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I responded to an e-mail question today on an issue that I’m not an expert on. I just gave my best guess based on the information that I had. A little while later, a slightly higher ranking (but not a superior) coworker came over to tell me that she believed the information I provided was incorrect. She wasn’t trying to belittle me- she just wanted to help. So since I trusted her, I sent out another e-mail to verify with the actual expert. I also CC’d the person who asked the question and the coworker who told me I was wrong so that everyone would receive his reply. The expert confirmed that I had actually been right in my first response, but I felt stupid for at least an hour while waiting for his reply. I didn’t initially contact him before I replied the first time because he’s always busy and I didn’t want to bug him on a seemingly simple question, but I had to end up bugging him anyway. I do feel better though now that I know for sure that I didn’t give out wrong information (well, at least not this time).
So anyone else have any work mistakes to discuss? Come on, I can’t be the only idiot around here!
I made the mistake of rolling my eyes in a meeting when everything a certain person was saying was total bull crap and lies. I thought I had my head turned in such a way that it wasn't visible. Apparently not. My position was eliminated shortly thereafter.
I made the mistake of rolling my eyes in a meeting when everything a certain person was saying was total bull crap and lies. I thought I had my head turned in such a way that it wasn't visible. Apparently not. My position was eliminated shortly thereafter.
Sorry to hear. Hopefully you’ve found a better position!
I've made a ton of small mistakes but nothing that would be enough to warrant termination. I had a co-worker once spend a month on a proposal to a large, existing client with $5 billion in assets. The cover page included their company name which was, yep, misspelled. Ooops.
I let my temper get to me (And the hip was hurting thus adding to it) so after a printer jammed for the 20th time I snapped the UI (User Interface) off the machine and all it was connected with was the cable.
I claimed I slipped and they bought it...somewhat...
Another time I put in the wrong plastic material for a 400 pc run and didn't find out till it was done. That was a waste of four hours. But they weren't too mad. But they let me know they weren't happy....
I responded to an e-mail question today on an issue that I’m not an expert on. I just gave my best guess based on the information that I had. A little while later, a slightly higher ranking (but not a superior) coworker came over to tell me that she believed the information I provided was incorrect. She wasn’t trying to belittle me- she just wanted to help. So since I trusted her, I sent out another e-mail to verify with the actual expert. I also CC’d the person who asked the question and the coworker who told me I was wrong so that everyone would receive his reply. The expert confirmed that I had actually been right in my first response, but I felt stupid for at least an hour while waiting for his reply. I didn’t initially contact him before I replied the first time because he’s always busy and I didn’t want to bug him on a seemingly simple question, but I had to end up bugging him anyway. I do feel better though now that I know for sure that I didn’t give out wrong information (well, at least not this time).
So anyone else have any work mistakes to discuss? Come on, I can’t be the only idiot around here!
Too many to count, but they've all been small mistakes, like mistakes on forms and calculation mistakes that have been caught before the project goes out the door.
With the amount of work that has to be done in timeframes at most corporate workplaces to try and maximize revenues it is IMPOSSIBLE not to make mistakes.
The usual missing small details from time to time. Generally, nothing major.
But I'll share a good story from years past. I supported a sales team, and was essentially the liaison between the account manager and the client. I was constantly sending email updates to clients about the status of their projects and orders.
So we had this internal document that had the complete breakdown of the client's order, as well as INTERNAL ONLY info such as margin, etc. I had some clients that would have massive orders, so I'd have to export the order detail into an Excel spreadsheet so I could send it off, as opposed to trying to fit it all in the body of an email. For one such client order, I was putting together an email with all of this info. We had between 10-15 clients that we supported, and each of them had several orders at a time, so it's a high volume, high stress boiler plate environment. As I was on rapid fire mode, I had incorrectly attached this internal document to one of the emails to the client. I hit send, and within seconds, I swear my heart missed a few beats and my stomach dropped to the floor of my pelvis. This progressed into a mild panic attack.
Sure enough, within minutes, the account manager reached out to me to "scold me" on what I had done. Fortunately, he was one of the more even keeled AMs I worked with, so his "scolding" was very mild. What I had done could have probably been grounds for a write up, or possible termination in a more cut throat environment. I think I got some leeway from the sales team, because I was otherwise doing a very good job supporting their team. To this day, I don't even think my manager was informed of this hiccup. Thank god, because it was already an extremely stressful job. It was one of those places where they turned over employees every 2-3 years. I lasted closer to three myself before I departed of my own accord.
Fortunately, when you're young, you can afford to make mistakes here and there. The key is to learn from them and to not repeat them. That little hiccup has made me far more attentive to details in whatever I'm sending out that is client facing. I still have a mild panic attack the first few seconds after I send an email (with attachments) to a client.
I went into the executive biographies that are part of any pitch to a prospective client. And we're talking the big Fortune 50 companies.
So, instead of Bob studying at Harvard, he "took a few classes, but didn't not receive any diploma."
And Jane?
Well, Jane studied Butterfly Husbandry and Parks and Recreation. Im sure it's been noticed by now, as this was several decades ago.
Or... Has it?????
A lady I worked with at a small company (50 employees) back in the late 90s was our default HR person. She had saved the main personnel file with everyone's salaries onto the shared drive for all to see.
I went into the executive biographies that are part of any pitch to a prospective client. And we're talking the big Fortune 50 companies.
So, instead of Bob studying at Harvard, he "took a few classes, but didn't not receive any diploma."
And Jane?
Well, Jane studied Butterfly Husbandry and Parks and Recreation. Im sure it's been noticed by now, as this was several decades ago.
Or... Has it?????
Doesn't sound to me like Bob or Jane made a lot of mistakes if they're executives.
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Hopefully you’ve found a better position!
