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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To ask for someone to reassure me please

27 replies

lastqueenofscotland · 23/04/2019 21:05

I made a stupid mistake at work last week, think along the lines of doing some contract paperwork wrong. We managed to sort it it’s going to be fine, it now might cost a company that makes tens of millions a year about £200 at worst, but it could have been a lot worse if it wasn’t picked up till further down the line.
We noticed today and I realised now that it was really fucking stupid of me and I can’t believe I made the mistake.

My boss while she hasn’t told me off per say was obviously very annoyed at me and now I’m really worried as I’m on probation and it was fucking stupid.
There is a colleague who hates me and the boss loves and she was being a smug bitch about it too.
I’m feeling nearly teary about it tbh.

Aibu to ask for a bit of reassurance it will be ok

OP posts:

BluePirates · 23/04/2019 21:09

Bless you we all make mistakes op. It was found in time so don’t beat yourself up.

Mummymummums · 23/04/2019 21:15

Awww if that's all that's gone wrong I'm sure it'll be fine. It's costly and a pain to re-hire after going through interviews, training etc.

Raffles1981 · 23/04/2019 21:17

We all make mistakes OP. One of our butchers ruined £1000 worth of meat once. It happens. Just be glad it was noticed before it caused damage. It could have been worse. Just keep your head down, ignore the office bitch and it will pass

Lemonsquinky · 23/04/2019 21:17

We only learn from the mistakes we make. The mistake was corrected. You don't deserve the hard time you are giving yourself. In the big scheme of things, it's a blip. No one was hurt by your actions. As you wrote £200 won't be noticed in a company that deals with millions. Chin up.

Moominfan · 23/04/2019 21:18

We all make mistakes op

HBStowe · 23/04/2019 21:22

Oh OP! People in my work have done SO MUCH WORSE!

I’m a solicitor and I know someone who registered a standard security over the wrong property and someone who accidentally bought the wrong house for their client, and someone who failed to turn up to a hearing meaning their client’s case was almost dismissed. None of them got fired.

Everyone. Makes. Mistakes. A workplace which only tolerates perfection will haemorrhage staff and create a culture of fear and oppression. Please don’t let this worry you - almost everyone has likely done worse at some point.

TowerRavenSeven · 23/04/2019 21:23

It will be ok. I used to work in payroll and once a new employee didn’t get his paycheck because I hadn’t seen the new paperwork. My boss bless him ran a mini payroll just for this one person and it screwed up all the deductions too. The new employee understandably was livid until it was all sorted out and I wanted to crawl in a hole and die.
I apologized profusely, and kept a very very low profile until it blew over, and it did!

Twizzleegg · 23/04/2019 21:24

We all make mistakes. Somebody should have checked what you'd written before it was sent, particularly if it was so important. It's a basic quality procedure. It's your company`s and your boss' fault if they don't have a basic quality pursuit procedure in place. Don't beat yourself up.

CupOhTea · 23/04/2019 21:24

Everybody makes mistakes op! Please don’t worry. Office politics are terrible. Ignore smug face and wait for her inevitable downfall mwahaha 😈.

Cbatothinkofaname · 23/04/2019 21:24

Being on a probationary period doesn’t mean having to get everything perfect. It’s about training to do the job. It sounds as though you made an error but that you picked it up and it’s been rectified and actually that’s a good sign- you haven’t tried to cover it up, just dealt with it professionally.

Try to move on from it and think positive. And ignore the smug bitch. There’s always one! Anyone who gets pleasure out of a colleague slipping up is just not worth bothering with

Twizzleegg · 23/04/2019 21:25

Not pursuit. And I also mean you should be checking their work... I bet they make mistakes too.

Original poster

lastqueenofscotland · 23/04/2019 21:27

I’m feeling a bit annoyed at myself as I genuinely didn’t notice and it just got picked up today by someone else. Mortified

OP posts:

SuddenlyISee · 23/04/2019 21:28

I once left a banking bag with about £2,000 takings on the roof of my car and drove off. Luckily a lovely, honest person found it and handed it in but not before I'd had to confess all to my boss!

MonsterRehab23 · 23/04/2019 21:35

If it’s any consolation I made a mistake at work today too. It turned out ok but I too feel stupid and it mucks up my targets. All we can do is learn from it .

Original poster

lastqueenofscotland · 23/04/2019 21:50

I guess I just need to grovel and hope for the best

OP posts:

Cbatothinkofaname · 23/04/2019 21:53

Don’t grovel. Just be matter of fact, acknowledge the mistake and move on. FWIW as a manager of a dept, I never have a problem with honest mistakes. Far more of a problem are people who can’t admit to mistakes or worse, try to cover it up

cheeseandpineapple · 23/04/2019 22:06

One of our brightest trainees made a mistake at work recently that I wouldn’t have expected him to make. I went through it with him to understand why he’d missed the issue to help him avoid the mistake next time.

Because he’s generally really good, it hasn’t affected my opinion of him and if anything I know he’ll be really vigilant next time.

He was so apologetic but importantly so open to recognising what he’d done wrong and ensuring it won’t happen again that in some ways it was a good thing to happen.

Mistakes are often the best way of improving ourselves. They will always happen at some point or another. What differentiates people is how they handle the mistakes.

Have a chat with your boss and let her know you’ve had the opportunity to reflect on what happened and learn from the experience in order to avoid it happening again or to improve the system.

Being on probation means you’re learning the ropes. If you turn the experience into something positive you should maintain the respect of your boss.

Sunonthepatio · 23/04/2019 22:10

Everyone makes mistakes, luckily. That's how we learn, much if the time. If you don't make mistakes a lot, then a good company/boss should help you/the team constructively learn from it and then move it.

Di11y · 23/04/2019 22:13

so you're new, you made a mistake, one that could reasonably be predicted as there were checks in place to pick it up, and the checks worked. all's well that ends well. I'm an overthinker too so I sympathise but if you let this throw your confidence your performance may suffer in other ways and it becomes a self fulfilling prophecy.

Original poster

lastqueenofscotland · 23/04/2019 22:31

I won’t see my boss for the next few days as she works remotely... I was thinking of sending her an email basically saying I apologise for the work it’s caused her, I understand how serious it could have been and if there’s anything I can do to help let me know.
Is that a bit try hard.
I’m mortified

OP posts:

Twizzleegg · 24/04/2019 05:43

I bet you do a great job most of the time. Don't grovel and don't send lengthy emails unless they state all the good things you do.. plus acceptance of the mistake. You may blow this out of proportion.

Twizzleegg · 24/04/2019 05:45

Be your own cheerleader

WhoWants2Know · 24/04/2019 06:09

Notre Dame burned down last week because something that happened during the restoration work that was in progress.

Can you imagine how that workman/men (women) felt staring at the blaze?

Your mistake is small potatoes.

floribunda18 · 24/04/2019 06:17

I think it's also worth looking at why you made the mistake. Is it because you didn't fully understand the task? Were you not fully engaged in the task or distracted? Were you tired or hungry? Look at what you can do to reduce the likelyhood of making another mistake. But everyone does make mistakes, try not to worry too much.

AsleepAllDay · 24/04/2019 06:22

I also made some mistakes during my last probation. The mistakes were always corrected and I owned up to them and didn't make excuses. I let my boss speak their mind and it was forgotten - it'll be remembered, of course, but once it blows over it's not all everyone talks about. I always made sure to genuinely apologise and be humble - mistakes are ALWAYS going to be made but with effort and foresight you can try to avoid big ones

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