The phrase “harmless error” is used fairly often in legal proceedings, but many business professionals don’t have a full understanding of what it actually means. Generally speaking, harmless error refers to an error that did not have any impact on the outcome of a decision.
For example, if a business had two bids for a contract but an employee made a clerical mistake and failed to give one of the bids additional consideration, that would be considered a harmless error. The outcome would be the same regardless of any errors that were made and no additional action needs to be taken.
However, if a decision was made that would have been different had an error not been made, that would be considered prejudicial or harmful error.
To put it simply, harmless error is an oversight or mistake that did not have a significant impact on an outcome, while harmful errors can actually change the outcome of the decision.
Modern Examples of Harmless Error
In the modern world, there are countless examples of harmless error. A common example is when a website or app makes a mistake in displaying information, but the mistake does not have any impact on the user or the data. Another example might be an employee making a spelling mistake on an invoice, but the mistake does not impact the payment process.
Harmless errors are common, but it’s important to understand the difference between harmless and harmful errors to ensure that there are no significant impacts on business outcomes.