I learned early in my media career that problems at work happen. They will always happen. They will always put a damper on your day. But they can easily be dealt with. When **it hits the fan, this is what I’ve learned to do.
1. Take a deep breath
2. Put into a couple of words the exact problem. This includes what happened and why it happened.
3. Come up with 3 possible solutions before talking to your boss.
4. Inform your boss (direct report, coworker, etc) of the problem, the 3 solutions and which one you recommend and how you would take steps to rectify the situation and then ask for their opinion.
5. Come up with a course of action with your boss and proceed.
Should the solution take care of the problem then breath that sigh of relief and get er done.
Should no perfect solution exists then come up with the best course of action to ease the problem so that your boss doesn’t need to take the blame upon themselves. After all it’s then your toosh on the line.
Finalize the fiasco with the steps that will ensure it never happens again. This is why you need to explain why it happened so process or methodology can be discussed.
Move on, buy a bottle of red wine, de-stress and get up the next day knowing you did your best and attack it.