Making a lot of preventable mistakes at work
March 20, 2016 3:10 PM Subscribe
How likely am I going to fail probation? Is there still hope?
Some of you may have been following my journey into a new job. First couple weeks I thought were going well although I was still scared starting a new job. I was told I'm independent, remarkable, showed iniative, etc. They might've been over confident in me because I think I made many mistakes my 2-3 week in that are finally catching up to me. Some mistakes were understandable as in I followed a binder they told me that had everything I needed to know but some parts needed updating and some things I did that seemed like it would've been right wasn't. So those mistakes I can forgive myself on.
The mistakes I'm really beating myself up over are typos and being careless. I inputted the wrong information on the wrong personal profile (which was easily fixed in a minute), spelling a wrong name giving it to IT for an new employee set up, and inputting wrong start date benefits information for someone. I think part of it was me being really new and having a large work pile stacked so fast on a day... And I didn't have anyone to help me but maybe run over across the building to ask my trainer questions. Difficult to have her help when her office is a bit of a walk.
Anyway, she caught on my mistakes and I told her I was mortified and will double check my work from now on and be careful. She told me we're getting there and to just slow down and double check. And to try to find a way to deal with our constant interruptions in the work place such as telling them to hold on a minute.
So I've been triple and quadruple checking my work. My anxiety is high and I'm scared to get fired... I have two more months to prove myself. Although I think my work from this past week is good, I fear maybe I missed something... And it's hard to start a clean slate when your old errors from the beginning catch up to you one by one. I think the very last one I'm dealing with now which is telling IT to fix someone's name as their username. Which I'm scared of my trainer finding out because she might add that on as another strike even though it was from when I first started my second week in. Maybe she might understand because she mistyped his name too thinking it was a McMillian when it was a McMillan.
I've been thinking about it nonstop that I can't enjoy the weekend. I found a way to prevent sloppy work: double check before submitting, go by the step by step process, if hesitant at all ask for help even if it's a walk.
So do you think two more months is still enough time for me to improve my quality of work? Like I said, I know some mistakes are ok to learn from but my typos and wrong dates were notifying. I've never made so many stupid mistakes at a job before.
Some of you may have been following my journey into a new job. First couple weeks I thought were going well although I was still scared starting a new job. I was told I'm independent, remarkable, showed iniative, etc. They might've been over confident in me because I think I made many mistakes my 2-3 week in that are finally catching up to me. Some mistakes were understandable as in I followed a binder they told me that had everything I needed to know but some parts needed updating and some things I did that seemed like it would've been right wasn't. So those mistakes I can forgive myself on.
The mistakes I'm really beating myself up over are typos and being careless. I inputted the wrong information on the wrong personal profile (which was easily fixed in a minute), spelling a wrong name giving it to IT for an new employee set up, and inputting wrong start date benefits information for someone. I think part of it was me being really new and having a large work pile stacked so fast on a day... And I didn't have anyone to help me but maybe run over across the building to ask my trainer questions. Difficult to have her help when her office is a bit of a walk.
Anyway, she caught on my mistakes and I told her I was mortified and will double check my work from now on and be careful. She told me we're getting there and to just slow down and double check. And to try to find a way to deal with our constant interruptions in the work place such as telling them to hold on a minute.
So I've been triple and quadruple checking my work. My anxiety is high and I'm scared to get fired... I have two more months to prove myself. Although I think my work from this past week is good, I fear maybe I missed something... And it's hard to start a clean slate when your old errors from the beginning catch up to you one by one. I think the very last one I'm dealing with now which is telling IT to fix someone's name as their username. Which I'm scared of my trainer finding out because she might add that on as another strike even though it was from when I first started my second week in. Maybe she might understand because she mistyped his name too thinking it was a McMillian when it was a McMillan.
I've been thinking about it nonstop that I can't enjoy the weekend. I found a way to prevent sloppy work: double check before submitting, go by the step by step process, if hesitant at all ask for help even if it's a walk.
