Made a Mistake at Work? Here's What to Do to Move On

You know how when you trip walking down the street, it feels like every stranger is staring at you in amusement? Making a mistake at work can evoke the same sensation. Your heart starts pounding, you feel like you're being observed by everybody—including your boss—and for a brief moment, your whole career flashes before your eyes. 

As human beings, we tend to notice and greatly exaggerate our flaws—assuming everyone around us has a microscope focused on our faults, mistakes, and slip-ups. When these mistakes happen at work, it can be even worse because the shame is accompanied by the fear of losing credibility or, in the worst-case scenario, fear of being fired.

No matter the size of your mistake, there are only two things you can do: address it and find ways to move on. It might seem easier said than done, but don't worry. We have some expert advice and tips on how to get over making mistakes at work that might help you get there. 

Is it normal to make mistakes at work?

Making mistakes at work is actually more common than you might realize. You probably don't hear about your colleagues' errors because it's not exactly something people go around advertising. But it's pretty likely that everyone you work with, bosses and VPs included, has made a mistake at least once in their career.

“At the end of the day, whether your email signature reads CEO or analyst, we are all human,” says Melissa Trager, career expert and founder of Resume All Day.  “Be transparent, share that you made a mistake, apologize once, and then learn from the mistake to make sure it doesn't happen again.”

How to move on after making mistakes at work

OK, so you made a mistake at work. It doesn't really matter how big or small it is—there's no going back to the past to act differently. But you do have the present and the future to deal with it the best way possible. Follow these tips:

1. Do some self-reflection

It's important to pinpoint what led to the mistake. To do so, Monster Career Expert Vicki Salemi suggests asking yourself the following questions:

• Was it repeated or a one-time error? 

• Was it due to burnout or exhaustion? 

• Did you get distracted? 

• Was the error due to lack of knowledge?

• Are you juggling too many things at once? 

Understanding why it happened makes finding ways to fix your mistake easier. “Perhaps you know it like the back of your hand, but you've hit a plateau in your job and mentally checked out,” Salemi says. “Once you identify the mistake and its root cause, you can take measures to find a solution and prevent it from happening again.”

2. Take responsibility for your mistake

It's human nature to want to keep an embarrassing moment to yourself. You can—if your error was small and easily fixable, like forgetting to attach a file to an email, for example. However, if what you did wrong can impact the team or the company, it's best to address it as soon as possible.

“This shows responsibility as well as vulnerability,” Salemi says. “Since you've already identified the error, the cause, and the solution, you can take responsibility for it—both the error as well as the solution.” 

If you’re unable to resolve it by yourself, own up to your mistake and go to your boss with possible solutions. “You can say, ‘Here's the mistake I made, here are a few thoughts as to how to rectify it, what are your thoughts on these proposed solutions?’” she says.

3. Do what you can to regain trust

If you want to keep your job and the admiration of your boss and coworkers, you should make the necessary effort to regain their trust. This begins by fixing your mistakes, avoiding similar ones, and consistently delivering great work. Beyond that, be consistent as an employee in general. 

This means not showing up late, being proactive, and being a team player. When you're an overall good employee, certain mistakes at work are easy to forgive and forget. However, when you're not pleasant to work with, it can pile up, and any minor wrongdoing becomes a significant issue.

4. Learn from the mistake and move on

Instead of obsessing over mistakes at work and punishing yourself, learn from them. Did it happen because you were exhausted? Perhaps it's time to take better care of your mental and physical health. Did it happen because you were distracted or juggling too many tasks at once? Maybe it's time to learn how to prioritize and improve your attention to detail.

The bottom line is, you should work on fixes to prevent similar problems in the future. You've already taken responsibility and done what you could to correct the situation. The only step left is to forgive yourself and move on. 

How to apologize for a mistake at work

When you make a mistake at work, it's easy to fall into the trap of making too many excuses or being overly emotional. We get it—you're afraid, anxious, and filled with regret, all at once. However, this shouldn't reflect in your wording. Your apology should be sincere, brief, and straightforward.

