Empathy is essential for engineering leaders. It helps build trust, improve collaboration, and create a supportive team environment. Here's a quick overview of 7 techniques you can use to lead with empathy:
- Listen Without Interrupting: Focus on understanding team members' ideas before jumping to solutions.
- Include Different Viewpoints: Encourage input from diverse roles and experience levels.
- Remove Judgment: Replace criticism with curiosity to foster open dialogue.
- Acknowledge Team Emotions: Recognize stress and emotions during high-pressure situations.
- Give Empathetic Feedback: Balance constructive criticism with support and shared goals.
- Solve Problems with Empathy: Consider how changes impact workflows and team emotions.
- Lead by Example: Share your challenges, take accountability, and mentor others.
Start applying these techniques today to strengthen your leadership and create a more connected and effective team.
Engineering with Empathy - Jossie Haines | WFH Conf 2020
What is Engineering Leadership Empathy
Engineering leadership empathy focuses on applying emotional intelligence to understand both the technical hurdles and emotions your team experiences. It’s about connecting with your team on a deeper level while navigating engineering challenges.
Key Components of Engineering Empathy
Effective technical leadership involves four key elements:
- Technical Perspective-Taking: Understand your team’s technical viewpoint and challenges.
- Nonjudgmental Dialogue: Create a space where ideas can be shared freely without fear of criticism.
- Context Awareness: Recognize how technical decisions impact team dynamics, trust, and collaboration.
- Integrating Feedback: Provide thoughtful feedback and act on it in a way that fosters trust and growth.
Examples of Empathy in Action
Empathy isn’t just a concept; it’s something you can practice in real engineering scenarios:
- Code Reviews: Instead of pointing out faults, ask questions like, "What led you to this approach?" This shifts the focus to learning and understanding.
- Architectural Discussions: Make room for every team member to share their thoughts, encouraging a variety of perspectives and solutions.
These foundational ideas set the stage for applying seven actionable techniques to strengthen empathy in your engineering leadership. Let’s dive into those next.
7 Ways to Build Leadership Empathy
Incorporate these practices into your daily interactions to better connect with your team on technical matters. These strategies focus on understanding different perspectives and being mindful of the context.
1. Listen Without Interrupting
When team members share technical issues or suggest solutions, resist the urge to jump in with quick fixes. Instead, ask yourself, "Why Am I Talking?" (WAIT) and focus on truly understanding their points.
Ask clarifying questions like, "How does this approach affect the system's scalability?" Doing so shows you're engaged and encourages deeper discussions. Maintain eye contact and jot down notes to demonstrate your full attention.
2. Include Different Viewpoints
Encourage input from team members across all roles and levels of experience. Use structured opportunities, like architecture reviews or sprint planning, to ensure everyone has a voice. Regular one-on-one meetings with engineers from diverse backgrounds can also help you understand their unique challenges.
When considering new technologies, seek opinions from a mix of senior and junior engineers, as well as front-end, back-end, and QA specialists.
3. Remove Judgment from Discussions
Replace critiques with curiosity. For example, ask, "What influenced your approach?" instead of saying, "This code isn't optimized." This approach fosters open dialogue and makes team members more comfortable sharing their thought processes.
Create a blameless review culture where ideas are judged on their merit, not on who suggested them. This encourages creativity and innovation within the team.
4. Acknowledge Team Emotions
Be mindful of stress levels during high-pressure times like deployments or incidents. Use phrases like, "I know this deployment is particularly tough," to validate their experiences and show understanding.
Pay attention to nonverbal cues during meetings, such as signs of frustration or burnout, and follow up privately to check in.
5. Give Empathetic Feedback
Use a simple framework for feedback:
- Acknowledge the effort put in.
- Highlight specific technical gaps.
- Provide resources to help address those gaps.
- Set shared goals for improvement.
6. Solve Problems with Empathy
Before implementing major changes, consider how they will affect workflows. Plan for training and roll out changes in phases to reduce stress on the team.
7. Lead by Example
Show empathy in your leadership through your actions. Share your own technical challenges and what you’ve learned from them. When mistakes happen, take responsibility and focus on finding solutions instead of assigning blame. This builds trust and encourages your team to be open about their struggles.
Get involved in mentorship and coaching to demonstrate your commitment to the growth of others. This not only strengthens your team but also reinforces a culture of support.
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Quick Reference: Empathy Methods
Here's a handy table outlining various empathy techniques and their practical applications.
Empathy Techniques Comparison Table
| Technique | Description |
|---|---|
| Listen Without Interrupting | Pay full attention to speakers, ask questions for clarity, and avoid jumping to solutions. |
| Include Different Viewpoints | Involve diverse roles and experiences in structured discussions to gather broad perspectives. |
| Remove Judgment | Replace criticism with curiosity, aiming to understand others' approaches. |
| Acknowledge Team Emotions | Recognize and validate emotions, especially during stressful or high-pressure moments. |
| Give Empathetic Feedback | Combine constructive criticism with understanding and support [2]. |
| Solve Problems with Empathy | Factor in emotional impacts and stakeholder needs when creating solutions [2]. |
| Lead by Example | Share your own challenges, take accountability, and actively mentor team members. |
These techniques align with the habits you've been practicing. Use this as a quick reference to fine-tune your empathy exercises in the next training module.
Training Engineers in Empathetic Leadership
Structured training programs can help engineers effectively develop and apply empathy in leadership roles.
Tech Leaders Leadership Development
The Tech Leader Program focuses on integrating seven empathy techniques into everyday leadership practices. Through this program, participants sharpen their emotional intelligence, learn to anticipate challenges, and strengthen their leadership abilities in a supportive and psychologically safe setting.
"The Tech Leader Program is the missing support system I needed––a go‑to resource for diversifying and growing impact, influence, and income without depending on my employer."
– Todd Larsen, Co‑Founder, Tech Leaders
Graduates leave the program equipped to lead with a balance of empathy and technical expertise.
Conclusion
Empathy is at the core of building high-performing, psychologically safe engineering teams. Combining technical expertise with emotional awareness strengthens team collaboration and communication. The seven techniques shared here can help improve listening, provide better feedback, and approach problem-solving in ways that allow teams to excel and grow.
Take action: choose one technique and focus on practicing it this week. Try incorporating these approaches into your next sprint planning session or code review to start fostering a more empathetic and supportive engineering environment.