Making Excuses at Work

Main Lesson

Discussion

• When was the last time you had to make an excuse at work?
• What excuse did you use? Did it work?
• How do you usually feel when you need to make an excuse in English?

1. Try first

• You’re late to a meeting
• You can’t meet a deadline
• You need to reschedule a call
• You forgot to reply to an email
• You can’t accept extra work

2. Excuse scenarios

In Business English, a good excuse has 3 parts:

Brief Reason What happened

Responsibility You own it

Solution What happens next

Example – Missed deadline

Sorry for the delay — I ran into an issue with the data this morning. That’s on me, I should’ve done it yesterday. I’ve fixed it now and I’ll send the updated file within the next 30 minutes.

Example – Being late

I apologise for being late earlier. My previous call ran longer than expected, and I should’ve managed the timing better. I’ve caught up on the main points, so no worries.

Example – Not able to accept extra work

Thanks for thinking of me for this. At the moment I’m fully tied up with the Q1 report and the client rollout, so I wouldn’t be able to give this the attention it deserves. I’m happy to take it on next week or support with a review.

3. Useful expressions

Effective Phrases for Professional Excuses

1 Introducing the reason

I ran into an issue with the system this morning.
Something unexpected came up before the meeting.
I had a conflict with another client call.

2 Taking responsibility

That’s on me.
I take responsibility for this.
I should have done that earlier.

3 Offering a solution

I’ve fixed it now and sent you the updated file.
I will get this done by the end of today.
I will make sure that this doesn’t happen again.

3. Practice Your Persuasion

Situation

You are late to a meeting.

Sample Response

“Sorry for being late — my previous call ran over. That’s on me. I’m here now and ready to start.”

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