Read two of the following articles/videos (we recommend all of them!) and reflect on these questions: why are we talking about empathy at a software development school? how can you develop the "skill" of empathy? and why should you care?
After reading the articles above, create a gist on Github and reflect (4-6 sentences) on the following prompts.
What role does empathy play in your life and how has it helped you? Empathy plays a large role in that I try to better understand the other person, problem, situation, etc. so that I can learn from it. Many times the issue isn't what is immediately happening, but rather the lead up to the issue and being able to look at what caused it, and focusing on that instead, which the better understanding of helps immensely. At my previous job it helped me to related to others so that we could find a common ground, and then from there best decide on a course of action that would allow them to be as productive as they hoped to be. In my personal life, it has helped me to better understand those around me and has changed the course of many conversations.
How does empathy help you build better software? It allows you to see who will be using it on a very personal level and then allows you to tailor the code accordingly for a better fit. It also removes your own ideas and predispositions towards what they are saying most of the time, and more importantly allows for a better understanding of what is being requested versus what you know you can provide. This not only benefits the customer so that they get more of what they ask for, but it also improves the efficiency of the team/project because there is a much improved understanding of what is being requested, resulting in less false starts and dead ends. More personally, having more empathy also makes you a better developer since you are being more efficient, more cognizant of what is needed, and a better team player in the way that you relate to your team as well.
Why is empathy important for working on a team? When working on a team empathy is quite important, because the ability or desire to understand someone else, whether you agree or disagree, changes the interaction and conversation every time. It actually promotes better teamwork by allowing more freedom to talk, and lessens the fear that can arise from the more awkward conversations. Futhermore it enhances the team as a whole because you are then able to discuss who would be better suited to do what on the team, allow for growth of different people to strengthen the team, and cohesively discuss the best plan of attack. In essence, the better you are able to discuss and understand something, the better the possible solutions will be.
Describe a situation in which your ability to empathize with a colleague or teammate was helpful. I worked with a gentleman in which we rarely saw eye to eye on things (he was mid 60's while I was early 30's), and there was quite a bit of tension due to his beliefs versus mine. However, every conversation we had was one that we discussed any and all facets and possibilities, with myself demonstrably going out of my way to show that I was listening to what he had to say, even though most of the time I needed to choose a course of action that did not fall within what he wanted. Over time as we both learned that the business sometimes necessitated certain things, we were able to communicate with each other well and very amicably as well. In the end, he retired having told me that he enjoyed working with me and the time we spent talking when at the start he did not want anything to do with me. So being able to empathize was helpful in the leadership role I was in because I was able to better connect with a co-worker, both personally and professionally, which not only improved the working environment but it also helped us both improve on a personal level.
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 worked in a customer service role, and I think that is probably the best test of being empathetic. Having to listen to and deal with customers when they are unhappy, whether you can solve their issue or not, is a struggle most times. I recently had one particular customer that at one point refused to keep talking to me, which was a first for me. I passed the man over to the general manager and then later went in to follow up with the GM on how he handled it and sought advice on how to improve. Oddly, during that conversation while trying to better understand how the GM dealt with the customer we ended up improving our level of conversation between the two of us. The situation was a unique failure on my part, it was one that likely failed at several points, but I believe that seeking to better understand both the customer and then later the GM in this has helped me to grow. I now believe that sometimes not being empathetic enough or perhaps too empathetic will result in failure on your part and the crucial piece of that is to not give up, continue to learn what went wrong and how you can improve for the next time you encounter that kind of situation again.