So do you think two more months is still enough time for me to improve my quality of work? Like I said, I know some mistakes are ok to learn from but my typos and wrong dates were notifying. I've never made so many stupid mistakes at a job before.
Everyone makes mistakes at work, but when you're new, they seem gigantic. You've done everything you can - learned from your mistakes, made a plan to stop them from happening in the future, etc. If you're fired over what you've done, there's nothing you can do, but from where I sit, none of your errors seem particularly egregious.
What I do know is that having a lot of anxiety over making mistakes can actually cause me to make more of them. Forgive yourself for your errors, and feel confident that you're doing the best you can now.
posted by umwhat at 4:15 PM on March 20, 2016
What I do know is that having a lot of anxiety over making mistakes can actually cause me to make more of them. Forgive yourself for your errors, and feel confident that you're doing the best you can now.
posted by umwhat at 4:15 PM on March 20, 2016
I've actually got this hung up in my office:
I think I actually found that here. But it helps me remember to not beat myself up over something that's already done.
posted by one4themoment at 4:48 PM on March 20, 2016 [3 favorites]
I think I actually found that here. But it helps me remember to not beat myself up over something that's already done.
posted by one4themoment at 4:48 PM on March 20, 2016 [3 favorites]
You're fine. You're totally fine. Everyone makes mistakes in the beginning.
I remember your previous question about residual trauma from a toxic workplace. If your supervisor is an understanding type, you might want to disclose this and say that your previous experience has made you anxious about wanting to perform well, and that you're trying your best to relax, but feel like you're making uncharacteristic mistakes because you're worried about doing well. This may help your supervisor understand where you're coming from. But anyway, I think the best thing you can do is not let your anxiety about this job get the best of you. Try to take deep breaths and not worry too much about perfection.
posted by chickenmagazine at 5:58 PM on March 20, 2016
I remember your previous question about residual trauma from a toxic workplace. If your supervisor is an understanding type, you might want to disclose this and say that your previous experience has made you anxious about wanting to perform well, and that you're trying your best to relax, but feel like you're making uncharacteristic mistakes because you're worried about doing well. This may help your supervisor understand where you're coming from. But anyway, I think the best thing you can do is not let your anxiety about this job get the best of you. Try to take deep breaths and not worry too much about perfection.
posted by chickenmagazine at 5:58 PM on March 20, 2016
Response by poster: She has an idea where I told her I really appreciate her answering my questions and helping me. I mentioned I had a precious job where asking questions was a bad thing. I just hope this last mistake I have to fix tomorrow is the last one for a long long while.
I don't know, maybe I am being too hard on myself. It's making myself sick. I know some people make mistakes but I wonder if it's as much as I have first starting out.
I already noticed data entry errors from whoever typing personal info that I haven't done so maybe it's a bit more common than I thought..
posted by Asian_Hunnie at 6:02 PM on March 20, 2016
I don't know, maybe I am being too hard on myself. It's making myself sick. I know some people make mistakes but I wonder if it's as much as I have first starting out.
I already noticed data entry errors from whoever typing personal info that I haven't done so maybe it's a bit more common than I thought..
posted by Asian_Hunnie at 6:02 PM on March 20, 2016
I know some people make mistakes
EVERYONE makes mistakes. Everyone. Everyone. Everyone. Pretty much every single day any given person will make some kind of mistake at work. Don't believe anyone who tells you otherwise.
As a supervisor, what would concern me is not that you make an occasional mistake, but that you seem to get overly anxious about small errors, which would make me wonder how you'd handle bigger issues when they come along (and they will). What I want from an employee, generally, is someone who:
- Is eager to learn and is willing to ask questions
- Who owns up to mistakes when they happen, and takes steps to fix them quickly and without drama, and
- can be calm and stable when the unexpected occurs.
I've gone back and read your other two questions, and I think you're much much too wound up about this. Have you ever been screened for clinical anxiety? Treated for it? Because, tbh, if you worked for me your small mistakes wouldn't concern me. Your reaction to making small mistakes totally would, though.
