What To Do When Things Go Wrong
How Will This Session Help Me Get Ready For Work?
Things do not always go smoothly at work, no matter how carefully you plan. Mistakes happen to everyone, but what really sets you apart in the workplace is how you handle them! By learning to manage your reactions, take responsibility for your actions, and reflect on what happened, you will build the resilience to turn setbacks into life lessons and earn the trust of your team.
Questions to get started
"Think about a time when you made a mistake at home, college, or work. What was your initial reaction, and how did you handle it?"
"Why do you think some people find it tricky to admit when something has gone wrong at work?"
"If a friend came to you feeling panicked because they messed up a task, what would you say to help them stay calm and fix it?"
Focused Virtues
The Focused Virtue for this session is Resilience.
Resilience gives us the strength to keep calm under pressure, own our mistakes, and learn from setbacks so we can keep moving forward.
Ask Yourself: "Can I grow in resilience to stay calm, take accountability, and learn from mistakes when things go wrong?"
Stay calm, own it, learn for next time.
Skills Development:
Handling workplace setbacks with confidence takes genuine resilience. Resilience helps us pause, take responsibility, and learn from errors rather than trying to hide them or blame others.
First, manage your reactions. When something goes wrong, it is natural to feel stressed, panicked, or embarrassed. Resilience means noticing these strong feelings early, taking a deep breath, and pausing before you act. Calming your reaction stops a small mistake from turning into a bigger drama.
Second, be accountable. When you make a mistake, resilience means having the courage to put your hand up, admit what happened, and take responsibility for fixing it. Trying to cover up mistakes or pass the blame breaks trust with your team, whereas being honest shows true maturity and reliability.
Finally, use reflective learning. Once the dust has settled, resilience means looking back at what went wrong without beating yourself up. Ask yourself: "What caused this issue? What could I do differently next time?" Learning a lesson from a setback turns a negative situation into real personal growth.
Interview Practise: Case Studies and Questions
"Can you tell me about a time when you made a mistake at work or in daily life? How did you deal with it and what did you learn?"
"How would you handle a situation where a team or community project goes wrong and it is partly your fault?"
Case Study
Mo works in a busy retail shop. While rushing to restock shelves before the shop opens, Mo accidentally drops a crate with glass bottles, breaking them all over the floor. Mo feels instant panic and embarrassment, especially since a manager is walking down the aisle towards her. What can Mo do and say to resolve the situation properly?
Guidance and Resources for Facilitators
Many new employees fear making mistakes at work, often believing that a single error could cost them their job or make them look incompetent. This fear can lead to panic, hiding errors, or passing the blame. As a facilitator, your role is to guide them using resilience—helping them keep calm under pressure, own their actions, and view reflective learning as a key workplace strength.
Core Concepts & Background Information
Use these key ideas from the skills framework to support your group:
1. Managing Reactions
- The Pause Response: When an error occurs, the brain's initial reaction is often "fight, flight, or freeze". Help learners recognize physical panic signs (racing pulse, feeling hot, tight stomach) so they can use a short pause or deep breath before responding.
- De-escalation: Staying calm prevents emotional reactions from making a tricky situation worse.
2. Being Accountable
- Taking Ownership: Being accountable means admitting your role in a mistake clearly, without making excuses or pointing fingers at colleagues.
- Building Team Trust: Employers and colleagues value honesty. Admitting an error early allows the team to fix it quickly, which builds long-term respect and trust.
3. Reflective Learning
- Extracting Lessons: Reflective learning is the process of stepping back after an event to analyze what happened objectively.
- Moving Forward: It involves asking functional questions: "What was within my control? What will I change next time?" This turns a past mistake into future competence.
Overcoming Common Barriers
1. The "Hiding Mistakes" Barrier
- Reframing: Entry-level workers often worry that admitting a mistake will lead to instant dismissal or humiliation. Reframe accountability as a mark of professionalism and strength that managers actively look for.
- Simple Prompts:
- "Why do you think a boss would prefer an employee who admits a mistake straight away over one who hides it?"
- "How does being honest about an error actually make things easier in the long run?"
2. Language Barriers & Fear of Confrontation
- Reframing: EAL learners may struggle to find the right words to apologize or explain what happened without sounding defensive. Give them simple, functional scripts to use with managers (e.g., "I made a mistake with this task. Here is what happened, and here is how I can help fix it").
- Simple Prompts:
- "What are three clear words you can use to tell a manager something didn't go right?"
- "How can focusing on the solution help you feel less nervous when talking to a supervisor?"
3. Classroom Activity: The Accountability & Reflection Script
- Pair up learners. Give them a scenario (e.g., "You accidentally mixed up two customer orders during a busy shift"). First, have them practice taking a 5-second pause to manage panic. Next, have them practice a 3-part response with their partner playing the manager:
- 1. Own it: "I made a mistake with these orders."
- 2. Fix it: "I will contact both customers now to put it right."
- 3. Learn from it: "Next time, I will double-check the order numbers on the receipt before handing them over."
Delivery Tips for the Session
- Normalise Mistakes: Share relatable, everyday stories of common workplace slip-ups to show that everyone—including experienced leaders—makes mistakes.
- Keep Focus on Action: Emphasize that being accountable is not about self-blame; it is about taking active steps to put things right.
- Use Visual Reflection Tools: Provide simple "Look Back, Move Forward" templates (What happened? -> What did I do? -> What will I do next time?) to make reflective learning concrete and straightforward.