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How to apologize for and address failures in areas of responsibility I have moved on from ages ago?
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Recently a manager at my company started uncovering some critical mistakes in projects I had supervised a very long time ago. I have since advanced in level and taken on more teams/projects in higher areas of responsibility.
The mistakes were from a period in which I had barely started my very first supervisory role and thought I could fully trust everyone working under me.
However, I am still not 100% sure why and how those mistakes happened as I feel I had done everything to the best of my ability back then...
Either way, while I feel my overall and current contributions outweigh the impact of those mistakes, they are still relevant to the overall business and may add a black mark to my otherwise good record.
Firstly, what is the best way to apologize for something that went wrong so many business cycles ago, especially considering that it was at a time when I was still inexperienced - and I partly don't even know what went wrong?
Secondly, how to tackle those failures if I know what to do about them, but currently have way too much on my plate already? i.e. solving them is critical but not urgent; I am already overbooked in my current day-to-day work and need to focus on performing on that as well.
professionalism management communication
asked Aug 11 '14 at 23:37
Beyonceh
311
suggest improvements |Â
up vote
6
down vote
favorite
Recently a manager at my company started uncovering some critical mistakes in projects I had supervised a very long time ago. I have since advanced in level and taken on more teams/projects in higher areas of responsibility.
The mistakes were from a period in which I had barely started my very first supervisory role and thought I could fully trust everyone working under me.
However, I am still not 100% sure why and how those mistakes happened as I feel I had done everything to the best of my ability back then...
Either way, while I feel my overall and current contributions outweigh the impact of those mistakes, they are still relevant to the overall business and may add a black mark to my otherwise good record.
Firstly, what is the best way to apologize for something that went wrong so many business cycles ago, especially considering that it was at a time when I was still inexperienced - and I partly don't even know what went wrong?
Secondly, how to tackle those failures if I know what to do about them, but currently have way too much on my plate already? i.e. solving them is critical but not urgent; I am already overbooked in my current day-to-day work and need to focus on performing on that as well.
professionalism management communication
asked Aug 11 '14 at 23:37
Beyonceh
311
suggest improvements |Â
up vote
6
down vote
favorite
up vote
6
down vote
favorite
Recently a manager at my company started uncovering some critical mistakes in projects I had supervised a very long time ago. I have since advanced in level and taken on more teams/projects in higher areas of responsibility.
The mistakes were from a period in which I had barely started my very first supervisory role and thought I could fully trust everyone working under me.
However, I am still not 100% sure why and how those mistakes happened as I feel I had done everything to the best of my ability back then...
Either way, while I feel my overall and current contributions outweigh the impact of those mistakes, they are still relevant to the overall business and may add a black mark to my otherwise good record.
Firstly, what is the best way to apologize for something that went wrong so many business cycles ago, especially considering that it was at a time when I was still inexperienced - and I partly don't even know what went wrong?
Secondly, how to tackle those failures if I know what to do about them, but currently have way too much on my plate already? i.e. solving them is critical but not urgent; I am already overbooked in my current day-to-day work and need to focus on performing on that as well.
professionalism management communication
asked Aug 11 '14 at 23:37
Beyonceh
311
Recently a manager at my company started uncovering some critical mistakes in projects I had supervised a very long time ago. I have since advanced in level and taken on more teams/projects in higher areas of responsibility.
The mistakes were from a period in which I had barely started my very first supervisory role and thought I could fully trust everyone working under me.
However, I am still not 100% sure why and how those mistakes happened as I feel I had done everything to the best of my ability back then...
Either way, while I feel my overall and current contributions outweigh the impact of those mistakes, they are still relevant to the overall business and may add a black mark to my otherwise good record.
Firstly, what is the best way to apologize for something that went wrong so many business cycles ago, especially considering that it was at a time when I was still inexperienced - and I partly don't even know what went wrong?
Secondly, how to tackle those failures if I know what to do about them, but currently have way too much on my plate already? i.e. solving them is critical but not urgent; I am already overbooked in my current day-to-day work and need to focus on performing on that as well.
professionalism management communication
asked Aug 11 '14 at 23:37
Beyonceh
311
asked Aug 11 '14 at 23:37
Beyonceh
311
asked Aug 11 '14 at 23:37
Beyonceh
311
asked Aug 11 '14 at 23:37
Beyonceh
311
311
suggest improvements |Â
suggest improvements |Â
3 Answers
3
active
oldest
votes
up vote
1
down vote
What you did is done and is no longer your area is responsibility.
