We all make mistakes. Forgetting about the water we put to boil 30 minutes ago. Leaving the iron turned on when we’re rushing out in a hurry. Remembering the “dinner tonight?!” message from our friend only at lunch the next day.

Do we penalize ourselves for these? Probably not.

At work, too, it’s important to remember that mistakes and misses happen. As a new manager, how you react and respond to them can influence the culture of your team. Reacting with blame or criticism can create an environment of fear and distrust. Instead, you want to foster a culture where mistakes are expected, accepted, and used as learning opportunities. Each incident can reveal valuable insight into the weaknesses in your system, processes, or procedures. Turning those incidents into learning opportunities is key to minimizing risk and preventing future incidents. We call this creating a “blameless work culture.”

It’s critical to manifest this mindset as you step into your first management role because in time, you’ll be managing larger teams, and eventually, influencing the culture of your entire organization.

What our research says

In our research we sought to explore how managers can create cultures devoid of blame within their teams. We first identified companies that were openly championing blameless cultures. These companies—based in Europe, Asia, and the U.S.— were chosen by examining their core values and beliefs, studying their mission statements, reviewing their public press releases, and interviewing their leadership teams. We then studied their processes and methods for building and maintaining a blameless culture. In addition, we gathered advice from HR practitioners at these companies on how to create a culture of responsibility and accountability without blame. In total, we interviewed twenty-six first-time managers and fourteen HR experts over a 6-month period to understand their experiences, best practices, and the nuances of creating a blameless culture. We asked questions about how to create accountability without blame, how to ensure fairness and transparency, and how to encourage employees to learn from mistakes.

We found that creating a culture of blamelessness starts with communication and transparency. To do this, managers must establish clear expectations, have honest conversations about mistakes, and admit when they’ve made a mistake themselves. We also uncovered the HR policies necessary to support a blameless culture. For example, organizations should have a transparent system for documenting mistakes and how they were handled to ensure fairness and consistency. This includes having protocols explaining what corrective action is appropriate for different errors or incidents. Additionally, it’s essential to create systems that recognize employees for their efforts in turning around a mistake, not just for not committing mistakes.

If you want to foster a blameless culture on your team, one that ensures fairness and consistency while encouraging employees to learn from their mistakes, here is our advice.

Don’t avoid or conceal mistakes.

One of the biggest mistakes that first-time managers make is trying to conceal their own mistakes—often by ignoring or even hiding them. In fact, 88% of the managers we interviewed admitted to having done this. Seventy-eight percent of managers also reported that prioritizing “blame avoidance” over learning and growth had a considerable negative impact on their team’s motivation and productivity.

Instead, managers should adopt an explicit “no blame” policy. You can make your team a safe space by regularly acknowledging that mistakes are inevitable during group and one-on-one meetings. In a quarterly check-in, for example, you could say, “Today, let’s take some time to discuss a few of the mistakes we’ve made this past quarter, how we turned them around, and what we learned from them. This will allow team members to experiment and take risks without the fear of punishment or retribution. It also becomes a valuable way for your employees to learn from one another’s experiences and grow.

This policy was instrumental in many of the companies we studied, and results showed that it helped in fostering a collaborative environment where employees felt empowered to speak up, share ideas, and take risks.

Adopt an investigative approach.

Our research found that when people feel that their mistakes are treated fairly and with compassion, they will be more likely to take responsibility for them. To do this, create a process to investigate incidents in which mistakes occur that will help you uncover the underlying cause of the mistake. This will help uncover systemic or process failures that may be at the heart of the issue while simultaneously fostering trust that can help strengthen your team. People will recognize that your first instinct isn’t to assign blame, but to figure out what broke down and where. During our interviews, one manager noted that the atmosphere of the team changed drastically when people knew that the mistakes of one individual would not be used against others and that the focus was on finding a solution to the problem, not blaming.

Here’s an example of what your process can look like:

1. Start by taking the time to understand the context of the mistake and gather facts and data. Make sure each person involved has an opportunity to provide their assessment. Ask probing questions to understand how the incident happened, what steps were taken by everyone involved, and if any procedures or protocols were overlooked. You could say, “Could you explain the situation as you understand it?” or “How did you help to prevent or respond to this incident?”
2. Then, use self-reflection questions to help the employee understand how the mistake could have been avoided. Ask, “What could have been done differently to prevent this incident?” or, “Now that you know what caused it, what would you do differently in a similar situation in the future?”
3. During this time, you can also look at past data and understand how your team resolves issues and how prepared they are to manage such events in the future. This will also help you figure out where your employees need extra support or resources. Maybe your learning management system isn’t right for your team, or a certain document format is outdated and doesn’t capture the information your client asks of you now, for instance.

Reward people for sharing what they learn after a mistake.

Our research found that when companies incentivize knowledge-sharing, fewer incidents happen, and team collaboration improves. If a team member who knows how to avoid a particular mistake calls in sick or leaves the company, for example, rather than others being left in the dark, knowledge sharing will enable anyone to handle the same situation.

Knowledge sharing can be done through both formal and informal processes. For example, you could create a “failure wall” in the office where employees post their failures stories and what they learned from them. Or you could start your weekly team check-ins by talking about a “failure of the week” and congratulating the employee on their learnings and knowledge contributions. The companies who adopted these approaches reported that culture benefitted significantly, including one company where employees became more proactive in identifying potential issues and developing innovative solutions.

By creating an environment where failure is acceptable, companies can foster a culture of experimentation, drive innovation, and help people learn from mistakes without fear of retribution. This type of culture will help ensure that errors are quickly identified, analyzed, and used as learning opportunities to help the team become more resilient and prosperous.