4 Steps to Recover from a Remote Setback
In today’s success-driven work culture, we don’t often like to dwell on personal failures or shortcomings. We show our best public face to the world, enumerating our victories on social media profiles and in team bios.
The truth is that our paths are more checkered than we let on.
Have any of the following happened to you?
- Oops! My nightmarish rant about a problem client was sent reply all.
- Uh oh. I totally goofed up a webinar time zone.
- Those critical comments I made weren’t in a private chat.
- Everyone on our video call just saw that I was obviously reading my email.
Awkward silence. The sound of crickets, even though you’re pretty sure there aren’t any crickets on this call/in your home office/under your cafe table.
Frankly, I’m guilty of at least one of these. I’m willing to bet that the vast majority of you who are reading this are as well. Let’s face it: we’re all human, and we all are more than capable of making mistakes at work at least once in our lives. What you do immediately following will affect how it all plays out.
From small crises to career fallout, use these steps to recover and rebuild from a remote setback:
1. Acknowledge the error.
It isn’t easy, but you’ve got to start by calling foul on yourself. Even if you had the best intentions, for whatever reason, you’ve just done something that put others on your team (or your clients) in an uncomfortable situation. You can save a little face by actively taking responsibility like a pro rather than remaining passive and burning more bridges.
Only after you own up to your mistake can you begin to make amends for it, so you might as well do it now. (Plus it gives people less time to dwell on it without any resolution.)
2. Apologize to those affected.
Whether what transpired involved communication by email or another medium, you need to step up and apologize for your less-than-perfect behavior. Everyone slips up at times, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be sincerely sorry that you did. Put yourself in others’ shoes and word your apology as if you were on the receiving end.
Something along the lines of, “Laura, I regret that my comments undermined your idea,” or, “Nate, I know this webinar was important for this new market…” can go a long way in rebuilding those remote relationships.
3. Reflect on the circumstances.
Spend some time thinking about what led to this mishap. What was it that triggered you to react in such a way? Was it a lack of sleep or no built-in notifications on your calendar? Do you have trusting relationships with the individuals involved, or is there clearly room for improvement? Perhaps it involved a recent perceived slight from a team member or a nonexistent brain to mouth filter on your part.
Getting past the superficial circumstances of the situation and probing into the causes allows you to diagnose the underlying issue(s) and know how to address it.
4. Move forward.
Once you’ve tackled the above steps, it’s your job to get back to work. Don’t linger on this event longer than is needed; if a conversation with your boss and/or team has already occurred, let it go. You’ve demonstrated that you’re going to handle things differently, and have invested the time in examining what precipitated this situation.
The more time you spend dwelling on this, the more it will trouble you. So shake off your blunder, embrace your imperfection, and commit to being and doing better. It’s the best promise you can make to yourself, and to your team.
Are you or someone you know looking for remote work? Check out these remote jobs hiring now!
Photo Credit: bigstockphoto.com
By Kristi DePaul | Categories: Work Remotely
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