Committed a workplace gaffe? You will survive it (and may even get promoted)

There are better ways of coping with the painful embarrassment than rushing to rectify the error.

- Craig Jackson

Nearly everybody has emailed the wrong thing to the wrong person at the wrong time. It's a leveller in modern workplaces. The consequences of errors may be immense or trivial, but not much can change that now. The error was your doing: you underperformed, messed up, failed to do the job, or perhaps you were caught lying.

In the gaffe made by BBC political editor Laura Kuenssberg (where she emailed her briefing notes to former prime minister Boris Johnson ahead of an interview with him - the interview was then cancelled), she owned up to it.

But she did not see the need either to offer excuses or explain, simply admitting it happened and what the consequences were. Case closed.

Ms Kuenssberg will not be lying awake at night worrying about her job - and neither should you when you get things wrong. A helpful, solution-focused way of coping with the painful embarrassment is needed.

1. STEP BACK AND PAUSE

Don't rush into doing "something" about rectifying your error. Damage has already happened and if you're going to pay for it, then that's probably already been decided.

Trying to fix things will be a stressful distraction, that only benefits others. Take time to consider what happened, and don't rush ahead unthinkingly. Doing nothing is a valid option.

2. COULD YOU SEE THIS COMING?

Were you taking risks? Not paying attention? Attention errors happen because people have too much to do. Recognise the factors behind mistakes, and if any warning signs were ignored.