What role does empathy play in your life and how has it helped you? I have worked on being empathetic and more understanding of others. Managing a restautant and bar has helped me to work on putting myself in other peoples shoes from both a staff and customer perspective. Understanding what the issue is and why a person feels the way the do is essential in growth and resolution.
How does empathy help you build better software? Empathy is important to understanding what your client wants and building something people want and understand.
Why is empathy important for working on a team? Communicating and listening effectively is one of the hardest things humans have to do. Hearing what the problem is and making sure someone is heard sounds like its part of the every day job in programming. Empathy enables one to have personal understanding of another being and helps breach miscommunication.
Describe a situation in which your ability to empathize with a colleague or teammate was helpful. Someone arrived to work very late and without warning. Had I made this about me and the rigid idea of a certain time I would have been wrong. I have to learn to ask people if they are okay and or if something is wrong. This lets them know I care about them and gives them a safe space to tell me whats going on. The person had a tough personal issue that caused them to be late and opening a dialogue resulted in a better outcome.
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 its most difficult when someone is being defensive. Breaking through that defensiveness is always rewarding and gives both myself and the other person the ability to reflect and grow. Sometimes taking a moment to recompose and harness my humanity helps!