I am sure everyone has their own definition of empathy. Most would say that it is seeing a situation from someone else's perspective and being able to react to that situation with compassion towards the other person. Now, I don't know about you, but I feel that there needs to be some more of that going around. But, how does that attach to the workplace? Let's talk about it.
“Most would say that it is seeing a situation from someone else's perspective and being able to react to that situation with compassion towards the other person.”
Situations in the workplace arise on a daily basis, especially if you are an already well established company with fellow employees, from issues among fellow colleagues communication, someone being affected at work by something that is happening external where their performance is not to part, and the list can go on and on. We all know we have work stories. Everyone has different personalities, working styles, ways of thinking, ways of executing and their own unique ways of reacting towards any situation. No matter the situation, there is always a root that we ourselves as co workers, may not ever understand from another person, and one thing that everyone deserves, no matter what the situation is, is EMPATHY.
“Everyone has different personalities, working styles, ways of thinking, ways of executing and their own unique ways of reacting towards any situation.”
How do you practice empathy in the workplace? 3 easy steps:
Listen
Restate
Avoid judgement
Listen - For my personal opinion, people should already have the capacity to do this since
this is something you should also practice and do in your personal life. Listening, sounds simple, but when put into practice, very difficult in most circumstance. Anything can trigger a person to interrupt, speak over, or completely shrug off another person as we all have things going on in our heads all of the time and it makes it hard to focus on the here and now that I constantly speak about. When talking about Active listening, you may have heard of the 3 A's, which are attitude, attention and adjustment. With these 3 key points you can understand which attitude to have based on what the other person is saying to you. Do you seem to be avoiding them or are you coming across in the moment and attentive to what they are saying. Are you making eye contact. Based on how the conversation is going, does that require you to adjust how you are coming across. Actively listening is the most important part as it will affect how the rest of the interaction plays out.
“When talking about Active listening, you may have heard of the 3 A's, which are attitude, attention and adjustment.”
Restate - This is where the first key point gets tested. Restating what the person has mentioned to you, makes them feel that you are actually listening. The important part, is to not use any words that make them feel judged or that you are in any way for/con against what they are saying. Make them feel that you are in the here and now listening to every word they are saying and that you understand their point of view, which is the key part here. This is your opportunity to show your understanding and emotion for what the person is going thru.
Avoid judgement - This could possibly be the hardest one of all. We all know that as humans, we judge everyone and everything, even when we don't mean it. It is humbling to understand other people's point of view. It helps you see things differently. With that in mind, there should never be any judgement towards someone else's situation. Why? It is just that their situation, their journey, and their own path that they are going thru. We never know someone else's full perspective, all we can do is know that all is happening for a reason and feel empathy towards those next to us.
As always, sending positive vibes everyone's way 🙏
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