Let the other manager do their job and if their manager is that good at uncovering your mistakes, have faith that they will be more than competent enough to fix them. If they need help from you, let them ask for it. No need to mention that you were the guilty party - they know it anyway. Help only if asked or told to help.
Separate the fact that it was your fault originally from the fact that the responsibility of the manager is to fix your mistakes. Again, let them do their job and help only when asked or told to help. But remember, you are only helping not doing the manager's job for them.
Not sure you should apologize. Acknowledge that it happened on your watch and leave it at that. If the higher-ups want you to fix it, let them tell you to do it. Personally, I trust more the manager to be able to fix it more than you. Again, they look pretty good at their job, so let them do it. Especially given that you're not even really sure what went wrong :)
This is your homework assignment for extra credit: take the manager to lunch from time to time and pick their brains as to how they went about detecting what went wrong - it should be a fascinating story and you should be able to learn quite a bit from this impressive individual :)
answered Aug 12 '14 at 0:03
Vietnhi Phuvan
68.9k7118254
suggest improvements |Â
up vote
0
down vote
You have no need to apologize. As you said it was a long time ago and the project has gone this long without finding them or needing to fix them. I would not worry too much for this reason. I doubt anyone will say anything to you about the issues.
It is even possible that the problem that exists now did not exist back then. Business processes change and that changes the requirements of existing programs. The problem could be that the process changed but the software was never updated, due to this there is now a bug where the program used to operate correctly. Its also possible that a recent fix or change else where in the program created the issue that is being found now.
If at some point you are called on to explain why, then explain you are not sure what the issue is, explain that testing at the time indicated that everything was working properly. Programming is not an exact science and only trivial programs can be expected to be completely bug free.
answered Aug 12 '14 at 13:58
IDrinkandIKnowThings
43.9k1398188
suggest improvements |Â
up vote
0
down vote
First - don't get into a defensive mode about a "black mark" - if this is a set of mistakes made a long while back, it is a team effort in the mistake-making. You didn't know better, your team wasn't perfect, and no one noticed for quite some time - that's not just on your head, it's you, your manager, your team, and any processes (or lack thereof) that should have caught such mistakes. Taking the blame for all of that is beyond the scope of what's reasonable.
Next - it's always nice to learn what you can from past mistakes (yours or other people's). It'd be a fine approach to go to the mistake finder and say that you heard of these mistakes, and would like to know more about the details. You can offer, in return, to provide historical knowledge of the original context of the project, and depending on the situation, you may be able to help with fixing the situation (depends on your role and workload now). At least being interesting in learning is the sign of a responsible person.
Last - it may be worth a chat in the next 1 on 1 with your current supervisor. It's the mark of a responsible person to think "what could I have done better?" and to be worried about making things rights. It should be OK in a decent trusting relationship to say something along those lines and get a sense of whether your boss thinks of this as a serious failing on your part and why. Until you know what those who currently assess your performance thinks, you can't really figure out whether there's any career related impact.
answered Aug 12 '14 at 16:45
bethlakshmi
70.3k4136277
suggest improvements |Â
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3 Answers
3
active
oldest
votes
3 Answers
3
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
up vote
1
down vote
What you did is done and is no longer your area is responsibility.
Let the other manager do their job and if their manager is that good at uncovering your mistakes, have faith that they will be more than competent enough to fix them. If they need help from you, let them ask for it. No need to mention that you were the guilty party - they know it anyway. Help only if asked or told to help.
Separate the fact that it was your fault originally from the fact that the responsibility of the manager is to fix your mistakes. Again, let them do their job and help only when asked or told to help. But remember, you are only helping not doing the manager's job for them.
