In my Apptio Values and You class a week or so ago I had a student stay after class to chat for a moment.  She asked if I could answer a few questions about the section of the class regarding working with others to build a strong Apptio rollout or reinvigoration.  Essentially, I had mentioned managing the process with empathy, especially when working with your teams, and she wanted more information.

In her case, she had run into much the same situation as one I had described in class.  One of her long-time employees, I will call her Betty, was being very reluctant to accept the new Apptio solution.  Betty was responsible for manually maintaining some of the larger financial reports for her department, probably requiring roughly 10 – 15 hours of work per month.  Betty and my student finally had a meeting to discuss her concerns, and, after some tears and back and forth, she finally found the real reason Betty was pushing back. 

Betty wasn’t trying to be difficult; she liked her job and liked the company she worked for.  What was really happening was she was scared of how the changes would affect her job.  The required reports were a sizable chunk of her overall work time.  It made her feel unsure what would happen to her job if creating these reports was no longer needed.  Would she be let go?  Would she be transferred from the team she was on currently?  Once my student knew the reasons for her concerns suddenly her pushback seemed totally understandable. 

Honestly?  None of these are an uncommon concern.  In my 20 years in technology, I’ve often run into someone who’s job was being affected by new software or policies.  Often they are great employees, whose output or demeanor may drop as they wonder what these changes mean for their jobs.  It’s amazing how by recognizing and addressing their concerns you can help move them back to being the great supportive employees you know they are. 

There are a lot of great online resources if you’d like to read more on leading with empathy.  Personally, I bookmarked a great article from Juanita Moreno from workep titled Empathy: the Winning Skill for Project Managers, January 2019.  It was an easy-to-read explanation of the types of empathy project managers can have, as well as some good suggestions on how to utilize it appropriately.  For myself It reminded me to sit on my hands occasionally and listen actively, not just partially listening like I wanted to get something resolved so I could move on.

I would love to hear more about the techniques and resources you use as well, it would be great to have more resources to share. Are there suggestions any of you have for using more empathy as we work through technology rollouts or reinvigorations?