The Hindu Business Line : When failure strikes

As you try to leave an impressive mark at work, a failure can bring unexpected twists and turns. How you deal with failure is what will ultimately help you succeed. The question is: Are you smart enough to learn from your mistakes?

Workplace failure is a part of life but, if dealt with well, can turn out to be a life changing event. Here are some smart strategies to fix some common workplace mistakes.

Missing a deadline

You are bound to feel frustrated and upset when you miss an important deadline that impacts a client, but don’t blow it by making it all public. Have you taken on too heavy a workload and set yourself an unrealistic timeframe? You may have just set yourself up for failure.

Tip: Trust your instincts. When you feel overburdened, speak up. It may take some guts initially, but it will save you face later.

Starting a conflict

In this age of teamwork, conflicts with people and petty fights with your boss definitely get labelled as failure.

Tip: Find common ground and never take sides in case of a conflict. If you are involving your supervisor, tell him/ her how the conflicts within the team affect your productivity and morale — that way, you will not sound like a noisy complainer.

Failing on a commitment

Your customer’s product is not ready or has not been delivered. It is a massive service failure and you have no clue how to salvage the relationship.

Tip: Be honest with your customer and tell them that you will do whatever it takes to fix the issue. Never hide behind policies or procedures. Your clients are human and will appreciate your honest effort. The next time they give you business, surprise them with super-fast delivery to regain credibility.

Evading a responsibility

Constant excuses can label you as undependable; you could be considered excessively defensive and resistant.

Tip: Face the facts and stop delaying. Take other people’s help to get things done. If you still fail, apologise and fix the issue without hiding behind fictitious explanations. Have people whom you can bank on in good as well as bad times. Take their advice. Ask them for feedback on your ideas.

Executing a bad idea

Perhaps your creative pursuits got the better of you and you spent the company’s money designing a product so ahead of its time that nobody bought it.

While you were expecting laurels for your creativity, your boss asks you for a report to justify the investment.

Tip: So what if your idea bombed? You should use this to your advantage in preparation for your next big project. Analyse what went wrong or could have been altered. Maybe you could have done some more research or could have tested your idea before you went public or perhaps taken the advice of some senior members of the team. Taking ownership for your mishap is the first and the most important step.

Failure can be one of the best teaching tools and even if you fall flat on your face, you can always use the valuable lessons you learnt on your way to the top.

(The writer is a Managing Partner at W.C.H Training Solutions, a New Delhi-based training and consulting firm.)