Not sure you should apologize. Acknowledge that it happened on your watch and leave it at that. If the higher-ups want you to fix it, let them tell you to do it. Personally, I trust more the manager to be able to fix it more than you. Again, they look pretty good at their job, so let them do it. Especially given that you're not even really sure what went wrong :)
This is your homework assignment for extra credit: take the manager to lunch from time to time and pick their brains as to how they went about detecting what went wrong - it should be a fascinating story and you should be able to learn quite a bit from this impressive individual :)
answered Aug 12 '14 at 0:03
Vietnhi Phuvan
68.9k7118254
suggest improvements |Â
up vote
1
down vote
What you did is done and is no longer your area is responsibility.
Let the other manager do their job and if their manager is that good at uncovering your mistakes, have faith that they will be more than competent enough to fix them. If they need help from you, let them ask for it. No need to mention that you were the guilty party - they know it anyway. Help only if asked or told to help.
Separate the fact that it was your fault originally from the fact that the responsibility of the manager is to fix your mistakes. Again, let them do their job and help only when asked or told to help. But remember, you are only helping not doing the manager's job for them.
Not sure you should apologize. Acknowledge that it happened on your watch and leave it at that. If the higher-ups want you to fix it, let them tell you to do it. Personally, I trust more the manager to be able to fix it more than you. Again, they look pretty good at their job, so let them do it. Especially given that you're not even really sure what went wrong :)
This is your homework assignment for extra credit: take the manager to lunch from time to time and pick their brains as to how they went about detecting what went wrong - it should be a fascinating story and you should be able to learn quite a bit from this impressive individual :)
answered Aug 12 '14 at 0:03
Vietnhi Phuvan
68.9k7118254
suggest improvements |Â
up vote
1
down vote
up vote
1
down vote
What you did is done and is no longer your area is responsibility.
Let the other manager do their job and if their manager is that good at uncovering your mistakes, have faith that they will be more than competent enough to fix them. If they need help from you, let them ask for it. No need to mention that you were the guilty party - they know it anyway. Help only if asked or told to help.
Separate the fact that it was your fault originally from the fact that the responsibility of the manager is to fix your mistakes. Again, let them do their job and help only when asked or told to help. But remember, you are only helping not doing the manager's job for them.
Not sure you should apologize. Acknowledge that it happened on your watch and leave it at that. If the higher-ups want you to fix it, let them tell you to do it. Personally, I trust more the manager to be able to fix it more than you. Again, they look pretty good at their job, so let them do it. Especially given that you're not even really sure what went wrong :)
This is your homework assignment for extra credit: take the manager to lunch from time to time and pick their brains as to how they went about detecting what went wrong - it should be a fascinating story and you should be able to learn quite a bit from this impressive individual :)
answered Aug 12 '14 at 0:03
Vietnhi Phuvan
68.9k7118254
What you did is done and is no longer your area is responsibility.
Let the other manager do their job and if their manager is that good at uncovering your mistakes, have faith that they will be more than competent enough to fix them. If they need help from you, let them ask for it. No need to mention that you were the guilty party - they know it anyway. Help only if asked or told to help.
Separate the fact that it was your fault originally from the fact that the responsibility of the manager is to fix your mistakes. Again, let them do their job and help only when asked or told to help. But remember, you are only helping not doing the manager's job for them.
Not sure you should apologize. Acknowledge that it happened on your watch and leave it at that. If the higher-ups want you to fix it, let them tell you to do it. Personally, I trust more the manager to be able to fix it more than you. Again, they look pretty good at their job, so let them do it. Especially given that you're not even really sure what went wrong :)
This is your homework assignment for extra credit: take the manager to lunch from time to time and pick their brains as to how they went about detecting what went wrong - it should be a fascinating story and you should be able to learn quite a bit from this impressive individual :)
answered Aug 12 '14 at 0:03
Vietnhi Phuvan
68.9k7118254
edited Aug 12 '14 at 3:54
answered Aug 12 '14 at 0:03
Vietnhi Phuvan
68.9k7118254
answered Aug 12 '14 at 0:03
Vietnhi Phuvan
68.9k7118254
answered Aug 12 '14 at 0:03
Vietnhi Phuvan
68.9k7118254
68.9k7118254
suggest improvements |Â
suggest improvements |Â
up vote
0
down vote
You have no need to apologize. As you said it was a long time ago and the project has gone this long without finding them or needing to fix them. I would not worry too much for this reason. I doubt anyone will say anything to you about the issues.
