Whitney Korda • May 3, 2020
Whitney Korda • May 3, 2020
Applying Empathy in IT Rishma Khimji Director of IT, City of Reno
The Information Technology world has exploded over the last 10 years. Computers are incorporated into everything we do in society at this point, but something that has been forgotten in this progressive advance in technology; the human factor. Even though most of our interactions use a screen and as intermediary we all need to remember that there is a person with thoughts, feelings, and opinions on the other side of the screen.
Although Rishma works as the Director of IT in the City of Reno, her message to us was so much more important than talking about the daily ins and outs of her job. She elaborated on the importance of empathy. Oftentimes the definitions of sympathy and empathy are used synonymously, and that is not correct. Sympathy is feeling for someone and empathy is feeling with someone.
Using active listening skills, and truly absorbing other’s emotions to connect with them at that moment shows empathy. To be able to reach something deep inside yourself to feel what others feel will help your relationships in work and personal lives. Bridging the gap between substituted emotions using digital communication with human emotions attached to the other end of the keyboard will ease the tension created by lack of physical cues, micro gestures, and tone in text.
She also explained how we can add empathy to our digital world. Features essential to creating an empathetic model include accessibility, credibility, usability, findability, usefulness, and desirability. Combining these ingredients is a recipe for success! Empathy in technology is synonymous to “customer service”.
All businesses have customers, even the City of Reno, and they want a human experience. Creating an empathetic attitude to truly understand the customer needs in any business, but especially IT, will make the world you live in a better place. Empathy is especially important for IT because more and more jobs are becoming remote, or telecommute. Which is convenient for those of us hermit types, but ultimately losing face to face contact with peers and clients can definitely impact your success.
In conclusion, always remember the Golden Rule: treat others how you want to be treated. Even if someone treats you badly treat them with kindness and try to empathize with them. We all walk our own path, and you don’t know what someone else is going through unless you ask. Compassion and empathy need to be remembered as we incorporate the human element back into digital society.
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