The Polite Way to Call Your Boss Out on a Mistake - The Muse

The Polite Way to Call Your Boss Out on a Mistake - The MuseThe Polite Way to Call Your Boss Out on a Mistake Signs your anfhrer is a humanShe breathes.He eats lunch.She uses words like weekend.He comes in some mornings and says, Im tired.She leaves on Thursday and is all, Thank the lord tomorrow is Friday.He sometimes gets a little bit of his lunch on his keyboard, and wipes it up with his shirt when he thinks no one is looking.You get what Im saying Bosses are human beings, too. Sure, they make more money than you. And sure, they have the fancier title- but theyre not infallible, and they do make mistakes. I certainly hope not life-changing ones, but definitely double-booking-on-the-schedule level errors.Take me for example Im a boss. And I occasionally mess up- in the office, and in the Chipotle line when Im being rushed. (May she who said no guac when she meant guac, yes, obviously guac cast the first stone.)Back in my underling days of yore, I used to spend hours stressing out a bout whetzu sich or not I should tell my manager that he made a mistake. I would sit in my chair, wringing my hands in agony, weighing out the pros and cons of saying something. Then, by the time I did, hed respond, Why didnt you tell me this morning? and Id have to say, Um, because I didnt want to hurt your feelings?After getting promoted to a managerial role and seeing the situation from the other side, I realized none of that stress welches ever worth it. One of my writers at a former company used to approach me using the same tone of voice usually reserved for tragic deathsExcuse me, Jenni, Ms. Maier, Madame, um, I think, OK, there might be a typo, or it might totally be on purpose, in that article you just put up. But, you know, Im also bad at reading, so Im probably just dumb.Nine-and-a-half times out of 10, there was a typo in the article. And I wasalwayshappy when it was brought to my attention. Not only did I want a typo-free site for my brands sake, but I also wanted it fo r my reputations sake. After all, I am an ed-i-tor (pronounced in that fancy French way that demands you dangle a long cigarette out of your mouth).While there are certainly supervisors out there who take this very personally (and if thats the case, know that it will be more out of embarrassment than anger toward you, even if the reaction seems otherwise), odds are high that your boss will be happy you helped him or her look better. Assuming, of course, that you do it the right way.How to Do ItI promise you that its much less complicated than youre making it out to be- just approach the situation politely and directly.I say politely to remind you that people usually arent proud of their mistakes, so having a tone that even remotely reeks of you stupid over-paid chump, here I am again, doing your job for you wont help it go over well. Especially since this (hopefully) isnt about one-upping your manager and making her feel stupid. And I say directly, because your boss is busy. Theres no time to beat around the bush. Yes, he or she has feelings (as pointed out above), but he or she also just wants to know whats up. So, theres no need for a long email laying out every possible, hypothetical reason its not a mistake.Just go for something simple like thisHi Boss,I saw that you scheduled our marketing meeting for 2 PM today, however I have my dentist appointment then. Can we reschedule? Im available that morning before noon and Wednesday between 3 to 5 PM.Let me know if either of those times work for you,Dutiful EmployeeOr thisHi Manager,I just received your email about the accounting error. Im guessing you meant to send that to someone else, so I wanted to let you know. Dont worry- Ill keep it confidential.Professional SubordinateDone. Now see, thats a lot easier than spending your morning Googling, How do I hack into an email account to unsend something? Especially because your boss will most likely respond with some variation of, Whoops, youre right. And life will go on as normal.Photo of co-workers talking courtesy of Shutterstock.