Go see your physician, therapist, or a clinic, and talk with them about clinical measures you can take to address anxiety. It sounds like your anxiety levels are really affecting your life, and there is help for that.
posted by anastasiav at 6:36 PM on March 20, 2016 [11 favorites]
EVERYONE makes mistakes. Everyone. Everyone. Everyone. Pretty much every single day any given person will make some kind of mistake at work. Don't believe anyone who tells you otherwise.
As a supervisor, what would concern me is not that you make an occasional mistake, but that you seem to get overly anxious about small errors, which would make me wonder how you'd handle bigger issues when they come along (and they will). What I want from an employee, generally, is someone who:
- Is eager to learn and is willing to ask questions
- Who owns up to mistakes when they happen, and takes steps to fix them quickly and without drama, and
- can be calm and stable when the unexpected occurs.
I've gone back and read your other two questions, and I think you're much much too wound up about this. Have you ever been screened for clinical anxiety? Treated for it? Because, tbh, if you worked for me your small mistakes wouldn't concern me. Your reaction to making small mistakes totally would, though.
Go see your physician, therapist, or a clinic, and talk with them about clinical measures you can take to address anxiety. It sounds like your anxiety levels are really affecting your life, and there is help for that.
posted by anastasiav at 6:36 PM on March 20, 2016 [11 favorites]
I'm a manager of folks who have to do close-detail work (software development related). I keep a personal handbook of guidelines and mantras I've formed over the years. One of those things is a little chart that goes something like this:
1. Junior-levels team members - expect errors 50% of the time
2. Mid-levels: expect errors 20% of the time
3. Senior-levels: expect errors 5% of the time
No matter how good or how experienced you are, you will ALWAYS make mistakes. Work on getting the percentage moving in a downward direction but don't beat yourself up over it. It's fine and expected.
As my own (great) boss is fond of saying: "when I want to know who made a mistake I'm not looking for someone to punish, I'm seeking to understand why the mistake was made so we can improve the system together"
posted by Doleful Creature at 7:14 PM on March 20, 2016 [2 favorites]
1. Junior-levels team members - expect errors 50% of the time
2. Mid-levels: expect errors 20% of the time
3. Senior-levels: expect errors 5% of the time
No matter how good or how experienced you are, you will ALWAYS make mistakes. Work on getting the percentage moving in a downward direction but don't beat yourself up over it. It's fine and expected.
As my own (great) boss is fond of saying: "when I want to know who made a mistake I'm not looking for someone to punish, I'm seeking to understand why the mistake was made so we can improve the system together"
posted by Doleful Creature at 7:14 PM on March 20, 2016 [2 favorites]
Creating a bunch of drama over mistakes is much worse than just making and learning from them. The way you are thinking is not at all healthy or constructive, you should see someone about it.
posted by meepmeow at 7:15 PM on March 20, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by meepmeow at 7:15 PM on March 20, 2016 [2 favorites]
Everyone makes mistakes. Especially at first. But it's not like there's any employee on the planet who never makes any mistakes at all.
If your anxiety about this is interfering with your ability to focus on your work and it's making you sick, try to address that anxiety the way you would any strong emotion that you want to move through. Breathing exercises can be good for this, as can taking short breaks every hour to check in with yourself and make sure you're not letting your anxiety build. If that doesn't work, maybe see a therapist about it. Looking for constant reassurance from your boss, or sitting and stewing over the possibility that you have made an error, neither of these things are good options.
Remember, anxiety is the same physical sensation as excitement. Can you rescript your thoughts around this to accepting the feeling as you being excited rather than anxious?
posted by ananci at 7:26 PM on March 20, 2016
If your anxiety about this is interfering with your ability to focus on your work and it's making you sick, try to address that anxiety the way you would any strong emotion that you want to move through. Breathing exercises can be good for this, as can taking short breaks every hour to check in with yourself and make sure you're not letting your anxiety build. If that doesn't work, maybe see a therapist about it. Looking for constant reassurance from your boss, or sitting and stewing over the possibility that you have made an error, neither of these things are good options.
