Mod 0 Gear Up - Samantha Freeman

Mod_0_GearUp.md

Mod 0 Gear Up

1. What role does empathy play in your life and how has it helped you?

   It definitely plays a huge part of my life. I wouldn't have the personal relationships that I have today if it weren't for empathy. It is extremely crucial that I listen to my friends and family to better understand them as people. It was also necessary with my previous employement, where I had to constantly partner with different teams. These teams often included individuals with different backgrounds than my own. Thus I would have to utilize empathy to work effectively with these individuals as a team. I was able to handle some stressful situations at work, because I tried to be the active listener and respond to the other parties concerns.

2. How does empathy help you build better software?

   Empathetic design, mentioned in the readings, is all about listening and understanding your audience. One could simply come up with a new software, but it takes an empathetic individual to come up with software that actually helpful and necessary. Taking the time to understand what the customers actual needs are and trying to create a software that fits them. Not everyone is the same, so a software developer would be selling themselves short if they only built for people like them.

3. Why is empathy important for working on a team?

   Similar to the customer, your teammates are likely to have different backgrounds. A huge part of empathy is listening. In one reading it was recommended to turn off all devices and express that you've heard your teammate by reiterating what you have learned from their presentation. In doing so you are developing a relationship built on trust. By building this trust, you are able to ensure that the team works more smoothly together. Also in the reverse it is extremely valuable that you are also accepting both good and bad criticism. There will be rough patches when working in a team, but an empathetic team can get through it by working together.

4. Describe a situation in which your ability to empathize with a colleague or teammate was helpful.

   In my previous employement, I would frequently work with a team in my organization. I was noticing a lot of issues arising from that team that was affecting my department. Thus I made individual meetings to discuss with their leadership and a couple of their members. After listening to their frustrations, I worked with their team to come up with new solutions for both teams that would lead to them feeling less stressed out and more productive. After those initial meetings, I started to meet with them more frequently and establish a strong relationship between their department and my own.

5. 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 feel like I can improve my empathy towards those who are struggling to learn something I don't deem challenging. I tend to be empathic the first couple of times. However, when I have to repeat something the forth time, I become frustrated and unsure on how I can help. Thus I think I need to use empathy to try to better understand where they are still having issues, so that I can come up with alternative ways of teaching the information. I think I spend time listening the first go, but don't connect again with them later when I get frustrated. So I miss out learning how to better understand why they are still struggling with the information. I know everyone learns differently and I don't want them to be deterred from learning because I was frustrated.