Fixing a mistake at work

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Anglewannabe

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Yesterday, I was busy with many things on my mind. A co-worker asked me about something I did in the past. I just was not in the mood to think about it so I told him it wasn’t me. I was in my own little world at the time.

Today I was called into the boss’s office. He was there and she told me ‘You did this go please tell me why’. I asked if I could go to my desk to figure it out to which my boss agreed. It is less than a 30 second walk back to my desk. The second I sat down my phone rang. It was my boss saying ‘I found your back up I will figure out what you did, don’t waste anymore time on this’

Well, I felt pretty small, because now that I think about it, it would have been really easy for me to find my back up. Not to mention, I am on contract and it never helps my cause when my boss finds out I couldn’t do something. From where I am sitting, I had a weak human moment. From a manager’s point of view, I know it looks bad in her eyes.

So, a while later, I went to my co-worker and said ‘Sorry, I should have remembered yesterday where I put the back up. Just curious, how was it resolved so I will know for next time’. He responded ‘Don’t worry, we resolved it by xyz’

My manager is the type, once something is over, she doesn’t have time to drag it back out. So I fear if I mention I realize I should have performed better, she will see it as an annoyance more than anything.

So, here is my dilemma, I want to learn from my mistake and move on. However, this is the type of mistake that has made me loose jobs in the past. So of course, my fear is what if they don’t renew my contract.

I want to surrender it to God and have God guide me. If I repent in my heart I want to trust God will take care of me whether they renew my contract or not. I want to forgive myself for being human. Also, I must admit, it is the type of thing that when I am on the other end of it, I would resent my co-worker for being so incompetent.

So what is some practical advise for turning this over to God?

Angie
 
If you’re on contract, do you have an on site PM, COR or COTR?

Just say, “I really need guidance on how to not let this happen again, and how to make the client happy.”

Pray to St. Padre Pio for his intercession, he’s a matter of dealing with work-related understanding with grace.
 
although you didn’t mention it, I will, for the sake of completeness: go to work “fit for duty” – ready to do your job, not tired or sick, etc.

There is a whole body of work and advice on quality improvement. Often it covers the subject from an enterprise-wide basis, but it also goes down to the individual level.

You’re asking, how do I improve my work quality, in particular, how do I avoid making mistakes?

the short answer is that you need to do “self-checking” – to review your own work – make sure all the blanks are filled in, all the pages are there, all the questions answered, etc.

There are errors that can be categorized according to frequency - like making some mistake once in ten times, in a hundred times, or in ten thousand times. You have to think about what kinds of mistakes you can potentially make and then, for sure, focus on your skills for reviewing your own work.

It sounds like you work independently, so you don’t normally have access to using a “buddy system” check of your work. there are two kinds of such assistance – doing something at the same time side by side, to verify the work, or to have one person review it top to bottom after you’re finished.

My boss was a person who was actively trying to promote error-free work, and after our morning meeting, he’d say, “Have an error-free day.”

You have to internalize an attitude that you don’t want to make a mistake. forget the talk at the water cooler, the extra smoking breaks if you can avoid them, etc. focus on your work.

In the third grade, I was learning multiplication. The cute girl next to me got A’s all the time and I got d’s and f’s. I had to learn to pay attention, to put myself in a better light with this girl.
 
Anglewannabe said:
Yesterday, I was busy with many things on my mind. A co-worker asked me about something I did in the past. I just was not in the mood to think about it so I told him it wasn’t me. I was in my own little world at the time.

Today I was called into the boss’s office. He was there and she told me ‘You did this go please tell me why’. I asked if I could go to my desk to figure it out to which my boss agreed. It is less than a 30 second walk back to my desk. The second I sat down my phone rang. It was my boss saying ‘I found your back up I will figure out what you did, don’t waste anymore time on this’

Well, I felt pretty small, because now that I think about it, it would have been really easy for me to find my back up. Not to mention, I am on contract and it never helps my cause when my boss finds out I couldn’t do something. From where I am sitting, I had a weak human moment. From a manager’s point of view, I know it looks bad in her eyes.

So, a while later, I went to my co-worker and said ‘Sorry, I should have remembered yesterday where I put the back up. Just curious, how was it resolved so I will know for next time’. He responded ‘Don’t worry, we resolved it by xyz’

My manager is the type, once something is over, she doesn’t have time to drag it back out. So I fear if I mention I realize I should have performed better, she will see it as an annoyance more than anything.

So, here is my dilemma, I want to learn from my mistake and move on. However, this is the type of mistake that has made me loose jobs in the past. So of course, my fear is what if they don’t renew my contract.

I want to surrender it to God and have God guide me. If I repent in my heart I want to trust God will take care of me whether they renew my contract or not. I want to forgive myself for being human. Also, I must admit, it is the type of thing that when I am on the other end of it, I would resent my co-worker for being so incompetent.

So what is some practical advise for turning this over to God?

Angie
Click to expand...
I don’t want to seem unkind, but I see a lot of excuses here (“I was busy with a lot of things on my mind,” “a weak human moment,” “forgive myself for being human”) linked to what I gather is pattern of behavior rather than the kind of one-time event everyone has experienced (“this is the type of mistake that has made me loose [sic] jobs in the past”). If I were your manager, I would indeed be concerned if you are really willing to do what it takes for the job – which is to be there for the job for which you are being paid. The practical advice for turning it over to God is to let it go, learn from your mistake, and, going forward, give “a full day’s work for a full day’s pay.” I wish you well.
 
IrishAm said:
I don’t want to seem unkind, but I see a lot of excuses here (“I was busy with a lot of things on my mind,” “a weak human moment,” “forgive myself for being human”) linked to what I gather is pattern of behavior
Click to expand...
Maybe I was unclear, the whole post was about breaking the pattern. I am not denying it exist
 
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