Remember, anxiety is the same physical sensation as excitement. Can you rescript your thoughts around this to accepting the feeling as you being excited rather than anxious?
posted by ananci at 7:26 PM on March 20, 2016
My first day on my first job out of college, I fried two prototype hard drives. The only two of that type in the building. I was horrified. And also, not fired. Breathe. Relax. The more comfortable you get, the fewer mistakes you will make. There will always be typos and too much work. Just remember it's fixable as long as you don't set anything on fire.
posted by rakaidan at 8:12 PM on March 20, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by rakaidan at 8:12 PM on March 20, 2016 [2 favorites]
Response by poster: I think I have high anxiety thinking about my mistakes because if I get fired I don't know what else I'm going to do. I'll feel like a complete failure. Three jobs and nothing to show... First one supposedly laid me off due to funds and eliminating my position but I really think is because that a senior manager hated me, my second one was getting ready to also lay me off (I learned this after I found my new job) but wanted to hire me when me and my coworkers quit, and if I lose the third one because I suck you can see why I'm not feeling too great about my career and seeing no hope of it goes wrong.
Thanks again for some words of tips. I need to find a way to deal with me worrying. I get it from my mom.
posted by Asian_Hunnie at 9:15 PM on March 20, 2016
Thanks again for some words of tips. I need to find a way to deal with me worrying. I get it from my mom.
posted by Asian_Hunnie at 9:15 PM on March 20, 2016
I need to find a way to deal with me worrying. I get it from my mom.
Thanks for nothing, mom. See, this is actually good. Recognizing your catastrophic thinking for what it is a great first step. The next step is to DO something about it.
Popping in here and asking questions isn't helping you. I mean, you feel it helps short term, but the larger issue of your anxiety and your all-or-nothing thinking needs to be addressed. And every time you pop in and ask a question, it reinforces that part of your brain thats saying you SHOULD be worried. We can all tell you here that you're fine and you don't need to worry, but you need to get off the worry train and believe it yourself.
What you should do is get some help, like in the form of CBT, to work on your negative thought patterns.
Listen, being thoughtful and on your toes is a great attribute at work. Being alert means you'll be careful and do the work well. What's not good is when you tip from alert into all-or-nothing anxiety. You can definitely get in a few CBT sessions and learn to recognize this distinction.
Take your strength of wanting to do well and refine it. Understand when your brain goes from perfectly normal thoughtfulness into "I'm a failure and have nothing to show for my life!" type of thinking.
Everyone makes mistakes (last week I sent highly confidential special education reports to the wrong parents and another day I totally forgot I had a meeting to interview an administrator). But that's not the answer you need to hear. What you should do is figure out how to stop that part of your brain that takes perfectly normal alert behavior and twists it into these worst case scenarios. You can do this!
posted by yes I said yes I will Yes at 2:46 AM on March 21, 2016 [2 favorites]
Thanks for nothing, mom. See, this is actually good. Recognizing your catastrophic thinking for what it is a great first step. The next step is to DO something about it.
Popping in here and asking questions isn't helping you. I mean, you feel it helps short term, but the larger issue of your anxiety and your all-or-nothing thinking needs to be addressed. And every time you pop in and ask a question, it reinforces that part of your brain thats saying you SHOULD be worried. We can all tell you here that you're fine and you don't need to worry, but you need to get off the worry train and believe it yourself.
What you should do is get some help, like in the form of CBT, to work on your negative thought patterns.
Listen, being thoughtful and on your toes is a great attribute at work. Being alert means you'll be careful and do the work well. What's not good is when you tip from alert into all-or-nothing anxiety. You can definitely get in a few CBT sessions and learn to recognize this distinction.
