Messing up at work

LegacyUser

Hi All,

Going unreg for this. Basically I started a new job about a month ago. Its a fairly senior position, but I am qualified to do this and have been working towards this step up from my last job. All in all, I am able to handle it the actual work.

However I have messed up a couple of times with my lack of attention to detail. I am not used to running lots of reports and basically crunching numbers like I have to do in this job - I suppose it was something that was glazed over in my last company. This week I had to send 3 reports to 1 client in particular. They are my biggest and most important client, and they demand a lot of attention. Each time I sent a report, I looked over it, made sure it was ok (or thought I did!) and sent it over. And each time, embarrassingly, my client sent it back to me pointing out an error.

Today's error was quite serious. I had made an analysis based on an Excel formula that was incorrect, and advised on progress based on my miscalculation. I just received an email back pointing out the error and pointing out how wrong my analysis was (clearly peed off, and rightly so, I would be also). I nearly got sick. I dont know how I didnt spot it.

If I were my client I'd be putting in a complaint about me right about now.

How should I address this? Each time I've sincerely apologised and amended and sent it back. I think that I need to go beyond this now. I am also worried sick that I will make this mistake again, as I double and tripled checked my reports in the first instance and still didnt spot the error.

Has anyone any advice for me?

gugleguy

Are you married or single? With kids? If married you should let your spouse know and see what they have to say. And try and assign some leisure time for study in the evening.

username123

What has being married or single got to do with it?

OP - is there anyone you can ask to throw an eye over your figures before you send them out?

I think you need to knuckle down and systematically double and triple check numbers before basing analysis on them.

LegacyUser

When I was in school OP I was TERRIBLE at maths, I have dyscalculia so it's not technically my fault but anyway one of the things I was told by various teachers is when you do your work you MUST check it 3 times. I still do it now in my current job and I can tell you by the 2nd or 3rd time you will have spotted something wrong.

Checking it after you've sent it is a waste of time.

Get into the habit of checking things 3 or maybe even 4 times OP, because constant mistakes like that will get you into trouble!

ManOfMystery

As above, what good is asking a spouse to check it? Strange response.

OP, you say you're already double-checking things but this evidently isn't working. If you're not accustomed to crunching numbers and putting out intensive reports, then it can feel like you're swimming against the tide when working your way through them - trust me, I've been there! I'd advise that when you do a report, go and clear your head for a half hour - go for a walk, early/late lunch, plug in your headphones and listen to music, zone out - but get the contents of that report out of your head.

Then, and only then, come back and examine it and look at it fresh. Sometimes we can't see the wood for the trees when looking at numbers after numbers, and need to step back for a while.

As username123 has suggested also, it would be a good idea to get a second opinion on them and have someone else sanity-check them to be safe. Even if only in the short term till you get more accustomed to producing them at this rate.

iusedtoknow

It's one month in, use it as a learning curve - you can't be expected to be an expert in reports etc in such a short time.

When it comes to excel, unfortunately there is no other way but to look at it line by line, and in some cases have a pencil and calculator as your backup to check your work. I know it sounds old fashioned, but it works for me.

Likewise, do you have a peer (that you trust!) that could look over your work for a period of say, 2 weeks. Be upfront, say that you want someone to check your report before you send it over.

Whenever I do reporting (only twice a month thank god) I go to a different office with my laptop and zone out with a headset and just get in to the numbers. I collect ALL the data that is required, and disconnect from the internet - no emails, no IM's...nothing - just me, a coffee and excel.

I've always been able to work well with music so it works for me, as long as i am undisturbed - i'm fine.

endacl

Not to sound smartarsey, but have you considered paying attention to details, and doing the job you are being paid to do?

You've identified a problem, and the solution is obvious. Just sort it out.

LegacyUser

Thanks for the responses (apart from the spouse one?). The idea to get away for a while after filling in the information is a good idea - I will definitely put this into practice from now on. Unfortunately I've no one I can ask to look over the data as there is no team - I have sole responsibility for this job.

Endacl - that does sound smart arsey, you're right. Yes, I am being paid to do my job, and yes I should be able to do it. However, I am good at my job, I dont want to say too much information here but the work I put in to get the results that are being reported on is what's important at the end of the day! Just missing that 'client side' professionalism I guess.

I just dont know whether I should bring this up directly to my client and apologise again. I have a face to face meeting with them next week and am wondering if I should just ignore it.

