New Here

How Do I Recover from a Big Mistake at Work?

Sep 27, 2023

Priska Neely, radio journalist at NPR's Gulf States Newsroom, shares insights on handling and recovering from big mistakes at work. The podcast covers topics such as managing up, communication, difficult conversations, and credibility. They discuss the fear of making mistakes, the impact on manager-employee trust, and tips for moving on and refraining from constant apologies. Listeners' questions about workplace blunders are also addressed.

22:38

Episode guests

Priska Neely

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Episode notes

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Quick takeaways

Mistakes at work should be handled with transparency, accountability, and a focus on learning and growth.

Creating a supportive environment that encourages open communication, feedback, and seeking help can help alleviate the fear of making mistakes.

Deep dives

The pressure of making mistakes in a new job

Starting a new job can be stressful, and the fear of making mistakes is heightened, especially when you're new. The pressure comes from a shift in perspective, where every detail carries more weight and the stakes feel higher. Inexperience and the desire to make a good impression can contribute to this stress. However, mistakes are a part of the learning process, and it's important to recognize that they do not equate to failure. The key is to handle mistakes with transparency, accountability, and a focus on learning and growth.

Introduction

4min

Navigating Mistakes and Learning from Them

10min

The Impact of Mistakes on Manager-Employee Trust

5min

Recovering from a Big Mistake at Work

4min

Sharing Stories and Thanking Listeners

2min

So, you messed up at work. How do you move forward?

This week we’re talking about how to handle your first big mistake in a new job. We’ll learn how to own what happened, regain trust, and move forward.

For radio journalist Priska Neely, making a mistake in a news report or broadcast can be a very public experience. She leads a team of reporters at NPR’s Gulf States Newsroom, and it’s her job to guide her team through all of their mistakes – big and small.

Priska helps host Elainy Mata understand why mistakes happen at work – and offers her perspective as a manager on what your boss might be thinking when it happens. Plus, she takes listener questions about workplace blunders.

Have a career question? Let us know at NewHere@HBR.org.

Key topics include: managing up, communication, difficult conversations, credibility, careers.

More Reading:

· So, You Dropped the Ball. How Do You Get Your Credibility Back? (Jeff Tan)

· You Made a Big Mistake at Work. What Should You Do? (Dina Denham Smith)

· The Best Lesson a Manager Ever Taught Me (Sonika Bakshi)