Take your strength of wanting to do well and refine it. Understand when your brain goes from perfectly normal thoughtfulness into "I'm a failure and have nothing to show for my life!" type of thinking.
Everyone makes mistakes (last week I sent highly confidential special education reports to the wrong parents and another day I totally forgot I had a meeting to interview an administrator). But that's not the answer you need to hear. What you should do is figure out how to stop that part of your brain that takes perfectly normal alert behavior and twists it into these worst case scenarios. You can do this!
posted by yes I said yes I will Yes at 2:46 AM on March 21, 2016 [2 favorites]
I think I have high anxiety thinking about my mistakes because if I get fired I don't know what else I'm going to do. I'll feel like a complete failure.
So, the pattern you're using now gives you two possible outcomes:
1. Get fired, fear unemployability.
2. Remain employed, fear getting fired.
That's an awful lot of fear. Is it helping you in any way?
I need to find a way to deal with me worrying.
First step is to treat the worrying itself, rather than whatever it is you're worrying about just this instant, as the first issue to be dealt with. Because worrying doesn't actually help you work better. What helps you work better is paying attention, and worry is a distraction from that quite apart from the fact that it feels terrible.
I get it from my mom.
You may well have learned it from your mom. You may well even share her temperament to some extent, and be similarly predisposed to it. But you're young, and you're keen, and you're smart, and there's no reason on God's green earth why you need to keep it.
Legitimate concern about doing your work accurately and well is one thing. Worrying endlessly that you might make a mistake is quite another.
"when I want to know who made a mistake I'm not looking for someone to punish, I'm seeking to understand why the mistake was made so we can improve the system together"
Quoted for absolute truth. This is the right and proper way to think about mistakes. Build your own personal workplace processes in ways that allow you to be the fallible human being we all of us are, and build habits that compensate for those standard human failures. Because if instead you just keep expecting yourself to be some kind of robot for which error is unthinkable and/or unforgivable, you're going to be wasting huge amounts of time on beating yourself up that could have been used to improve your work and your life.
You've already built a double-check into your process, and that's excellent. Now the thing to do is pay attention to what was happening during initial entry, whenever the double-check reveals an error. It sounds like interruptions are one such factor that you're already aware of; so for how long after an interruption is it going to pay you to triple-check instead of double-check? Find out.
Also important is what goes on in your mind when a double-check does reveal an error. As a person prone to anxiety, it's quite likely that your immediate response will be to berate yourself for carelessness. Notice that if it happens, and take the time to dispute it: "No! If I actually were a careless person I would not have done the double-check, and the (statistically inevitable) mistake would have propagated unchallenged; what just happened there was that a process I chose to use has just worked as designed."
Because of course you are going to do your level best to pay attention and avoid mistakes during data entry, because that's what a conscientious employee does. But of course you are occasionally going to fat-finger one, because that's what a human being does. And that's why any website that involves moving money to somewhere else has a final confirmation step, and why glider pilots are trained to do two tugs on the cable catch release even when the first one has clearly worked, and why we're taught to do a head check between looking in the rear view mirror and changing lanes, and why I always get somebody else to check the numbers on the injector pens before I administer my daughter's insulin, and why hard disk drives have error correction codes attached to every data block.
Everybody - everybody! - makes mistakes. The trick is not to prevent them, but to design and use processes that catch them early and correct them quickly; and to use the occasional and inevitable process failures as opportunities for making process design improvements, not for autoflagellation.
posted by flabdablet at 3:37 AM on March 21, 2016 [3 favorites]
So, the pattern you're using now gives you two possible outcomes:
1. Get fired, fear unemployability.
2. Remain employed, fear getting fired.
That's an awful lot of fear. Is it helping you in any way?
I need to find a way to deal with me worrying.
First step is to treat the worrying itself, rather than whatever it is you're worrying about just this instant, as the first issue to be dealt with. Because worrying doesn't actually help you work better. What helps you work better is paying attention, and worry is a distraction from that quite apart from the fact that it feels terrible.
I get it from my mom.
