How to deal with unfolding work nightmare

[Burger223344]

I’ve fucked up and my boss kind of knows.

The full extent and impact of the problems will only become clear to clients week by week over the next 4 weeks and then each week until Christmas

I’ve basically got some numbers wrong and many people have acted on that information and soon they will find out

The knowledge of what I’ve done, what is going to happen and how people will feel let down and unhappy is killing me inside - I can’t sleep, can’t eat, feel sick and panicky all the time. I can’t carry on like this for the next 6 weeks (I think people will see the full extent by then)

What can I do? How do I get this under control? I just want to run away. Please help!

Lots of people fuck up. What makes a difference is how that person handles it. Go to your boss and say "I'm sorry I have made a mistake I have done/not done X the impact this is going to have is Y"

I have been on both sides of this conversation and it is far far better to have the conversation than to not.

Things like this are almost always not as bad as you think they are. Your boss knows and you didn’t purposefully do it and therefore it’s not gross misconduct. Trying to hide it, is gross misconduct. Face into it, put a plan in place with your boss. If you document that you are communicating to the boss about it and trying to put it right then this will reflect really well on you.

And get some counselling if you need it. You don’t say what your field is. Some sectors offer targeted counselling for exactly this kind of situation as it can be mind-blowingly stressful.

Think about how it can be rectified and tell your boss and offer the solution and apologise.
Say nothing and you would go right down in my opinion.

I echo others, first thing Monday you my at speak with your boss abs explain what has happened. Go armed with the facts, don't hide anything but have a plan as to how it may get resolved.
Good luck

I wouldn't wait. I would be upfront and honest: report it, talk to your manager ASAP and work to resolve the mistake.

We are all human, and we make mistakes. I made a mistake in my job once (misread something - thought it was one number when in fact it was a different number. But both numbers would have made sense), but as soon as I spotted the mistake I had made, I reported it immediately and did everything to resolve it. I didn't get into trouble for that. Had I kept quiet or tried to hide the mistake, I would have lost my job (and rightly so). I now use that example as a teaching thing for junior staff.

Jesus H. Christ. 'Own the message of the fuckup'. I've heard it all now.

Obviously you must come completely clean as soon as possible. I wanted to say, though, that I feel desperately sorry for you; it's a horrible and debilitating feeling. But, as Bunyan said 'own the message of the fuckup' 'the way is the way, and there is an end.'

Remember too that things like this are usually due to faults/weaknesses in the system rather than just person.

They might need to put procedures in place to make sure this sort of thing cannot happen again.

This is 100% some oblique political commentary isn't it??

Don't panic.

Search for the thread where everyone talked about the worst mistakes they'd ever made at work, it will make you feel so much better, make you realise you are only human, like the rest of us, and put your mistake into perspective. Also, when you are reading it, remember that all of those people are still alive to tell the tale! In a few years time you'll look back on this and laugh. Just make yourself a nice cup of tea whenever it feels like it's getting too much.

Be brave, talk to your boss on Monday and tackle it head on. I know it’s hard But I promise you once you’ve put your hand up and people are helping address the problem you WILL feel better

This is absolutely 100% true advice. As soon as you own up, the burden of stress is lifted considerably. Also the quicker you own up, the quicker the people affected can act to rectify it and so the damage might actually be zero in some cases.

You can't wait for things to unfold over the coming weeks. You need to come clean to everyone this will impact but start with telling your boss the full potential impact of the fuck up. Is this related to supply chains? My goodness even a misplaced decimal place can have all sorts of ramifications. Spend the weekend coming up with any sort of plans to mitigate this, have some sort of idea when you talk to people so at least you look like you're taking ownership and aren't just saying "oops, sorry guys."

Just admit it. I’d respect someone far more if they admitted a serious mistake so we had a chance to solve it rather than let it snowball into a catastrophe.

Good grief if I were a client finding out in December and I discovered you knew two months previously, when perhaps I could have made alternative arrangements, but didn’t tell me, I’d hit the roof.

i try to hold my hands up straight away then hopefully correct the error

Mistakes happen. It's not the mistake, it's the way that you deal with it that makes your reputation. Go to your boss and factuality lay out what happened, but importantly have a solution or some action / next step. The solution can be what you do to communicate the mistake, how you can work around it, or how you have fixed it so it does not happen again. Your boss will want to see that XYZ has happened, you are on top of it, you are managing the situation, and you are taking action in some way. (Speaking from many similar experiences)

Don't say "omg, XYZ happened, help".