ManOfMystery

workissue101 wrote: »

I just dont know whether I should bring this up directly to my client and apologise again. I have a face to face meeting with them next week and am wondering if I should just ignore it.

I think you should address it. Tell them you're aware there have been some shortcomings in your output and you're taking measures to ensure it won't happen again.

If I was a client I would have more confidence in the company I'm working with if they are upfront about any issues and being proactive in resolving them, rather than sweeping it under the carpet.

Tokyo

You've only been a month in the job - there's bound to be a learning curve. Seeing as you are in a somewhat senior position, do you have any subordinates that you could ask to give the figures a once-over before they get sent out? To be honest it seems somewhat lax (on the company's part, not yours) that only one person lays eyes on a document containing important calculations before it gets sent out to the client.

Rather than big long apologies to the client, perhaps take the opportunity to identify weaknesses in the current procedure and remedy them. THIS is what they will want to see, not a page of heartfelt "I'm sorry". For example, the fact that today your entire calculations and subsequent report was thrown out by one excel formula would indicate to me at least that formulae need to be double-checked before a report is issued. Once that is done, email the client to thank them for pointing out your error, and that as a result of them getting back to you that you have taken steps to improve the current procedure to reduce the risk of it happening again.

Meauldsegosha

workissue101 wrote: »

I just dont know whether I should bring this up directly to my client and apologise again. I have a face to face meeting with them next week and am wondering if I should just ignore it.

Don't ignore it. Definately mentioned it at the face-to-face and tell them you are putting procedures in place to prevent it happeing again.

bluemagpie

If it is excel based I would recommend building in some error checking formulae to double check your calculations automatically, then you will have a double check built in to check if the existing formulae and error checking are in line. It is poor to have only one person looking over it but such is life and you have to work around it. If you build in a method for double checking then you can meet your client next week and apologize for the problem, you're only there a month, and say that you have addressed the issue by doing x, y and z. In the end the client and your managers are going to be happy a) that you admit and understand your mistakes and b) that you have the ability to address and improve the process as a result. Give yourself a break and at least now you know to check the formulae in all of your other documents that you have inherited as well.

helimachoptor

On a couple of things.

New people always mess up, secondly in relation to excel have someone check over your calcs.

my own team do this a lot because we are going to finance to ask for cash to do stuff and if theres a wrong formula it looks unprofessional. Have some check your sums and then submit

Big Bag of Chips

Don't be too hard on yourself. Everyone.. EVERYONE.. makes mistakes in work. Everyone!! And people make mistakes especially when they are new.

You checked & double checked the figures and they were right.... But the formula used to calculate the figures was wrong. So the figures were right as per the formula used. Now that you know that you will know to check the formula in.future too.

Don't be in a rush to send things out. Walking away from it for a while and coming back to it later is a good idea.

And definitely don't ignore it. Everyone makes mistakes. If you own up and acknowledge it people tend to have more respect for you.

ancapailldorcha

mike_ie wrote: »

You've only been a month in the job - there's bound to be a learning curve. Seeing as you are in a somewhat senior position, do you have any subordinates that you could ask to give the figures a once-over before they get sent out? To be honest it seems somewhat lax (on the company's part, not yours) that only one person lays eyes on a document containing important calculations before it gets sent out to the client.

Rather than big long apologies to the client, perhaps take the opportunity to identify weaknesses in the current procedure and remedy them. THIS is what they will want to see, not a page of heartfelt "I'm sorry". For example, the fact that today your entire calculations and subsequent report was thrown out by one excel formula would indicate to me at least that formulae need to be double-checked before a report is issued. Once that is done, email the client to thank them for pointing out your error, and that as a result of them getting back to you that you have taken steps to improve the current procedure to reduce the risk of it happening again.

Hi OP,

I think this is an excellent post.

I used to work in both calibrating & repairing medical devices and clinical trials. When calibrating medical devices, someone had to look over my paperwork as well as checking the device itself to ensure that it was done properly. This was standard policy and I carried out the same checks on my supervisor's work as well.
When I started doing clinical trials, I made a few daft mistakes with numbers and ruined a few experiments as well. I caught some flak in the process. When I left a few months ago, I was the first person project leaders would turn to to have their data/numbers/protocols QC'd. I'm baffled your company has a policy whereby you generate the figures and then simply send them on. Our worksheets, forms, etc had to be QC'd by at least 2 members of staff. It's not a suspicion that someone is unable to do their job, it just protects the company from sending out figures that may not be 100% accurate.
Bottom line, I wouldn't despair just yet. I've been where you are. Just relax and continue on. Your attention to detail will improve. Are there any other managers of your rank who could help you in the meantime as has been previously suggested? You really shouldn't be QCing your own work. It's not a dig at you, it's just good practice.