You may well have learned it from your mom. You may well even share her temperament to some extent, and be similarly predisposed to it. But you're young, and you're keen, and you're smart, and there's no reason on God's green earth why you need to keep it.
Legitimate concern about doing your work accurately and well is one thing. Worrying endlessly that you might make a mistake is quite another.
"when I want to know who made a mistake I'm not looking for someone to punish, I'm seeking to understand why the mistake was made so we can improve the system together"
Quoted for absolute truth. This is the right and proper way to think about mistakes. Build your own personal workplace processes in ways that allow you to be the fallible human being we all of us are, and build habits that compensate for those standard human failures. Because if instead you just keep expecting yourself to be some kind of robot for which error is unthinkable and/or unforgivable, you're going to be wasting huge amounts of time on beating yourself up that could have been used to improve your work and your life.
You've already built a double-check into your process, and that's excellent. Now the thing to do is pay attention to what was happening during initial entry, whenever the double-check reveals an error. It sounds like interruptions are one such factor that you're already aware of; so for how long after an interruption is it going to pay you to triple-check instead of double-check? Find out.
Also important is what goes on in your mind when a double-check does reveal an error. As a person prone to anxiety, it's quite likely that your immediate response will be to berate yourself for carelessness. Notice that if it happens, and take the time to dispute it: "No! If I actually were a careless person I would not have done the double-check, and the (statistically inevitable) mistake would have propagated unchallenged; what just happened there was that a process I chose to use has just worked as designed."
Because of course you are going to do your level best to pay attention and avoid mistakes during data entry, because that's what a conscientious employee does. But of course you are occasionally going to fat-finger one, because that's what a human being does. And that's why any website that involves moving money to somewhere else has a final confirmation step, and why glider pilots are trained to do two tugs on the cable catch release even when the first one has clearly worked, and why we're taught to do a head check between looking in the rear view mirror and changing lanes, and why I always get somebody else to check the numbers on the injector pens before I administer my daughter's insulin, and why hard disk drives have error correction codes attached to every data block.
Everybody - everybody! - makes mistakes. The trick is not to prevent them, but to design and use processes that catch them early and correct them quickly; and to use the occasional and inevitable process failures as opportunities for making process design improvements, not for autoflagellation.
posted by flabdablet at 3:37 AM on March 21, 2016 [3 favorites]
Response by poster: So today I emailed IT and the guy told me it takes an hour to correct which all my IT friends said only a few minutes so I'm shocked and I apologized.
Anyway, today I realized something. The HR intern who seems to know more than me and has been there for two years (still a student) and seen as a good worker was making mistakes today. She's under my supervision (funny because she kinda trains me sometimes) and she admitted to my trainer a mistake. Then I realized she made some mistakes and immediately corrected her all in a panic and me thinking I made those mistakes! She didn't think it was an issue so I found out t was a big issue so now I have to tell her why it's not.
It made me feel relieved to see a long term worker who seems knowledgable and a good worker was making mistakes and informed on some wrong things.
I had to email IT more corrections on her behalf but it made me look bad because it look like I made more mistakes lol. But I was sure to let my trainer know in a non blaming way it wasn't me lol.
posted by Asian_Hunnie at 9:19 AM on March 21, 2016
Anyway, today I realized something. The HR intern who seems to know more than me and has been there for two years (still a student) and seen as a good worker was making mistakes today. She's under my supervision (funny because she kinda trains me sometimes) and she admitted to my trainer a mistake. Then I realized she made some mistakes and immediately corrected her all in a panic and me thinking I made those mistakes! She didn't think it was an issue so I found out t was a big issue so now I have to tell her why it's not.
It made me feel relieved to see a long term worker who seems knowledgable and a good worker was making mistakes and informed on some wrong things.
