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 major role in my life because I believe it is very important to being a good human being. It has helped me with my customer service positions greatly because it allows me to be a better listener. It has also helped me significantly in my personal and spiritual journey. Empathy allows me to stop the harsh judgement on it's tracks, and instead, attempt to understand from a different perspective. And sometimes, it simply allows me to accept how people, things, or situations are. That part has been inmensely helpful when dealing with things that are out of my control.
How does empathy help you build better software?
By designing and making for the users. But truly for them instead of just creating for them because they are the users or clients. Like the first article mentioned, it can help you see ideas that you did not expect, it can help you realize that it is not something your users really want, it can motivate you to be a better developer because you understand how your product affects your users, and just how they will use it. Like I mentioned above, empathy helps you realize that there isn't one correct answer for everything. And in that sense, there isn't just one magical code for a problem. Instead, you may need to evolve your code, as your user evolve and as their problems evolve.
Why is empathy important for working on a team?
Because it will help the team communicate better which always leads to efficiency and better results. If you attempt to see where your teammates are coming from, their angle or perspective, you avoid making assumptions or even worse, completely ignoring your team's input. Empathy will make you and your team better, which will make the product better. Empathy will not only help the product, but it will build the morale of the team. And I believe that as human beings, we feel and are better when we know we have a network we can count on.
Describe a situation in which your ability to empathize with a colleague or teammate was helpful.
When I saw how my colleague felt stressed and seemed overwhelmed, I offered to help with the tasks that I could take care of. He was playing many roles at the office by being the receptionist, the office manager, a translator, an executive assistant and the load was heavy. I offered to help with the office kitchen tasks and by helping him brainstorm some improvements he wanted to make in the office. It was helpful because it strengthened our professional relationship and in doing so, the office was a less stressful place for him.
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 generally find it difficult in a professional setting because I sometimes feel like I am assuming people's feelings rather than being empathetic. For example, I will assume that offering a new suggestion will diminish the previous suggestion which can discourage the person that came up with it. Instead of acknowledging that the previous suggestion worked at the time, but new issues need to be addressed. I can improve by interacting more with my colleagues because then, I will have a better understanding of their personality and not see them with a strictly-business lens.