We have a lot of different generations in the workplace right now, and with this comes contrasting habits, communication skills, and learning styles. This creates a lot of opportunity for mistakes to occur, and when they do, it’s important to normalize them, talk about them, and learn from them. But in order for this to happen, you have to build a culture that doesn’t stigmatize or wallow in failure. To do this, you need to acknowledge errors quickly and use them as fuel to be wiser. If you’re not talking with your team about making mistakes, you’re missing a valuable opportunity to create stronger relationships and a culture where employees feel supported and confident. Need help getting started? Here are 3 tips to help you talk to your team about mistakes:
1. Create an environment built on trust and transparency; this is key to helping people feel comfortable about acknowledging mistakes. This means having a leadership team that promotes this way of thinking and does so leading by example. If you incorporate mistakes into your regular conversation, it normalizes them and helps your team understand that making mistakes is a part of learning and growing…and they are in a safe space for that. The opposite of this would be when you or your leadership team demonstrate “mistake averse” behaviors–meaning you are openly critical of mistakes, harp on them, and speak negatively about them. This actually makes your team more nervous, stressed, unconfident, and less inclined to speak up when they see something go wrong. The reality is, if you’re not making mistakes…you’re not learning anything new. And this is a quick way to become irrelevant.
2. Remember you’re all on the same team. There’s value in sharing mistakes, but it’s important not to judge or overreact. It’s also important not to hold a grudge. Instead, ask 3 questions: What did you learn? Who did you share it with? What are you going to do differently next time? Your entire team can benefit from talking about mistakes openly, and it’s a valuable way to remind everyone that we’re all human, growth is uncomfortable, and there is a lot of wisdom that comes from making a mistake and owning it. In the end, we’re all on the same team working toward the same goal, so we want to embrace learning from each other.
3. Mistakes are great opportunities for building relationships and demonstrating empathy. Help your team understand that sometimes an apology is an important part of communicating a mistake. This usually carries a lot of weight with people, but it’s important not to be overly dramatic. The goal is to do the right thing for the relationship while demonstrating a little bit of humility and growth, but not to wallow in it. Once the mistake is identified and communicated, it’s important to shift into problem solving mode. This means focusing on solutions. If you go into a conversation about a mistake with at least one way to solve the problem in mind, this is a great way to build trust and confidence with clients and colleagues who will appreciate your ability to quickly begin to focus on solutions.
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