If you mess up at work...

[Anonymous]

Is it better to explain how it happened (i.e. "issue was very complex and I got bogged down in the details and missed the bigger issue")? Or just say, I made a mistake (i.e. "I dont know how I could have missed that")? Or blame outside issues (i.e., "sorry I have been a little distracted bc of xyz, it wont happen again").

As background, there is the 2nd time I have made a major mistake at work in the past few months. I turn in a lot of work product to various senior people and 90+ percent of it is good or better, but for the one senior person, I have made 2 major mistakes. I was also recently promoted. The first time, my supervisor told me not to worry and it happens but now she has asked me to come in and discuss this one. Its basically a mistake in my analysis (doesnt affect world peace or cost the company any money or anything).

I am also 35w pregnant, but really want to avoid pointing to that, although the senior person, when discussing the problem with my work product said he guessed I was just distracted lately and quickly glanced at my ginormous belly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is it better to explain how it happened (i.e. "issue was very complex and I got bogged down in the details and missed the bigger issue")? Or just say, I made a mistake (i.e. "I dont know how I could have missed that")? Or blame outside issues (i.e., "sorry I have been a little distracted bc of xyz, it wont happen again").

As background, there is the 2nd time I have made a major mistake at work in the past few months. I turn in a lot of work product to various senior people and 90+ percent of it is good or better, but for the one senior person, I have made 2 major mistakes. I was also recently promoted. The first time, my supervisor told me not to worry and it happens but now she has asked me to come in and discuss this one. Its basically a mistake in my analysis (doesnt affect world peace or cost the company any money or anything).

I am also 35w pregnant, but really want to avoid pointing to that, although the senior person, when discussing the problem with my work product said he guessed I was just distracted lately and quickly glanced at my ginormous belly.

It would depend on the nature and ramifications of the mistake. I would avoid blaming outside issues or minimizing your mistake, especially given your recent promotion and advancing pregnancy. The last thing you want is for your supervisor to think that you can't hack the promotion because of issues in your non-work life or that your pregnancy is affecting your ability to do your job.

When I have made errors at work (mostly clerical or related to poor communication with other departments), it's been helpful to figure out where the disconnect was so that it can be avoided in the future. But those are errors of a bill not getting paid or a phone call not being scheduled properly. They are not substantive.

[Anonymous]

I'm sorry to hear that -- it's so frustrating to have your work product suffer for any of the reasons you mentioned above. I find that generally I go with the, "I made an error, I've identified what led to the error and I've put systems in place to do better going forward." If they want to get all of the details I will tell them exactly what happened (which sounds like your first option up there, "I got bogged down in details, etc.") I do think that accepting full responsibility and outlining steps you've made to catch errors going forward will alleviate the concerns of your supervisors. I think you can leave out mentioning the pregnancy as a potential culprit -- they will likely blame that anyway. Good luck!

[Anonymous]

Don't make excuses, own your mistake, say your sorry and you messed up. I think everyone gets bogged down in details sometimes, that is why its a good idea for others to review work before it goes outside the company. Tell her you are happy it was caught.

[Anonymous]

Tell the truth. Why do you think it happened? Maybe mistake #1 was an oversight but #2 was because you were rushed. These require different solutions.

[Anonymous]

OP here -

Just spoke with supervisor. I explained how I got caught up in the wrong details and that it wasnt reflective of the rest of my work. She agreed that the work product had some serious issues, but said it wasnt that big a deal and gave me some pointers about how to avoid the problem and how to deal with the manager in the future.

Then she totally blamed my pregnancy and told me about when she had a similar issue in her early years when she was actually reporting to the same manager (before she became his superior). She said pregnancy brain is common and it happens to lots of women and its no big deal. I avoided blaming the pregnancy directly, but let her go in that direction.

[Anonymous]

Um we all make mistakes. I do 100 fucking things at my job. I do really try to avoid making them, but when they happen, they happen. Made one yesterday. I just said sorry. It was totally my fault. This is what I did. Could it happen again, sure...maybe not the same mistake, but I might overlook something. You really have to look at the entire person when looking at their errors. BUT EVERYONE MAKES MISTAKES.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here -

Just spoke with supervisor. I explained how I got caught up in the wrong details and that it wasnt reflective of the rest of my work. She agreed that the work product had some serious issues, but said it wasnt that big a deal and gave me some pointers about how to avoid the problem and how to deal with the manager in the future.

Then she totally blamed my pregnancy and told me about when she had a similar issue in her early years when she was actually reporting to the same manager (before she became his superior). She said pregnancy brain is common and it happens to lots of women and its no big deal. I avoided blaming the pregnancy directly, but let her go in that direction.

OP, I'm so glad it went Ok. Deep breaths!

[Anonymous]

Hang in there OP. FYI--Mommy Brain is worse the pregnancy brain . . . )