OFFICE HOURS: Engineering With Empathy

Empathy is what will define the great companies of the future that create products that truly fulfill the needs of our diverse world. These companies will be made up of diverse populations across gender, race and ethnicity designing and building the technology of the future. Engineering with empathy can not only create teams that work well together, but will produce better products. Empathy is a skill that can not only be learned, but is one that we can improve on with regular practice. Engineers don't tend to think about empathy as an important part of building software, but I want to change that mentality. You will learn how empathy can be applied in practical ways to every day engineering activities like code reviews, project planning, and team meetings. I will also share how you can lead with empathy to take your engineering leadership skills to the next level.

As engineers we tend to forget about the soft skills and focus a lot more on technical prowess. I want to turn that opinion around and show how a focus on empathy can not only improve your team culture and collaboration and create a greater sense of belonging, but also lead to better products.