Empathy plays a more serious role in my life than I realized after reading these articles. I have been put in many negative and positive situations from all ends of the spectrum. I believe this allows me to relate and accept other people for who they are and not what they have done. When it comes to understanding people, it is nt all about the mistakes they have made or the things they have accomplished. To me, it is more about what their true motives were when making these mistakes or accomplishments. I tend to give people the benefit of the doubt, but I truly believe almost everyone has good intentions at heart.
Empathy is a great tool when creating software. It can help us solve problems by getting to the root of what is important to consumers and developers you are working with. When empathy is at the center of focus, connections between people becomes stronger. This usually results in consumers being more emotionally invested in the project you have created.
In the workplace empathy is important, because it shows you have respect for your teammates. This allows them to speak more openly because they dont feel as if you will just shut them down. Sometimes it is better to follow empathy than to follow strict rules and regulations. I am not suggesting completely throwing rules out of the equation. I am simply suggesting finding a happy medium to allow better worklow and a more positive environment
There is one person I used to work with that started doing my previous job. Since I had done the same job, I knew and understood the pain points of the job we were able to work through potential solutions together. The fact that I could empathize with my co-worker on these pain points helped him know that I understood how he was feeling and made him more open to the understanding tasks at hand, knowing that he wouldnt think I was fed up with his beginning questions.
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 find it very difficult to empathize with people who react emotionally rather than logically. Although emotions can be a powerful tool, I believe looking at situations rationally is always the best bet. If people tend to overreact based on emotions, I find it somewhat ignorant and feel less inclined to look at things from their point of view. This is something I can definitely work on and also respectfully try to guide them to more logical thinking.