Until you can get back to work, make your plan of what you are going to say to your boss. Once you have a plan then stop thinking about it - the next course of action is clearly laid out. If you can't stop thinking about it, look at your plan and satisfy yourself that it is the right plan, and then stop worrying about it, as the next course of action is clearly laid out.

Problems are things that you solve by making a plan, and executing. They are real and tangible. Concerns are things you are worried about that could happen, they are very powerful but useless. Identify the problem and make a plan. Learn from it. Ignore all concerns.

If all else fails then fill your mind with something. Go for a run, do gardening, meditate, read a book.

Lastly, this is really easy to write , but very hard to do. You will learn from this experience.

Thanks for your comments - I realise honesty is best. I haven’t kept it quiet, more like it has come to light quite late in the day. A lot of things could happen to change the situation in the meantime so telling the clients will create a huge fuss when in reality it might not be so bad. Not sure if that makes sense - we work in a very niche industry where things change all the time. I realise I can’t deal with this uncertainty when I have a hand in messing it up

My manager knows the issue - has run her eye over the numbers, seen the discrepancies and said, well we’ll just have to see how it goes.

It’s the wait and see element I can’t deal with, I think it won’t be great in the end but just how bad is what is killing me

Your update makes no sense.
You fucked up, but the situation might turn around all by itself. Your manager actually does know, but isn't particularly bothered.
Struggling to see what the problem actually is 🤷🏻‍♀️

Ok, this is much better then! Your boss knows. They get paid the big bucks to worry about this, not you. Help them solve THEIR problem. Put in place new procedures so THEIR problem does not happen again.

Relax.

@GreyhoundG1rl - sorry to be confusing. I said my boss knows in the first post, they just don’t seem too bothered. It’s just a wait and see.

That was my ask, how do I deal with the anxiety for the next few weeks as it unfolds.

It won’t work out all fine with no impact - there will be an impact, it’s just how bad it might be. There will be some weeks where it will be worse than others but I don’t know which

If it helps, we are moving business between clients and I have had to work on the phasing but the numbers are wrong so everyone’s dates and staffing and responsibilities are messed up. There will be a cost to my business as there are different capabilities and associated costings.

Of course it’s not Boris, he wouldn’t even know if he got the figures wrong, wouldn’t care if he did, and would probably lie and say they were right.
Possibly could be Neil Ferguson- but then again, he’s made a whole lucrative career about getting his figures wrong.

@Maybe83

You go into work on Monday and outline in detail exactly what the impact will and for how long. You put together a remediation plan if there is one and also explain how it happened. Was there a process breakdown or any issues with data you were working with or was it simply human error.

It can't be undone the only thing you can do now is try to limit the impact as much as possible.

This! Everyone fucks up. You are human, we all do it. Lying/withholding information about a fuckup when you could make it better is dishonest. I really feel for you and understand how shit you must feel. But honestly, you will feel so much better if you get it off your chest, and work towards making it better. You're not an bad person - you made a mistake. We've all been there.

Agree with others - need to confront it and then damage limitation wherever possible.

It’ll be awful for the situation slowly unfolding as you watch gollum-like from the sidelines - that’ll be worse than just trying to sort it at this point

Ok, it sounds like your boss is aware. I would make sure you have an email conversation with your boss clearly stating 'I'm really worried that because I did this, x,y,z would happen. I realise this is my fault, what can I do to mitigate the risk'. Make sure this conversation is WRITTEN. Super important. As soon as you have passed it up the chain, you are in the clear. Your manager gets paid more than you to deal with your mistakes. If he/she chooses not to do so, that is absolutely on their head and not yours.

I once made what at the time I thought was a massive mess up ; I can't remember what it was now, but I felt horrible. I asked for a meeting with my boss and explained everything. Her reply was " no one died did they ? " Part of being a boss is to support those who report to them when it's a mistake rather than an ongoing performance issue. Just make a decision to speak to your boss and you will feel better.