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Unpopular opinion: public apologies are way more damaging than the original mistake

I messed up at work last week, said something dumb in a team chat, and my boss made me write a group apology. Three people quit that day because the apology just dragged everyone into the drama again. Wouldn't it be better to just fix the problem quietly?
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3 Comments
michaelchen
I mean honestly yeah, forcing an apology just makes everyone relive the awkwardness for no reason. Better to just move on.
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the_rowan
the_rowan25d ago
Forced apologies almost always backfire, I've seen it a bunch. Next time something like that happens, try talking to the people involved one on one instead. That way you can actually hear them out and fix the real issue without putting on a show for the whole team. A quick private message like "hey that was dumb of me, sorry about that" goes way further than a big public thing. Keeps the drama contained and lets everyone move on with their day.
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the_xena
the_xena8d ago
Ngl, one on one always lets you actually fix stuff without making it worse.
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