Course Outcomes 

This workplace empathy workshop will:

  • Introduce Business Training Works’ Deliberate Communication Model.
  • Offer a high-level explanation of the science behind empathy.
  • Identify times where using empathy can make a difference when building trust, solving problems, giving feedback, or selling products and services.
  • Provide participants with a clear understanding of what empathy is and is not.
  • Give participants a simple process they can follow to demonstrate empathy.

Course Overview

Empathy is a fundamental skill for building bridges, gaining trust, collaborating, and gaining a new perspective. This workplace empathy workshop explores the science behind empathy and offers practical tools participants can apply to leverage the power of empathy when they are working with clients, customers, vendors, or other employees.

Program Objectives 

At this program’s conclusion, participants should be able to:

  • Apply Business Training Works’ Deliberate Communication Model to their workplace interactions.
  • Explain the basic science of empathy.
  • Practice tactics for improving their capacity for empathy.
  • Identify workplace situations where they should proactively use empathy.
  • Recognize where language falls on an empathy continuum.
  • Apply the SHOES model for showing empathy.
  • Use empathetic language.

The following outline highlights some of the course’s key learning points. As part of your training program, we will modify content as needed to meet your business objectives. Upon request, we will provide you with a copy of the participant materials prior to the session(s).

Workshop Outline 

Deliberate Communication: Choosing Targets

It’s difficult to achieve a communication goal if you don’t know what it is. In this opening segment, we will explore Business Training Works’ Deliberate Communication Model and discuss the importance of setting communication targets, creating a plan to hit those targets, and assessing the extent to which an interaction is successful. Next, we will introduce the use of empathy as a tool for affecting workplace relationships.

Grey Matter: The Neuroscience of Empathy

A propensity for being egocentric is inborn in the human brain. Luckily, there is also a part of the brain called the right supramarginal gyrus that balances self-focus and helps people put themselves in another’s shoes. In this part of the workshop, we’ll look at the neuroscience of empathy from 20,000 feet. We’ll also talk about tactics for building “empathy muscles” when the skill does not come easily.

Lizard Monkey Spock: When Empathy Matters Most

Empathy’s value in communication varies depending on the situation. For instance, in the course performing a routine transaction at a store, a grand display of empathy from a clerk may seem odd or be downright off-putting.  In this part of the training program, we will talk about how to read a situation to determine if intentional empathy is important.

At Home on a Range: The Empathy Continuum

For a variety of reasons, sometimes people attempt empathy but demonstrate something else. This course segment introduces Business Training Works’ Empathy Continuum. After they are familiar with the tool, participants will evaluate a range of phrases and determine the extent to which they are empathetic.

SHOES: Empathy Made Easier

This part of the workshop familiarizes learners with the SHOES framework for practicing empathy. Once participants understand how it works, they will spend time applying it to a range of workplace interactions: initial client intake sessions, client update meetings, employee feedback conversations, email communication, and other situations where empathy could make a difference.

By the conclusion of this course, participants should have several models and frameworks they can apply to leverage the power of empathy in their everyday work.