Apologize in the Workplace Humility

¶ … Apologize in the Workplace

Humility and the willingness of people to say "I'm sorry" is such a valued trait in others, it says so much about how someone values another when these words are said. Think of the last time someone either made you wait or caused you to miss an appointment and apologized, or started or kept an argument going at work. Apologizing in these situations and others like them begins to set the foundation for trust in the workplace, and invaluable asset that is essential for teams to learn how they can collaborate and grow with one another.

The essence of apologizing in the work place begins with respect for the attitudes, perspectives and beliefs of others. Listening to others in meetings and not quickly reacting to their comments, but taking the time to hear them out is critical. Often if team members can work to listen first, apologies become unnecessary as conflicts are minimized when a team can listen and not cut each other off in the middle of discussions according to Chapman and Thomas (2006).

Realizing that most apologies are necessary after either a situation of major disagreement or conflict has occurred, the following steps are critical for professionals to use in delivering an apology.

The first step is to seek out the person(s) that were the basis of the argument or conflict. Do into a conference room or to the cafeteria to get away from the work setting and try to get to the basis of why there was a disagreement in the first place. One of the best reasons to get away from the work area is to first limit interruptions, and second, to give the person a chance to speak honestly and openly about how they feel. The next step in building towards an apology is to look for ways to empathize and understand, at an emotional as well as a logical level, what the person is discussing. If the person you're disagreeing with is very passionate and convicted about their position, respect that strength of conviction and seek to understand it.

The next step after working to see the person's perspective is to apologize and explain that you had not previously seen their specific perspective as clearly as now. It is critical that apologies be the basis of changing how workers interact with each other Chapman and Thomas (2006), anything else, however dramatically delivered, will not lead to lasting change. The essence of a good apology is when both sides of the argument, conflict or misunderstanding respond and react, then clarify their new perspectives of either the issues or problems that led to the conflict in the first place.