Leadership techniques to help mitigate mistakes and win more often

There are multiple techniques leaders can employ to help mitigate mistakes and ensure greater success for their organisation and their team. Mistakes are normal, and it is extremely rare that any project or business runs completely smoothly. Learning how to manage problems that arise and strategies that can help prevent any mistake from causing excessive damage is imperative. The questions is ‘how’ can this be done?

Drawing on our experience of supporting senior teams for over 20 years, this article will explore leadership techniques that can help mitigate mistakes and help everyone win more often.

Build a clear workplace structure

The first step towards mitigating mistakes in the workplace is having a clear workplace structure. It’s important each employee knows who to turn to with help for whatever issue they are having to ensure it is solved quickly and effectively.  It will also help employees learn from their mistakes.

Indeed, having a direct line manager who can provide advice and oversee progress will enable employees to develop the skills they need and ensure they have the opportunity to progress in their career. It will also help individuals to better manage any problems or mistakes that may arise in the future.

However, while developing a clear workplace structure is important, leaders must ensure it remains collaborative. This article from Forbes discusses how often information silos are the root cause of many workplace problems as issues are not shared across the organisation which may potentially impact other departments down the line. The kind of structure leaders choose to create will have an important impact on whether mistakes are handled effectively, and so leaders should approach this with care.

Create a supportive team

The second step is to create a supportive team. As we discussed in a previous article on creating a blame free environment, making sure the problem is the focus, rather than the team member, is critical. It means that the issue can be resolved quicker, the right people can be pulled in to help and the problem can be prevented from occurring again in the future.

Having a supportive team in the workplace also means that people can feel comfortable taking risks and experimenting with new methods, which can help push the organisation forward. Creating new systems is one way leaders can mitigate mistakes, as often sticking to the ‘old’ way of doing things can cause the same mistake to occur. Giving people the freedom and support to see if a different way works better can help resolve the structures that led to the mistake in the first place and make the workplace more efficient overall.

Develop a problem-solving strategy

The last two techniques have focussed on creating an environment to ensure mistakes do not impact the workplace or the team. However, creating a problem-solving strategy is what will directly resolve whatever problem that arises.

Leaders should work with their teams and departments to develop a plan for whatever mistakes occur and what risks may be posed to the business should these happen. Scenario planning in this way means that everyone has a clear idea of what to do when an issue arises, especially if the problem is large enough to cause panic to those involved.

McKinsey and Company argue that scenario planning is an effective way to help leaders make decisions in times of uncertainty. Scenario planning can also highlight biases and problems before they become a bigger issue and cause genuine harm to the organisation.

Developing a problem-solving strategy, building a strong workplace structure, and crating supportive relationships in a team help leaders make decisions and face problems that arise will help minimise their impact and ensure eventual success.