNutt