Empathy has been a tool for navigating professional and social situations. Without empathy, we're just pinballs bouncing around, reacting to whatever bumper we collide with. Empathy allows us to handle interactions with others in a way that is more productive and enjoyable for both parties that making decisions based solely on our personal condition at the time.
You make software for a user. Someone, at some point, has to interact with that software. If you can't anticipate the user's needs, you will deliver an unsatisfactory product. Depending on the user, you might be in a position to imagine what the user needs that the user might not even realize.
A computer program might be built from predictable, rational components, but the designers of those systems are neither. If team-members cannot communicate, then the parts of a project they build will not communicate either, and that will be a problem. Empathy is essential for effective human communication, which makes it essential for the success of any team-produced sotware.
As the senior foreign English teacher at a high school I worked at in Korea, I encountered many new transplants to South Korea, away from home for the first time, scared and uncomfortable in a new culture and work environment. I had been there myself, so it was easy for me to relate to their feelings. My ability to help them adapt got them ready to be productive team members more quickly.
When do you find it most difficult to be empathetic in professional settings? How can you improve your skills when faced with these scenarios?
If I feel passionately about the way a task should be done, I find it difficult to accept someone else's approach. At times, my emotional investment in the outcome can cloud my perception of the solutions proposed by others. This can delay a productive outcome by needlessly extending the debate phase to find a solution. On the opposite side of the same coin, if I don't care about the way a task should be done, it might be difficult to care about someone's proposed solution. I believe the way to remedy this is to defuse from the situation and reconnect with the overarching objective, which is for our team to be successful, and how the task at hand is handled is probably not hugely significant.