I had to email IT more corrections on her behalf but it made me look bad because it look like I made more mistakes lol. But I was sure to let my trainer know in a non blaming way it wasn't me lol.
posted by Asian_Hunnie at 9:19 AM on March 21, 2016
Other posters have explained why two more months is DEFINITELY enough time to show your boss that you have slowed down and implemented processes that make errors less likely. It's also a good amount of time to show your boss that you are responsive and diligent about fixing any errors that have arisen. Errors happen. Sure, the fewer the better. But it's how you deal with them that makes you a keeper!
Responding to your last comment:
If you're fixing someone else's errors, don't assign blame, that isn't necessary. If it wasn't you that made the error, just use the passive tense "the account was set up incorrectly, we need to edit the username" and get it done. Definitely don't throw her under the bus - you guys should be a team - support each other, check each others' work, develop processes together - work is a lot less stressful when you're working with other people rather than against them...
(Okay, that advice changes if there is some kind of competitive "it's you or me, baby" scenario, but that doesn't sound like your current working environment.)
posted by finding.perdita at 1:44 AM on March 22, 2016 [1 favorite]
Responding to your last comment:
If you're fixing someone else's errors, don't assign blame, that isn't necessary. If it wasn't you that made the error, just use the passive tense "the account was set up incorrectly, we need to edit the username" and get it done. Definitely don't throw her under the bus - you guys should be a team - support each other, check each others' work, develop processes together - work is a lot less stressful when you're working with other people rather than against them...
(Okay, that advice changes if there is some kind of competitive "it's you or me, baby" scenario, but that doesn't sound like your current working environment.)
posted by finding.perdita at 1:44 AM on March 22, 2016 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: Thanks. Also my trainer revealed she sent IT the wrong email and was yelled at and the boss stepped in and stood up for her when she was new. I felt the world off my shoulders when she told me because she made the exact mistake I did among a couple other things. I also told her I've been trying hard to double heck and be careful but old mistakes keep trickling down on me.
I guess she's made a lot more mistakes like me than I thought first starting out...
posted by Asian_Hunnie at 9:25 AM on March 23, 2016
I guess she's made a lot more mistakes like me than I thought first starting out...
posted by Asian_Hunnie at 9:25 AM on March 23, 2016
Regarding the IT guy saying making changes takes an hour, that may be true, depending on what systems are being used.
However, it might also be that he has to account for all his time, and minimum allotment of time he can commit to a task is an hour.
posted by Diag at 9:09 PM on March 23, 2016
However, it might also be that he has to account for all his time, and minimum allotment of time he can commit to a task is an hour.
posted by Diag at 9:09 PM on March 23, 2016
Response by poster: Thanks everyone. I turned in my more recent work and it was perfect. The double checking and being careful worked...I'm not incompetent lol. I was able to relax after that whole issue and enjoy my long weekend :)
posted by Asian_Hunnie at 12:59 PM on March 25, 2016
posted by Asian_Hunnie at 12:59 PM on March 25, 2016
This thread is closed to new comments.
If you're still really nervous (and you sound like you are), you might honestly say "Gee, I had a harder start-up than I thought with the data entry. I have a whole new respect for this task! I hope this hasn't made you think I'm a total flake. I've set up systems x, y, z to make sure I keep the number of mistakes down. Are there other tips and tricks you can share?"
What I look for in an employee who makes mistakes:
-- accepts responsibility for the consequences: this can be as simple as saying "sorry" without defensiveness, but it can also be intangible stuff like buying the IT guy a candy bar as a thank you if the mistake cost IT guy significant extra work.
--takes steps to avoid future similar mistakes: demonstrates a new approach or asks for support/training.
--demonstrates what has been learned from the mistakes: this applies less to sloppy mistakes, but is relevant for active mistakes (mistakes coming from trying to solve business problems on their own initiative-- always a good thing)
One of my favourite business quotations is Ingvar Kamprad from his Testament of a Furniture Dealer: "Only while sleeping one makes no mistakes. Making mistakes is the privilege of the active - of those who can correct their mistakes and put them right."
posted by frumiousb at 4:14 PM on March 20, 2016 [17 favorites]