What do you do if your Internal Communications skills lack empathy?

Take a step back and consider how your response or attitude towards someone might impact your empathy level. Also consider how you’d want to be treated if you were the other person’s situation.

I try to remain objective by not taking things 'personally', but rather *professionally*. All behaviour is communication! Rather than trying to guess someone's motivation, I seek to understand it through dialogue.

If your internal communication skills lack empathy, not only will they not be effective… they are not coming from a place that is genuine. If it is within your job capacity to communicate with people outside of your immediate peers, empathy is required. If you have no empathy, you are part of the problem. Full stop. This is not to say that you are required to have experienced everything the people you are communicating with have experienced, it means you need the capacity to learn from people with experiences different than your own or you are in the wrong place. Communication works both ways. Understand those you are speaking with and communication will be much improved.

Who is deeply inside completely lacking empathy? Who has never been moved by a birth, a kid or a blooming flower? Empathy is sometimes simply not judged as necessary. However, the vast majority of managers, those for whom internal communications is strategic, can easily understand, if they are trained, why IC is key to their individual well-being and their team success. Once this is clear, we can put together the IC tools and supports adapted to the personality of all managers.

Start with the new-era KPIs - Keep people informed, Keep people inspired, Keep people involved, Keep people interested: Measurement that's strictly (or too) quantitative is severely limited, in that it doesn't capture more 'human' nuanced behaviour and responses such as voice, tone, sentiment. Often, it's the qualitative arena where we find and unpack the true answers to questions on how to improve, pivot, or grow.

The next step is to learn from people who are good at empathy and observe how they communicate. You can look for role models within your organization, such as your leaders, managers, or colleagues, or outside your organization, such as experts, authors, or speakers. Pay attention to how they listen, ask questions, express emotions, give feedback, and handle conflicts. Try to emulate their behaviors and techniques, and practice them in your own interactions. For example, you can use active listening, which is showing interest and attention to what someone is saying, or mirroring, which is reflecting their body language and tone of voice

Learning to listen to others can help in expanding horizons. There will be people with so much experience that have dealt with similar situations so it never hurts to ask questions. Reaching out and learning about different types of people helps you become more empathetic to the many different situations and struggles people are in.

In my experience, learning from role models both within and outside the organization has been crucial in developing effective communication skills and empathy. One tip I can share is to practice active listening: show genuine interest in what others are saying and ask them open-ended questions to understand their perspectives. This not only strengthens work relationships but also helps in resolving conflicts more effectively.

I’ve always found helpful in understanding empathy is to remember what it was like when someone communicated with you.. how did you feel when they spoke to you in a certain way. How did you feel if they were talking at you or to you or talking above or below your intellect? I always try to approach a person with positive intentions. I will talk to my team members. If lacking empathy I would take a class that could help me as a leader . Empathy for your team is important without a team you cannot be a leader. Without empathy you cannot become great leader or mentor. We have to remember we’re all human and honestly everyone matters. I have found that your worst associate can be your best associate if you take the time to understand them.

Learning about and from others is one of the best ways to learn consideration. My team frequently features other teams internally and externally. This is a great strategy to put faces to your products and services to build brand trust, but it is also a great way to learn more about your teammates, their responsibilities, and the people you work with.

When communication lacks empathy, it can lead to misunderstanding and misrepresentation of individuals, creating boundary and trust issues. Seeking diverse perspectives can provide valuable insight into the experiences of others, helping to fill the gaps in understanding. By listening to the perspectives and experiences of others who are different from us, individuals can begin to identify and understand different emotions and perspectives, simply through exposure to these diverse perspectives. Over time, this can improve a person's ability to communicate with empathy.

Speak with friends or coworkers who have higher education levels than my own or more experience years in the workforce dealing with issues that may have required empathy

Remember where you've come from, including all of the ups and downs. Also acknowledge that everyone has their own unique journey and you may be playing a part in their particular up or down period of their life. Focus on how you feel and react to situations and how those reactions may affect those around you.

I strongly recommend Jon Kabat Zinn’s work about mindfulness. You can found his videos or interviews in dedicated channels. It is not anything voodoo about mindfulness, but a way of life, acknowledging you, as a person with different needs and reactions, are pretty valid. Mindfulness teaches you that it is ok to feel, starting with yourself. Then, you will start to notice everybody’s feelings and become empathetic.

Listen first and foremost. That’s super important for good communication. Pause - don’t immediately respond to everything. I agree with many of the comments here and I think we often get caught up in our messaging, deadlines and workload that we forget to slow down and internally assess ourselves first. What’s our mood, disposition, current state of self awareness. Don’t take it personal. Observe the feedback, and don’t feel like you have to always respond to things immediately. How we communicate is often in response to what we *think*we heard, but that may not be the case at all. Show empathy for yourself and you can give empathy more generously and effortlessly.

Taking just a few minutes out of your day to practice meditation, writing a grateful journal or just needing to breathe is so important to do. By learning to reflect and learn from your actions, you can help contribute to mindfulness when any situation arises to be levelheaded.

Practicing mindfulness is important for improving empathy as a communication skill because it allows individuals to be fully present and attentive to others' feelings, thoughts, and experiences. By cultivating mindfulness, individuals can better understand and connect with others on a deeper level, fostering compassion and empathy in their interactions. Mindfulness also helps individuals regulate their own emotions, which is crucial for empathetic communication as it enables them to respond empathetically rather than reactively to others' emotions.

Consider exploring alternative models for giving and receiving feedback to land on one that feels right for you, such as the NVC (Nonviolent Communication) model, which focuses on expressing observations, feelings, needs, and requests.

It is highly necessary to seek feedback from coworkers and superiors/managers in effort to obtain an outsider opinion to reflect and compare with one's own self opinion to adjust your ego and thoughts according to each situation

Well I sure lack empathy that's for sure there's no reason I can even say that I do I've never lacked it I have a very caring heart