It is even possible that the problem that exists now did not exist back then. Business processes change and that changes the requirements of existing programs. The problem could be that the process changed but the software was never updated, due to this there is now a bug where the program used to operate correctly. Its also possible that a recent fix or change else where in the program created the issue that is being found now.
If at some point you are called on to explain why, then explain you are not sure what the issue is, explain that testing at the time indicated that everything was working properly. Programming is not an exact science and only trivial programs can be expected to be completely bug free.
answered Aug 12 '14 at 13:58
IDrinkandIKnowThings
43.9k1398188
suggest improvements |Â
up vote
0
down vote
You have no need to apologize. As you said it was a long time ago and the project has gone this long without finding them or needing to fix them. I would not worry too much for this reason. I doubt anyone will say anything to you about the issues.
It is even possible that the problem that exists now did not exist back then. Business processes change and that changes the requirements of existing programs. The problem could be that the process changed but the software was never updated, due to this there is now a bug where the program used to operate correctly. Its also possible that a recent fix or change else where in the program created the issue that is being found now.
If at some point you are called on to explain why, then explain you are not sure what the issue is, explain that testing at the time indicated that everything was working properly. Programming is not an exact science and only trivial programs can be expected to be completely bug free.
answered Aug 12 '14 at 13:58
IDrinkandIKnowThings
43.9k1398188
suggest improvements |Â
up vote
0
down vote
up vote
0
down vote
You have no need to apologize. As you said it was a long time ago and the project has gone this long without finding them or needing to fix them. I would not worry too much for this reason. I doubt anyone will say anything to you about the issues.
It is even possible that the problem that exists now did not exist back then. Business processes change and that changes the requirements of existing programs. The problem could be that the process changed but the software was never updated, due to this there is now a bug where the program used to operate correctly. Its also possible that a recent fix or change else where in the program created the issue that is being found now.
If at some point you are called on to explain why, then explain you are not sure what the issue is, explain that testing at the time indicated that everything was working properly. Programming is not an exact science and only trivial programs can be expected to be completely bug free.
answered Aug 12 '14 at 13:58
IDrinkandIKnowThings
43.9k1398188
You have no need to apologize. As you said it was a long time ago and the project has gone this long without finding them or needing to fix them. I would not worry too much for this reason. I doubt anyone will say anything to you about the issues.
It is even possible that the problem that exists now did not exist back then. Business processes change and that changes the requirements of existing programs. The problem could be that the process changed but the software was never updated, due to this there is now a bug where the program used to operate correctly. Its also possible that a recent fix or change else where in the program created the issue that is being found now.
If at some point you are called on to explain why, then explain you are not sure what the issue is, explain that testing at the time indicated that everything was working properly. Programming is not an exact science and only trivial programs can be expected to be completely bug free.
answered Aug 12 '14 at 13:58
IDrinkandIKnowThings
43.9k1398188
answered Aug 12 '14 at 13:58
IDrinkandIKnowThings
43.9k1398188
answered Aug 12 '14 at 13:58
IDrinkandIKnowThings
43.9k1398188
answered Aug 12 '14 at 13:58
IDrinkandIKnowThings
43.9k1398188
43.9k1398188
suggest improvements |Â
suggest improvements |Â
up vote
0
down vote
First - don't get into a defensive mode about a "black mark" - if this is a set of mistakes made a long while back, it is a team effort in the mistake-making. You didn't know better, your team wasn't perfect, and no one noticed for quite some time - that's not just on your head, it's you, your manager, your team, and any processes (or lack thereof) that should have caught such mistakes. Taking the blame for all of that is beyond the scope of what's reasonable.
Next - it's always nice to learn what you can from past mistakes (yours or other people's). It'd be a fine approach to go to the mistake finder and say that you heard of these mistakes, and would like to know more about the details. You can offer, in return, to provide historical knowledge of the original context of the project, and depending on the situation, you may be able to help with fixing the situation (depends on your role and workload now). At least being interesting in learning is the sign of a responsible person.
