What to Do When a Team Member Makes a Mistake
By: Hs Bruni
Tags: Entrepreneurship, Leadership, Personal Development, Work, Failure

After a Team Member Fails

As a leader, what do you do when one of your team members messes up?

1. Ask questions to find out why

Get to the heart of why the mistake was made. Instead of berating the person who lit the fire, ask them probing questions to uncover why:

What was going on in your mind? What result did you expect to get? Why did you think this was a good idea?

Most of the time, the mistake comes from good intentions.

Recently, I dealt with an unhappy client. In response, I agreed to lower the interest rate on their loan. A new loan agreement had to be executed. I informed the client’s banker and headed off to Cabo on vacation.

A couple of weeks after I returned, I received an outraged email from the client. It had been weeks and they hadn’t received a loan agreement from us. In the meantime, another loan payment at the higher rate had gone through. What happened?

My initial reaction was frustration. This client was already unhappy. I expected their banker to be extra diligent in ensuring a quick turnaround. You outperform to make up for past under-performance. How else could you turn the relationship around?

When I confronted the banker, he informed me that he received the loan agreement from our service center weeks ago. He just hadn’t sent it to the client. He felt that it would have more impact if the loan agreement was presented in person. So he had booked a meeting, a month out. Unfortunately, he had given no explanation to the client for the purpose of the meeting.

Although I felt like throwing rocks at a wall, I maintained my composure. I reminded myself that he meant well. He’d done the work to produce the loan agreement through our service center. I calmly explained the urgency of the situation to him again and urged him to send the agreement to the client via email right away.

2. Step in to offer solutions

The time to berate and reprimand is not when the lava is approaching the shore. Your first job is to step in and try to resolve the situation. Brainstorm solutions on how to fix the problem and minimize the impact.

A friend is an investment adviser. Her assistant’s primary responsibility is opening accounts once my friend lands a client. This entails preparing documents that have to be vetted and verified by a back office.

Recently, my friend discovered that a client had missed two automatic contributions to his children’s education funds. Probing further, she discovered that her assistant had forgotten to send an addendum to the back office.

Although she felt like a ball of fire, she restrained herself. She arranged for a conference call with the client to communicate the message and reassure them that this will not happen again. Yearend was several months out so the missed contributions could be made up with no tax implications. Once the client was handled, she pulled her assistant aside for a heart-to-heart.

Photo by NeONBRAND on Unsplash

3. Ask yourself if you could’ve taught them better

When a mistake occurs, ask yourself:

Could I have explained things better? Where did I go wrong in setting expectations? Did I do a good job of transferring my skills and expertise?

At my company, we offer an in-depth training program of up to a year before a banker is awarded a portfolio of clients. In the past, I’ve mistakenly assumed that a fully trained banker is ready to take the reins with no further coaching.

But people learn differently.

One person could grasp a concept in minutes while another may need three evenly spaced-out explanations and hands-on experience.

When coaching new bankers on handling clients, I always ask:

Do you know what to do? Are you comfortable with the process? How will you communicate this message to the client? Are you aware of the approvals you need to secure?

Throwing people in the pond and encouraging them to thrash their way out may be a great way to engender learning. But before doing so, make sure you have taught your employee how to breathe underwater.

4. Ask yourself whether the mistake represents an anomaly or a pattern of behavior

Should they have known better?

If the mistakes are regular and abundant, maybe it’s time for a strict conversation or even a warning letter.

However, high-performing employees make missteps too. It’s part of the clumsy and uncomfortable process of growth. Don’t assume that when a top performer makes a mistake, the best thing to do is to let it slide. Even top performers need coaching — and the occasional gentle rebuke.

Don’t bestow the impossible-to-maintain mantle of perfection on your top people. Tell them where they went wrong. Even diamonds need to be buffed and polished.

5. Accept responsibility and don’t rebuke in public

A direct conversation behind closed doors is one thing. A public drawing-and-quartering is another.

As a leader, you need to defend and advocate for your people. Don’t publicly air their mistakes in front of others in the company. Even if the mistake is high-profile, think about absorbing the consequences yourself — instead of shoving your team member in the line of fire.

When you lead people, you are responsible for them. And sometimes that means taking responsibility for someone else’s mistake.

If you’re in the driver’s seat, it’s your responsibility to bear the brunt of the blow, even if the person in the backseat caused the crash. This will also engender loyalty with your team. They will be much likelier to work hard not to let you down again.

Photo by Steve Buissinne on Pixabay

6. But don’t sweep failure under the rug

We have a tendency to equate failure with shame. In recent years, some brave souls have started challenging this.

Fuckup Nights is a movement that traverses the globe, organizing events, tapping into local business communities, and drawing out people to publicly share their failures.

The idea behind it? We need to talk about failure. Sweeping it under the rug like a shameful secret serves no one. When we share, we have the opportunity to learn from one another. Everyone stumbles. Growth cannot happen without it.

How do you replicate this with your team? Instead of focusing only on successes and recent wins, carve out time in your meetings to talk about failure.

Talk about situations that didn’t go well. Reflect on clients who left. But always frame failure as a shared responsibility.

It’s not about pulling someone out for a public lashing. It’s about acknowledging that we’re all human. It sends a powerful message that it’s okay to fail.

As a leader, light the first firecracker. Kick off the discussion with a heartfelt and honest story of your own failure. If you create the right culture, people will step forward and share.