The Power of Empathy in the Workplace

Unless you've been living under a rock, you've probably started to glean that empathy is a hugely valuable skill for your business and all of those that work in and around it.

Beginning to introduce it daily in your teams and place of work has wide-ranging positive effects and this article will outline a simple, yet powerful way to introduce it.

Over the past three to four years empathy training has been increasingly adopted by CEOs at some of the world’s biggest businesses to grow the EQ of those who are tasked with leading teams. In fact, according to a recent HBR article, the number of CEOs seeking empathy training has risen from around 20% in 2017, to upwards of 80% in 2020, a staggering statistic.

So what will it do for your team?

Empathy will create deeper, lasting connections between team members, they’ll get to know each other as humans rather than simply as colleagues. As a result of this, people are often ready to look at problems and conflict from different perspectives, creating safety within the team. This in turn has the brilliant effect of establishing a team-wide understanding of a greater purpose or the team-first approach, meaning that when there is conflict, it’s more likely to be seen as a differing of opinion or healthy conflict. This reduces the fear of conflict and gives the team a chance to stay in relation with each other, reach the best outcome for the team and subsequently the business, rather than simply compromising in order to placate.

But how do we take these simple steps to introduce empathy into our daily routine?

I like to utilise a simple check-in at the start of team huddles, daily stand-ups, or all-hands meetings, but really it’s useful in meetings of any kind, including client meetings!

Bill Campbell aka ‘The Trillion Dollar Coach’ uses something similar, always beginning team huddles with a ‘trip report’ where people take it in turns to talk about a recent trip’s activities from the weekend or something from their personal life.

I personally like to ask people either for a trip report like Bill Campbell, or an arrival statement, where you simply ask the question: “how are you arriving at this meeting?”

“Arriving” in this context means ‘mentally how are you arriving’, not which mode of transport you took.

To me, this allows people to make their current mental imagery or thoughts present to the group, which has a remarkable effect of landing them in the room.

Most of the time, saying this stuff out loud also objectifies any thoughts and allows the person saying them to present them, park them and as a result connect with their colleagues on a personal level, but also allows them to be ready to dive into business.

This stuff may seem tough (or awkward) at first, but trust me, diving in the water is fine. Whatever you choose, be it trip report, arrival statement or simply a run-through of the weekend, this act of connecting with your team and colleagues on a personal level works wonders for developing interest and understanding of each other’s lives and subsequently develops more empathy.

Okay, so practically, how do you put this into play?

Well, the best way is to give it a go. In the next team meeting you have, ask people to share how they are arriving, by going around the room in any order. If people are feeling shy, I suggest calling names and prompting people in this manner. There may be some hesitation at first to share personal information, if there is any, that is completely normal, just stick with it! I promise the results are worth it.

It’s also really nice to actually connect with your team on a personal level. It grows those team bonds and shows that “yes, we’re here to work, but that doesn't mean we don’t care about you personally”.

So, give it a go! From here on in at any team meetings, add a check-in to your agendas and kick the meeting off with it. The more you do this, the more you’ll see people enjoy it and relax into it. Sometimes people will bring sad or negative emotions to the check-in and please be reassured that this is normal. Whatever people bring in that moment is perfect.

If someone does say they’re experiencing a sad or ‘bad’ emotion, a great and caring answer from the group’s leader, or anyone in the team for that matter, is “is now the best time for this meeting, or do you need to take some time?” This shows them that you genuinely care and that their needs are paramount over simply doing business.

As Richard Branson said: “your business doesn’t come first. Your team does”. If you take care of your team, they will take care of your business.

Enjoy your first check-in!