Last - it may be worth a chat in the next 1 on 1 with your current supervisor. It's the mark of a responsible person to think "what could I have done better?" and to be worried about making things rights. It should be OK in a decent trusting relationship to say something along those lines and get a sense of whether your boss thinks of this as a serious failing on your part and why. Until you know what those who currently assess your performance thinks, you can't really figure out whether there's any career related impact.
answered Aug 12 '14 at 16:45
bethlakshmi
70.3k4136277
suggest improvements |Â
up vote
0
down vote
First - don't get into a defensive mode about a "black mark" - if this is a set of mistakes made a long while back, it is a team effort in the mistake-making. You didn't know better, your team wasn't perfect, and no one noticed for quite some time - that's not just on your head, it's you, your manager, your team, and any processes (or lack thereof) that should have caught such mistakes. Taking the blame for all of that is beyond the scope of what's reasonable.
Next - it's always nice to learn what you can from past mistakes (yours or other people's). It'd be a fine approach to go to the mistake finder and say that you heard of these mistakes, and would like to know more about the details. You can offer, in return, to provide historical knowledge of the original context of the project, and depending on the situation, you may be able to help with fixing the situation (depends on your role and workload now). At least being interesting in learning is the sign of a responsible person.
Last - it may be worth a chat in the next 1 on 1 with your current supervisor. It's the mark of a responsible person to think "what could I have done better?" and to be worried about making things rights. It should be OK in a decent trusting relationship to say something along those lines and get a sense of whether your boss thinks of this as a serious failing on your part and why. Until you know what those who currently assess your performance thinks, you can't really figure out whether there's any career related impact.
answered Aug 12 '14 at 16:45
bethlakshmi
70.3k4136277
suggest improvements |Â
up vote
0
down vote
up vote
0
down vote
First - don't get into a defensive mode about a "black mark" - if this is a set of mistakes made a long while back, it is a team effort in the mistake-making. You didn't know better, your team wasn't perfect, and no one noticed for quite some time - that's not just on your head, it's you, your manager, your team, and any processes (or lack thereof) that should have caught such mistakes. Taking the blame for all of that is beyond the scope of what's reasonable.
Next - it's always nice to learn what you can from past mistakes (yours or other people's). It'd be a fine approach to go to the mistake finder and say that you heard of these mistakes, and would like to know more about the details. You can offer, in return, to provide historical knowledge of the original context of the project, and depending on the situation, you may be able to help with fixing the situation (depends on your role and workload now). At least being interesting in learning is the sign of a responsible person.
Last - it may be worth a chat in the next 1 on 1 with your current supervisor. It's the mark of a responsible person to think "what could I have done better?" and to be worried about making things rights. It should be OK in a decent trusting relationship to say something along those lines and get a sense of whether your boss thinks of this as a serious failing on your part and why. Until you know what those who currently assess your performance thinks, you can't really figure out whether there's any career related impact.
answered Aug 12 '14 at 16:45
bethlakshmi
70.3k4136277
First - don't get into a defensive mode about a "black mark" - if this is a set of mistakes made a long while back, it is a team effort in the mistake-making. You didn't know better, your team wasn't perfect, and no one noticed for quite some time - that's not just on your head, it's you, your manager, your team, and any processes (or lack thereof) that should have caught such mistakes. Taking the blame for all of that is beyond the scope of what's reasonable.
Next - it's always nice to learn what you can from past mistakes (yours or other people's). It'd be a fine approach to go to the mistake finder and say that you heard of these mistakes, and would like to know more about the details. You can offer, in return, to provide historical knowledge of the original context of the project, and depending on the situation, you may be able to help with fixing the situation (depends on your role and workload now). At least being interesting in learning is the sign of a responsible person.
Last - it may be worth a chat in the next 1 on 1 with your current supervisor. It's the mark of a responsible person to think "what could I have done better?" and to be worried about making things rights. It should be OK in a decent trusting relationship to say something along those lines and get a sense of whether your boss thinks of this as a serious failing on your part and why. Until you know what those who currently assess your performance thinks, you can't really figure out whether there's any career related impact.
answered Aug 12 '14 at 16:45
bethlakshmi
70.3k4136277
answered Aug 12 '14 at 16:45
bethlakshmi
70.3k4136277
answered Aug 12 '14 at 16:45
bethlakshmi
70.3k4136277
answered Aug 12 '14 at 16:45
bethlakshmi
70.3k4136277
70.3k4136277
suggest improvements |Â
suggest improvements |Â
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