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Who is the Developer you want to be?
- Empathetic, socially aware, considerate, open minded.
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What impact will you make?
- Build systems to promote good. Improve livelihood of others.
Empathy has played a significant part in my life. It has helped me develop strong relationships with friends, family and colleagues. Being empathetic shows people that I care about them, that I value them, and respect them. In turn, this has enabled me to earn their trust and creates a strong foundation for relationships. Empathy has also helped me to be an effective communicator as it gives me the capacity to pick-up on changes in emotions and behaviors without these having to be communicated verbally.
Empathy has also been important when I've travelled internationally. The empathy I felt from others while traveling helped me to feel included and supported despite being in a foreign place and not speaking the same language.
Empathy will help me to build better software because I want the end user(s) to enjoy using the software I build, and for it to meet the users needs. Empathy is needed to build 'human-centered' software in order to fully understand who the users will be, what they really want, and what they really need. Empathy also improves the creative process by being open to different perspectives. Someone might raise a great point or share a great idea that i'd miss if i'm unreceptive to the ideas, feelings, and opinions of others. Being empathic is also important for the actual building of the software because it’s unlikely that I’m going to be the only one who ever works on it. I need to think about other people who might work on the software, and how to make it easy for them to interact with it.
Empathy is important in a team setting because all team members will have their own individual opinions and perspectives. For a team to work effectively, these differences need to be respected, welcomed and encouraged. A team that has empathy will have better team dynamics, people practicing empathy (or 'radical listening') will hold back from interupting one another and really think about what others opinions, or ideas, are before commenting. Empathy also enhances creativity through sharing and discussing others perspectives. This will help develop ideas outside of an individuals usual scope.
In my previous job I helped train new Executive Assistants on our administrative teams 'best practices'. My ability to empathize with these new Executive Assistants made a huge difference in the effectiveness of their training. Putting myself in their shoes, and remembering what it was like for me when I first joined the team, helped me put materials together that I knew would be most helpful for them. It also helped in creating a supportive and safe environment for them to learn in.
When do you find it most difficult to be empathetic in professional settings? How can you improve your skills when faced with these scenarios?
In professional settings I find it most difficult to be empathetic when i'm stressed (i.e. about meeting a deadline). I can get too absorbed in my own work, blocking out everything around me. I can improve my skills in these scenarios by taking a step back from my work, and making a conscious effort to be in the present for a few minutes. I can take a walk around, observe what's going on around me, engage with someone, and I might even come back to my desk with new ideas or perspectives.