We all make mistakes, but when it comes into steps to apologize, only few of us really know how to do it effectively. After making mistakes, even the big ones, most people only try to make apology by saying "sorry" for thousands of time. Unfortunately, this rarely works. After following effective tips to apologize below, I hope you will know why.

1. To apologize effectively, the first step is you need to admit mistakes that you have done. For example if you have damaged your best colleague's file, you should say to him, "I admit I have destroyed your important file". Add deeper expression such as, "I know I have caused a problem to you. Because of that, you will have to work more, and it makes me feel bad". This can help calming down your fellow.

2. After admitting your mistakes, the second step is to ask your colleague, if still there is any other damage you have made to him. Let your friend express his disappointment, with no argument from you, to release his bad feelings or angers.

3. After releasing your colleague's negative feelings, in the third step is time to say the word "sorry" from the deepest of your heart. Ideally, you should follow it by a promise that you will not do the same mistakes again.

4. After the third step, probably your colleague has considered your apology. Nevertheless, you still need to do fourth step to complete it for the best result. Here, you have to ask him if you can do something to start to repair the damage.

After following these steps, sometimes not immediately, you can hope your fellow to accept your apology. If necessary, you need to give your friend some space. Little by little, you can try to build his trust again by seriously repair your mistakes, so that you can get along and cooperate well with your colleague again at work.