Don’t Assume Your Employee Made a Mistake

We all make mistakes.

Even the best employees and high performers can overlook a simple step or miscommunicate a crucial detail.

But what happens when you catch word of a mistake your employee made from another manager or a high performer?

It’s easy to rely on the word of a senior-level manager or director when it comes to information about your employee, but don’t automatically assume that the blame falls directly on them.

There might be additional context or details missing, and it’s your responsibility to gather them from your employee without initiating blame.

Ask clarifying questions that get to the root of the situation.

Instead of asking, “What happened with [situation]?”

Ask, “Is there information missing on [situation] that I don’t have?

Instead of asking, “Why did you do [situation]?

Ask, “Can you tell me what happened with [situation] from your perspective?

As teams grow and work environments acclimate to distributed employees, you’ll want to focus on gathering as many pieces of the puzzle as possible.

It will only get more complicated from here.