Is it normal to make mistakes at a new job?

Is it typical to have blunders in one's place of employment? This is a query that is typed into Google every month by a significant number of individuals.

It should be made quite apparent that the answer is yes; it is typical to err when one is working. At the end of the day, you're only a human being, and regardless of how good your intentions may be, you're still going to make errors.

However, it becomes an issue when you continue to make errors at work without attempting to figure out why you are doing so or taking any action to correct the situation. If you make a mistake at work and then try to conceal it from your supervisor, minimize its significance, or put the responsibility on someone else, the situation is much more embarrassing.

Continue reading this article to find out what steps you can take to get back on track if you've gotten into the habit of making the same errors over and over again and want to stop the cycle.

DIVE RIGHT INTO YOUR FAULTS AND HUMAN ERRORS

Although no one really enjoys living through their past errors, it is necessary to do so, particularly if the errors keep happening over and over again. According to the findings of this study, environmental variables (physical, organizational, and personal), intrinsic errors (selection of personnel, training, and experience), and stress factors are the most prevalent contributors to human error and error caused by humans (personal and circumstantial). Therefore, as you are looking into the errors, you should ask yourself the following kinds of inquiries. Not only will it inspire you to look at the mistake from every viewpoint, but it will also assist you to spot similarities in the error, which you can then correct.

When I called, where did you say you were working? Have you been able to concentrate thanks to the area you worked in?

Was there a certain procedure to follow? Have you been following along? If not, what prevented you from doing so?

Have you had or attempted to get the necessary training? Were there any instruments or sources that you should have been able to access or that you might have requested to have access to?

Were the steps that you provided clear? If that's not the case, did you ask any of the questions you had and get answers to them?

Have you asked your boss or your peers for their insight, guidance, or feedback when it was necessary or when it was defined? Have you ever tried to "do it alone" when you were uncomfortable or uncertain, or have you ever asked for support instead?

Has anything happened in your personal life recently that was giving you stress or led to you being preoccupied when you made the error? How about when you're at work?

FORMULATE AN ACTION PLAN OR PROCESS FOR YOURSELF

The unfortunate reality is that it is impossible to completely do away with errors. The normal failure rates of firms that use conventional work procedures vary from ten to thirty human mistakes for every one hundred chances, as stated in a study compiled by Lifetime Reliability. Failure rates of five to ten human mistakes for every one hundred chances represent the optimal level of performance that may be achieved in well-managed workplaces that make use of standard quality management systems.

The Error Committed

An employee who is responsible for a company's social media platforms produces several postings on a regular basis that include misspellings, broken links, and text that is debated or amended under the area for user comments. Customers and executives in the firm are starting to take notice, and the employee is beginning to worry that they could lose their job.

The Findings and Conclusions of the Investigation

Due to the fact that the organization is still quite new to social media, there are very few procedures, if any at all, that have been written down. Even though it made the worker uneasy to create a post without their supervisor's authorization, they went ahead and performed it nonetheless since no one suggested that they carry out this task any differently.

The proposed course of action

They want to do the following things in order to reduce both the frequency and severity of the employee's mistakes:

Download a digital writing aid tool like Grammarly that checks for spelling, punctuation, and other frequent problems, and utilize it on every social post you make. Examples of such tools are Hemingway App and Ginger.

They intend to submit the social post that will be related to a significant announcement to their leader at least forty-eight hours in advance of when it is scheduled to be published so that their leader may approve the content and double-check that it is working.

On a more personal note, the worker intends to turn off alerts for emails, instant messages, texts, and Zoom calls. This is to guarantee that they do not get sidetracked or try to multitask when posting on social media and avoid the risk of being distracted.

The employee will build a checklist that records these tasks by using a technology for process management such as ClickUp. This will not only guarantee that the employee and leader have documentation of due diligence in the event that an issue arises, but it will also make it possible to pass on the procedure when the team expands or changes.

INQUIRE ABOUT THE CONSTRUCTIVE FEEDBACK OF BOTH YOUR LEADER AND YOUR PEERS.

As soon if you believe that you have a fair grasp of why the errors happened and have prepared a plan of action to prevent them occurring again in the future, it is time to seek out constructive criticism from your superiors and peers as appropriate. Demonstrate to them what you've discovered and what actions you plan to take as a result of it. They concur, do they not? Do they see things from a different angle? Do they have any suggestions or thoughts that you hadn't considered before that you may share? This is a very crucial stage in the process of breaking a pattern of recurrent errors because it demonstrates to others around you that you are accepting responsibly for the mistakes you have made in the past and that you are dedicated to doing better in the days and years to come.

SEEK SUPPORT AS NEEDED

There are certain errors in judgment that can only be rectified by you, but there are others that need the participation, assistance, or resources of individuals in your immediate environment, such as your manager or your colleagues. In such scenario, you should advocate for yourself by seeking assistance whenever you feel it's necessary. In certain situations, you may require the time and energy of your supervisor to grant you permission, while in others, you could merely need the assistance of a coworker to help keep you responsible for your actions. It is not the purpose of this to make other people accountable for correcting your error; rather, the focus should be on ensuring that the action plan you devised has the effect you anticipate it having.