Tired of Making Mistakes at Work

Question

Hey y'all. This is my first time doing something like this, but I've just been feeling really overwhelmed lately and really needed to talk. I've recently started a new job, and while I've learned a lot in the three months I've been there, lately I've felt like no matter how much I try to maintain a good track record, I keep messing up. The other day I received an email from my manager because of some things I missed on whilst working a (rather busy) shift, and they mentioned how it's been three months since I started, so should have it all down by now. Their comments really stuck with me all weekend, my first weekend off in weeks, and I just felt awful for letting the mistakes happen, even if they're not necessarily major or unfixable. I just want to make a good impression; I'm really hard on myself when it comes to my work ethic, so when I get feedback that my work isn't paying off, it just makes me question if everything I'm doing is worth it? I don't know. I guess I'm looking for advice on how to combat this situation, and also feel like I'm not alone.

Elizabeth Abel · Answer

I was going warp speed down that slip-up spiral and my boss (the owner of the company, yikes!) said to me, 'You know, the only one here who doesn't make mistakes is the one not working.'  He was right, and his words forced me to re-frame my scenario from hopeless to do-over to I'm gonna get this perfect!  His unexpected kindness and compassion (a bit outside his norm) caught me off-guard but if he could be kind to me in the middle of an 'oops' than so could I.  
I hope that helps a little.. be kind to yourself!

Crystal Rhineberger · Answer

Dear, there’s massive pressure on you from your coworkers, peers, and self.
This company sounds like a no mistakes rule. Please reach out to supervisors that you would love day to day week to week feedback (keep in mind you will get both positive and negative-it will be up to you to translate positively)
Be apologetic about previous mistakes and ask for exacts in order to correct them.
Also find some of the hardworkers on the same level as you and assess w them the hey how do u handle when a, b, and c happen together and then take those skills to make your own
Meanwhile I am sure your nerves are frazzled and you are left guessing!
This is normal we all have this!

Ruzana Glaeser · Answer

I am not sure what job you are do, but most employees take 6 months to on-board. 
There are three things that I tend to look at when mistakes occur: people, process, systems. Before going to everything is attributed to people, I would want to examine process and system. Are proper systems in place to ensure the mistakes aren't being made? And as for process - is there a process in place for your job activities? Have you been trained or on-boarded?

It's hard to really dig into this without knowing what you do, but it's not always people's faults when we mess up. If mistakes are consistent and systemic, I would definitely look into processes and systems, as that is an indication that things aren't controlled and people are firefighting and operating in constant 'exception management' mode.

And please keep in mind, we all make mistakes! As long as we learn from them, it's absolutely human to make mistakes. None of us are perfect.

Anonymous · Answer

Everything you do IS ALWAYS worth it. Don't ever let yourself tell you that what you're doing is  not sufficient. You're trying and doing. Those are two things that not everyone in the world can adequately say. Celebrating small wins and keeping your eyes on the prize.

I wouldn't let an email from your boss get you down. I'd acknowledge, understand, and keep on! Your boss just wants you to be awesome and it's their job to call out the small stuff.

Keep your head up; you got this!

CathyMoya · Answer

This caught my eye because I'm working on content for a presentation on making mistakes and making great recoveries from those mistakes. I don't have it together enough to dump all the content here yet, but I know I will talk about self-compassion, because freaking out and beating yourself up only makes it worse. When you've calmed down, it's good to look at what happened, what was the root cause, and what you can do differently next time. Part of that is owning up to your stuff, but you also have to be careful not to take on someone else's stuff - you can try to mitigate, but you can't control what they do or don't do. You also have to be realistic in your part in things - expecting yourself to be perfect, and beating yourself up for it, isn't realistic.

So what is realistic? Can you find a second pair of eyes to check things? Can you simplify or automate a process to reduce the chance of errors? Can you change how you think about the task to avoid making the same mistake?

That's all I can think of for now, but you can come to the online meetup Friday Jul 26, noon PT and I'll have it in nice PowerPoint format- the calls are free, open to anyone, no strings attached.  I don't know if it's OK to post the link here, but you can message me if you want it, or follow me on Twitter @CxPCathy

Melissa Halfon · Answer

It's clear from your own account that you have a great work ethic and your team surely sees this.  As others mentioned, I urge you to not be so hard on yourself. This is some of the hardest advice to take and I struggle with it too but you should really try not to take your manager's feedback *personally* aka don't let it ruin your weekend! If you keep do your personal best,  take pride in your work, and ask for help when needed, you're doing all the right things. Keep doing what you're doing!

Kim Beasley · Answer

I really like all the comments above!! Great stuff! I recently gotten written up by a new boss for the same thing so I can really feel your struggle!! And I've been here 5 years! That's another story :)  Sounds to me like you are really busy. The ONLY way you are going to quit making those mistakes is to SLOW DOWN! I know...I am busy busy here, too, but 2 mistakes I made recently wouldn't have happened if I had just slowed down a little, took a deep breath or two, and cleared my fast-moving brain THEN looked at the next thing I was processing. Take 2 slow deep breaths between each task!! The clear and focus! You'll do much better!! ALSO...do you understand WHY/HOW you made those mistakes? If you were guessing on what needed to be done....DON'T guess. Ask! Good luck!

Lori Schmitz · Answer

Hi there - Late to the conversation but so much great advice and support!  
This can be such a dangerous spiral when you are putting so much pressure on yourself; along with outside pressure you're bound to make mistakes...   it just feeds upon itself usually (no fun).
When I find myself in this same kind of space...  I start each day with a deep breath and I try to find time to be thoughtful... depending on the job and the pace of the company you may feel like you must act with urgency in every situation but an extra 5 minutes to be thoughtful is worth it.

As with the comments above, 3 months you know where your desk is as well as the bathroom :).  6 months you start to feel like you have the groove and companies who value their employees understand this learning curve try to be supportive vs. critical.

Be good to yourself first; you've got this!!! Good luck!

Maggie B · Answer

Look up 'Impostor Syndrome' when you have a minute - it's a thing!  Even when I feel I'm told I'm proficient at something, I am CONVINCED that I'm doing it wrong, letting someone down, making mistakes, etc., and it certainly doesn't help when you have a jerk manager making comments that reinforce that feeling.
If you like what you do, continue doing it well.  If it's not working out for you in that environment, it's okay to want to move on.

Anonymous · Answer

I could have written this myself.  I eventually had to go back to my old job because I knew the stress was effecting my decision making skills.  I am glad I left but I also regret not getting some job coaching or counseling to see if I could have handled it better.  Live and learn.

Tired of Making Mistakes at Work

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