Making Mistakes at Work

[darkcser]

I heard some bosses can be the unreasonable type; unwilling to give second chances etc and might tell me to leave if they find a better replacement. Hope my manager isn't that type lol.

That probably depends heavily on workload, ease of finding a replacement and time for a replacement to ramp up. Hopefully you have one or more of those factors in your favor.

Out of curiosity, when you made the mistakes did you discover the mistakes yourself and fix them or did your manager find them and fix them? Were the mistakes due to you not understanding what was required or due to carelessness?

[chibidaisuke]

That probably depends heavily on workload, ease of finding a replacement and time for a replacement to ramp up. Hopefully you have one or more of those factors in your favor.

Out of curiosity, when you made the mistakes did you discover the mistakes yourself and fix them or did your manager find them and fix them? Were the mistakes due to you not understanding what was required or due to carelessness?

Well, it's kind of due to lack of understanding. I work at McDonalds and haven't memorised all the ingredients for the various burgers and got it mixed up several times.

[Lucre]

I heard some bosses can be the unreasonable type; unwilling to give second chances etc and might tell me to leave if they find a better replacement. Hope my manager isn't that type lol.

if they hate you. usually bosses tend to be more unreasonable than they normally would if they simply don't see eye to eye with you (8-characters mis-match? poor EQ?) on the other hand, if they like you, they'll be supernice to you that it didn't seem fair how they give you ample chances after many mistakes.

but fret not, unless you dislike the job and want to move on, the best way to remain employed is to make your boss thinks that things will be worse without you; so even if you make mistakes, he will think twice before getting rid of you because he doesnt want to face the consequences of losing you either.

[chibidaisuke]

if they hate you. usually bosses tend to be more unreasonable than they normally would if they simply don't see eye to eye with you (8-characters mis-match? poor EQ?) on the other hand, if they like you, they'll be supernice to you that it didn't seem fair how they give you ample chances after many mistakes.

but fret not, unless you dislike the job and want to move on, the best way to remain employed is to make your boss thinks that things will be worse without you; so even if you make mistakes, he will think twice before getting rid of you because he doesnt want to face the consequences of losing you either.

Mmm thanks I'll somehow try to get my manager to think that way about me. Hope it works.

[sehseh]

I've just started my first ever work experience (part time since I'm still a university student) and I've made several mistakes already. I fear the manager hates me already and would sack me.

It's okay to make mistakes, especially if you are fresh into the society. But do make sure to learn from them so the same mistakes are not repeated. This will make a good impression on your superiors.

Guo Xiang is right. Try to admit your mistakes honestly and do not repeat it again.

I myself handled a few fresh grads and yes I've been pissed off by their mistakes. But then again, no one is perfect (Lol, I myself screwed up a few times as well...) so as long as they show initiative to rectify it, I'd give them a chance. However, for those who continuously repeat the same mistake... God Bless 'em.

[wkeej]

Just make a mistake. Admitted it and re-do.

[HuangYushi]

I myself handled a few fresh grads and yes I've been pissed off by their mistakes. But then again, no one is perfect (Lol, I myself screwed up a few times as well...) so as long as they show initiative to rectify it, I'd give them a chance. However, for those who continuously repeat the same mistake... God Bless 'em.

I've met different types of fresh grads: the idealistic, the arrogant/know-it-all, the lost, etc. The idealistic ones needed to learn to be practical, so I allowed them to carry out their ideas and learn some real-life lessons, since these ideas did not really harm the company in terms of time and money. The arrogant/know-it-all ones needed to be taken down a peg or two, so I sat in on their projects/meetings and basically freaked them out with my glare/assessments, since they turned out to be way less able than they had made themselves out to be. The lost ... well, they were lost, so as long as they were willing to learn and learn fast, I was happy to show them the ropes.

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Talking about mistakes at work:

Today, I saw an article about convincing one's boss in the Classifieds section of the The Star newspaper. Tip #4 suggested that people go to the boss not only with a problem they face at work, but also with at least one possible solution to the problem. This, I feel, is something that every employee needs to learn. I get really annoyed when my staff complain about this and that being "problems" but expect me to solve their "problems" for them, when in actual fact, I've already thought through the entire issue/project/assignment/schedule and even anticipated their complaints (and stated so that my fellow manager) before the issue/project/assignment/schedule was officially placed in their hands.

To make a ruckus about "problems" without even softly suggesting a possible solution is, in my books, a pretty bad mistake at work. Do it often enough, and all your chances of moving up the ladder goes down the drain, since you've have proven to be only capable of creating additional unnecessary problems, not solving them.

[PJ]

I get really annoyed when my staff complain about this and that being "problems" but expect me to solve their "problems" for them, when in actual fact, I've already thought through the entire issue/project/assignment/schedule and even anticipated their complaints (and stated so that my fellow manager) before the issue/project/assignment/schedule was officially placed in their hands.

This is like Reverend Kongjian anticipating and countering Xie Xun's move before Xie even moved.

aka COMBOS: Countering Opponent's Move Before Opponent Strikes