The impact of making mistakes at work

Mistakes happen from time to time, but it is a bad thing when making mistakes at work becomes a habit.

You may send an email to the wrong person, forget to make a client follow up call or send out incorrect information. Making small mistakes is excusable, but what happens when you become a serial offender? Regularly making mistakes at work may lead to transfer, disciplinary measures or even termination.

It is, therefore, important to avoid making mistakes at work on a regular basis. It is interesting that most mistakes made in the workplace commonly follow a particular pattern or are the result of the same causes. The following are some of most common workplace mistakes along with some ways of fixing them. They may help you stop making mistakes at work and turning them into a habit.

Slow down!

making mistakes at work

Most mistakes made at work are because people are rushing to get things done. If you don’t slow down you can potentially make a lot of errors. Even if you have a deadline, it is important to take your time and get the work done well. If you hurry things through without carefully going over them you are probably going to mess up. If you plan well before the deadline you will have enough time to check what you’ve done and correct any mistakes. If you are always under pressure you will find yourself making mistakes at work again and again.

Being inattentive

If you don’t pay attention during training you will obviously make mistakes. You will have missed things that help you to do things smoothly and well. Making mistakes at work could be avoided just by staying in the zone and concentrating. Training is there to help you out.

You should also take your chance to find out things you didn’t completely understand by asking questions. It is better to ask and avoid making mistakes at work than making mistakes at work that may jeopardize the job opportunity itself.

Keep a checklist

Workplaces are often hectic environments with meetings, consultations, more meetings and discussions. In all the frenzy, you can easily forget to follow some routine procedure or totally forget about a certain appointment. These types of errors can happen again and again. You can easily stop these forgetful mistakes at work by keeping a clear to-do list with times. When checklists are incorporated into the work process, you will probably not forget things.

Sticky Notes on your monitor, desk or phone will keep your checklist in view.

Join a team

Offices all over the world have mostly embraced the open floor plan as opposed to partitioned cubicles that were popular in the past. While it may be true that the open design makes it easier to see what everyone is doing, it also helps build a close, collaborative workforce. When people work together towards a common goal, efficiency increases and tasks are completed faster and more accurately. Employees who find themselves occasionally making mistakes at work can try to work in teams a little more.

Teamwork empowers each individual. For example, a single team may have a few people with different talents so they can learn from each other. To avoid making mistakes at work, team work effort can be encouraged as a way of capacity building.

Change your perception

making mistakes at work

Most people think of parts of their work as punishing or below them. If this is you then you will know that feeling of torture when you start a particular task. This kind of attitude towards work will guarantee mistakes at work become the norm for you. You resist and so you blow it. Everyone has certain things they don’t like doing but a lot of it is about perception. You might be in a role where you feel out of your depth or not appreciated. Is this really the case? Think about your perception of your work tasks and maybe switch it around.

You can avoid making mistakes at work if you stop resisting the inevitable.

Take a break

So many people are trapped in their busy work schedules that they rarely find time just to take a break. Meetings and deadlines, one after the other, have become the norm and this has led to severe cases of emotional fatigue. Exhaustion could be the main cause of making mistakes at work.

It is important for your mind, body and soul that you strike a work/rest balance. Resting rejuvenates the body and mind so they are ready to face any challenges. Developing a healthy, rich mix of rest and work will help you deal with what’s thrown at you in the workplace.

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