Why this matters
With life going at a very fast pace, it is often hard to stop and think of others in a deep and meaningful way. With Emotional Intelligence comprising our ability to recognise our own emotions and those of others, we have to cultivate the ability to both comprehend and relate to those around us and validate their feelings by our understanding.
When we start being empathy deficient in a team we find it difficult to be open and our flexibility suffers as well as we can’t allow for other points of view and experiences.
If we managed to raise the level of empathy we employ in our relationships with our team mates, the overall Psychological Safety of the team would be improved.
How to run it
- 1
Frame it as a “That time when we remember we’re all human”
- 2
Start with a warm up of definitions - “What is EQ”; “What is empathy”
Ask everyone to complete the following sentences (post them on the Miro board or the chat) and explain there will be no requirement to read them outloud:
Describe the staring experiment:
9 more steps in the facilitator kit
Includes timing cues, facilitation notes, and AI pod adaptation guide — delivered by email immediately.
What next
Ask people regularly to remember this session to recall the point of remaining empathic.
Related resources
- Empathy And Communication In Psychologically Safe Teams (article)
- 4 minutes of silence can boost your empathy for others. (article)
- Insta-EQ - Just Add Heart (article)
- Communication and Empathy in PS Teams (video)
Facilitator Kit — Runbook
The full step-by-step runbook with timing cues, facilitation notes, and AI pod adaptation is available with the Facilitator Kit.