Throughout the many jobs I have had, I have been part of many diverse teams. Empathy has played a huge role in working with others toward a common goal in these situations. When I was younger, say high school, I would not have considered myself a very empathetic person. Through my early 20’s though I developed more self-awareness and realized this was an area I needed to improve in. This skill has helped me in every relationship I have had both professional and personal. The ability to understand where someone else is coming from and what they are feeling is vital to working towards a common goal
To start, empathy helps build a stronger team. The listening aspect described in the articles is paramount to good teamwork. Empathy is also very important in designing the software for the end user. In the first article, the author describes how he thought the technology would be used and how it was actually used to read prescriptions. Without this company’s empathy and commitment to research, they would have never discovered this opportunity to make their technology better. One approach to this would be to ask people how to make the product better however this is nowhere near as effective as actually watching them use it. By truly putting yourself in their shoes and spending time with the end user, you can identify many opportunities that would not show up in a survey or conversation.
Empathy is important in teams because teams are made of humans. The outcome of any given project is always better when it is being worked on by happy, engaged and bough-in people. A team without empathy will not usually share these characteristics. Listening skills and giving/receiving feedback are super important in any team environment. These are not only important to make sure everyone feels valued on the team but also to make sure ideas are truly shared and considered by everyone.
Several years ago I received a promotion to manage a large workgroup of 100+ employees of all different job types and backgrounds. Many of the employees had been in their current role for longer than I had been with the company and some even longer than I had been alive. Empathy played a huge role in developing relationships with everyone, especially being able to listen, ask curious questions and find out what motivates them. This was especially successful with the sales team. I was able to meet with them individually and spend time asking questions about their families, personal goals, professional goals, etc. This not only helped me build trust and relationships with them but to also tie their personal goals into their professional goals.
When do you find it most difficult to be empathetic in professional settings? How can you improve your skills when faced with these scenarios?
I think that the most difficult settings usually involve another party who is being rude, abrasive, non-empathetic, etc. It is often easier to bring yourself down to their level of thinking than it is to keep the high-ground, especially if you are being attacked personally. The best way to handle these situations is to keep your self-awareness and realize when you start to think at a lower level and lose your empathy. I will admit I am not always perfect at doing this but I have had many occasions where this has been helpful. By remaining calm you can often disarm the other person and get to the real issue at hand. Often, I have found out that there was a reason for the person acting that way and they are apologetic for it afterward. People react differently and it is important to have empathy for others, whether they are sad, frustrated, angry, etc.