I thought today I would lighten things up a little bit with some funny and embarrassing personal stories. All of us make mistakes at work and sometimes really stupid ones. Below are 4 stupid mistakes I hope you can avoid at work. If not, its okay; learn to laugh them off and do better the next time.
1. Never crash the company car (especially in front of your boss!)
When I was a young and ambitious operations manager I had one of the most embarrassing experiences in my life. I was driving in a company car in a client’s parking lot looking for a place to park when I saw my boss and the client walking across the lot. I quickly tried to get their attention and wave to them when boom, I crashed into a parked truck. My boss looked the other way acting like he didn’t know me, and the client just shook his head wondering who was this dim-witted person crashing into parked cars. Needless to say, I learned my lesson to keep both hands on the wheel and eyes on the road even when other vehicles are not moving!
2. Don’t send emails while conversing on the phone
I once was writing my boss an email about one of our clients. In the email I wrote about who I thought were the gatekeepers in the organization and whom we needed to win over in order to be successful. When I was just about finished writing the email my phone rang. I picked up the phone and began conversing while proceeding to finish composing the email, and then I hit send while still on the phone. A few minutes later I received a response from the client I had written about in the email. I realized at that time I had sent the email not to my boss but to the client!! The email response simply stated, “Thanks.” As expected, my relationship with this client was a little awkward for a little while after this incident.
3. Don’t forget to knock before opening the restroom door
This may seem strange as most restrooms at work have a lock on them and people tend to use them, but one day I learned the value of knocking on a restroom door before opening it at work. On one occasion, when nature called I headed to the bathroom. When I opened the door—to my surprise—there was a co-worker of the opposite sex using the proverbial hot seat. Some how in her haste she had forgotten to lock the door. As you can guess, our relationship has never been the same since.
4. Don’t call the wrong person the wrong name
I hope I’m not the only one who calls people the wrong name from time to time. In fact, growing up in a large family with many siblings and then having multiple kids myself it seems almost natural. I’ve learned however calling the wrong person the wrong name can be very painful.
One time when I was working for a hospital as a contracted employee, my boss was visiting. I was telling him how we had made an immediate impact on our client as we had successfully built many strong relationships with many key people within the hospital. While we were walking around I was introducing him to people. As I approached the Director of Patient Relations I introduced her as Mary to my boss. This apparently was not her name as she quickly corrected me and stormed off down the hallway. My earlier spiel about my relationship building to my boss quickly lost all credibility.
I hope you enjoyed (and can relate to) some of these stories. Making mistakes is part of life, and learning to overcome them can be challenging. In my own life, in the past, I’ve let mistakes linger and haunt me for too long. Learning to apologize, take responsibility, laugh them off, and let them go will make life much easier and more enjoyable. Remember that everyone makes mistakes from time to time. Learn your lesson when you make a mistake and move forward with a determination to do better the next time!