ANXIOUS

In our place, everything that is issued to a client is peer reviewed. Maybe you could do that.

sopretty

Since you have no-one who could double check your work, the following might help.

1. As has already been stated, take a break between when you're double-checking.

2. Is it possible to look at the data in two different forms - let's say for e.g. looking at it on screen, and then looking at a printed version. I find you can sometimes spot things easier, when you're looking at data in different forms.

3. Train yourself to be critical of the data i.e. ask yourself, 'do these figures make sense'? Slight exaggeration here for illustrative purposes, but if you're reporting profits on cars sold for e.g., and you report a profit of 2 million euros, but you know you've only sold 1 car in the past year, then that obviously doesn't make sense.

4. Without knowing what sort of data you're dealing with on excel, but would there be a sort of cross check you could do on the data. Again, with the car e.g. as above, could you input a hidden column on the report with an 'IF' function. Something like, 'if the profit reported is greater than the number of cars sold, multiplied by standard profit margin of 1 car, then an error is reported'. I'm out of practise with the actual use of 'If' functions but would something like that help?

Obviously, I am over-simplifying the type of data you're working with, as I don't know, so the above may not be helpful to you at all!

mikemac1

Would be common in my experience to have a maker - checker process and so at least two people should be on this report before it goes out. Maybe three.

You are at a senior level OP but I bet some of your team would be better at these reports then you. It's not just because you are new, it's just that may deal with this sort of task all day, every day.

My boss is not so hot at excel whereas I can bang out accurate reports in no time. But that's ok as he is in a leadership position and has responsibilities that I couldn't do.

How about you delegate it to them and you sign it off? I'm not saying pass off your work on others but they might appreciate working on your most important clients work

sopretty

One of my old employers used to call it the 'four eye principle' lol. I.e., two sets of eyes reviewing it.

Honestly though, I've messed up a few times on things. Entering extra zeros for example (twitching fingers lol).

On one occasion, the data I was inputting made no sense to me, i.e. I didn't understand what the figures meant, but a second person, who actually knew what the data was about, could instantly pick up on an error as he could see the figures made no sense whatsoever. For that reason, I now request a complete explanation of data I'm working with. (Whenever I get a job again haha)

OP I get where you're coming from. I have figures to issue to clients and you can get so into the calculations you can miss obvious stuff. It was a learning curve for me too and I'm senior enough now that I need to get stuff spot on also.
I am training someone else in and finding that the very quickest way to find errors I've made and re-think what I've done is
1. take a break and then go back to the figures and
2. explaining everything to someone who doesn't know how they work. You find yourself going back to absolute basics and going through every cell that way.
So I know you don't have anyone to go over figures with, but you can pretend you're explaining them to someone else when you're reviewing after a break.
I would also be proactive and tell the person what ManofMystery said

Oh and I would also start writing notes on what checks you need to do, and set up a process. So if you made a particular mistake, write that down as a thing to check next time you do the figures. Keep writing them all down and working through the list. Make lots of notes.

LegacyUser

Hi OP!
Dont despair. You literally just need to be trained (or in this case, train yourself).

I do echo sentiments that work, esp to do with figures and technical accuracy, should be reviewed by someone else. If you cant, here are a few tips (where I work, I sometimes have to peer review things and my own things):

- Generate your reports, first check should be document was generated properly, everything looks ok for your second check. Small fixes. If you can, generate it before lunch and do first check then. The second check will be more involved.

- Second check. You've got to look at this report and have the attitude that it is lying to you. You need to be suspicious. Where did the info come from. What was used to calculate it. Is that correct? Is the figure correct? When doing the second check, you also need to move/get away from the desk every 45min/hour. Change your mind/fresh eyes.

- Third check. After a break. Again, if it is formuales in Excel that are causing the problems. Check them again.

You'll have your own little system in no time for spotting and fixing these things.

Rubberchikken

I would mention it in passing to your client when you meet them.
You're human and learning and new in the job.

I second coming away from the work for a short time then go back and recheck it. Fresh eyes are good.