I think empathy has been most important in my life when it comes to building solid interpersonal relationships. Having relationships in which one can learn from the other or help the other understand and see things in a different light is very important. Having these types of exchanges help build bonds and deepen relationships, as well as help in overcoming conflict. Resolving issues is much more effective when trying to empathize with the other party.
Developing software is a process in which there is a lot of communication traveling back and forth between the developer and the user. The communication coming back from a user is important to bulding good software. Radical listening is a good tool to hear and understand feedback that can leed to better software building. Better information can be gathered from radical listening, which allows for empathetic design. Taking this approach to coming up with new solutions and designs creates products which can be very useful.
Working on a team can create a lot of conflict. Personalities of different members can clash, There can be struggles between members who are passionate about their own ideas. Approaching those conflicts in a adversarially will often hurt the progress of the team. Trying to approach other members empathetically is a much better way to work through those potential conflicts. Deeply listening to one another and attempting to fully humanize other teammates not only helps solve interpersonal conflicts, but turns competing brain power in to collaberating brain power.
I think one experience that most people have add in working on something with a partner or group is hearing an idea from the other person and immediately thinking, "that's dumb." I used to produce video and photo media for an adventure tour company. My bosses were the ones who told me what they wanted and I was the one with skills and knowhow to do it. With limited resources, equipment, personel, and time, I knew that some things they wanted were unacheivable. If I failed to think empathetically about these instances I would have driven myself crazy just thinking their requests were dumb and trying to accomplish things I knew I didn't have the resources to do, and I would have driven them crazy by failing to deliver on what they asked for. Instead, I understood that just because they don't have experience in video production doesn't mean their ideas were dumb, and that the best thing to do was present alternatives that are similar to their ideas but were within the scope of our abilities.
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 it's hardest to be empathetic in a situation in which I am working with someone who themselves is not making an attempt to be empathetic. It is very difficult to work in a setting with someone else who is adversarial or unwilling to compromise. This sort of person often makes you feel like the best way to deal with them is to abandon your own empathetic mindset and meet them on their level. I think approaching them empathetically is still the best option, though, becasue even if their methods can't be changed, trying to understand them on a human level will likey help uncover better personal methods for working with difficult people.