“You can say something such as, ‘I ran the numbers and in my haste, I apologize—I made an error. I reran the report and fixed it—here it is. This mistake won't happen again,’” Salami says.

The key is to concentrate less on justification or on how sorry you are and more on taking responsibility and already working on a solution. If it's an unfixable mistake, such as missing a deadline to finish a presentation, apologize and focus on ways to move forward.

For instance, you could say, “I apologize for missing the deadline. I'm working on finishing it today. I've already contacted our client to reschedule our meeting, and they are available to meet with us tomorrow afternoon.”

Get out of the “sorry” trap: Stop Over-Apologizing at Work: What to Say Instead

You should expect a reaction proportional to the size of your mistake—some mistakes are unfixable and may warrant termination. However, if this isn't the case and your boss's reaction is overly aggressive, consider it a red flag. 

“If you apologize to a boss and they belittle you, reprimand you, and overall respond negatively, that's an opportunity for you to think of the big picture. This could be a toxic work environment,” Salemi says.

I made a fireable mistake at work: what now?

Some mistakes are bigger than others. There's a big difference between forgetting to answer an email and making your boss miss a business conference because you booked the plane tickets for the wrong day.

Let us illustrate. Recently, singer Victoria Monét made it public that she immediately fired someone from her social media team after they liked a shady tweet about another singer from her account. The employee thought they were on their own account and only noticed they were on Victoria's account when it was too late. In situations like this, you should take responsibility and apologize, but it's impossible to predict your boss' reaction. 

“For instance, if someone makes a mistake with a big client that costs millions of dollars and they're the lead person—even if they own up to it and address it with their boss, it's up to their boss and the organization to determine if they’ll terminate the worker,” Salemi says.

Making mistakes at work FAQs

Looking for more insight on work-related mistakes and how to bounce back from them? Check out this Q&A with frequently asked questions by workers:

1. How to stop making mistakes at work?

If you keep making mistakes at work, it might be a good idea to look for learning and development opportunities within your company, especially if you're new at the organization. “No matter how big or small the mistakes are, that's a sign that you may need more training and/or resources,” Salami says.

On the other hand, if you've been in this role for a long time, maybe it's time to refresh your skills or find new ways to approach your tasks. “Perhaps there's another, better way of doing something but you're so strapped for time and stressed out that you're defaulting to a behavior or cutting corners that continues to result in errors,” she says. 

2. I'm making too many mistakes at work. Should I quit?

“Making a mistake one time is OK, but repeating the same mistake can be a sign that you're underqualified for the job or in over your head,” Trager says. But before thinking about quitting, make sure you've taken every possible step to improve your performance, such as acquiring new skills and looking for learning and development opportunities within the company.

“If you continue to make mistakes even after that, it could be a cause for concern that something deeper is going on,” Salemi says. “Perhaps, not being detail-oriented, not listening, not paying attention, not caring and/or ultimately being misaligned or unable to perform the job or a specific task within the job.”

3. Is it OK to make mistakes at work?

Yes, it is OK to make mistakes at work. After all, we've all done something wrong at some point. However, it's important to work on ways to fix the situation and avoid repeating it by improving your skills and performance. “A single mistake is typically not a fireable offense, but every company and employer has different policies and ways of handling misconduct,” Trager says.

Key takeaways

Here are the most important takeaways from the career experts' advice on how to deal with mistakes at work.

What to do when you make a mistake at work

• Take responsibility for it 

• Briefly apologize and offer solutions

• Improve your performance to regain trust

• Learn from it and move on

What not to when you make a mistake at work

• Don't brush it under the rug

• Don't make excuses or blame others

• Don't be overly dramatic or over justify yourself

Still feeling guilty or ashamed? It’s helpful to learn to slowly shift from thinking about internal cues to external ones. For example, are the faces of your colleagues really agape in horror when you screw up a line in your presentation? Or is it all in your head? Turn your attention to the physical evidence around you. Chances are, the facts show the situation isn’t as embarrassing as you think.