From Racks to Rapport: Building Empathy into IT Consulting Culture
Baking empathy directly into the process
We’ve talked about the historical blind spots, the "human bugs" we've all encountered, and why our industry has a tough time with emotional intelligence. But knowing a problem exists is only half the battle. The real work is in the debugging. The question is: how do you actually build empathy into a culture that's historically been focused on logic, efficiency, and hardware?
It's not about forcing people to hug or hold hands in the server room. It’s about building new habits and protocols, just like you would for a technical process. It's about making empathy a core part of the system, not an optional feature.
So, where do you start? Let's look at a few places to begin.
The Daily Huddle as a Diagnostic Tool
I’ve been in a couple of organizations that relied on daily huddles to keep things moving and understand the goals of the day. In both cases, these huddles were often the only face time I had with coworkers in remote locations. Having a daily stand-up or team sync is a great opportunity to foster connection.
If you’re already doing this, think about the cadence. Is it a bland list of "I did this yesterday, I'm doing this today, and here are my KPIs" that becomes so repetitive that people start to tune you out (or worse, hold sidebar conversations in chat) and forget what was announced? If so, you're missing a massive opportunity. A truly empathetic huddle isn't just a status or metrics update; it's a diagnostic tool for the human system. Instead of just listing tasks, try asking questions like:
"What is the most important thing you must get done today?"
"What's a win you're celebrating from yesterday?"
"Is there anything blocking you that a teammate could help with?"
These simple shifts open the door for people to voice frustration, get help without asking for it directly, and build a sense of shared success. You're not just tracking tasks; you're taking the team's emotional temperature.
Documentation as a Human-Centered Endeavor
Documentation is a rite of passage for every IT professional. We all know how frustrating it is to inherit a project with no documentation, or worse, useless documentation. But good documentation isn't just about technical accuracy (what the thing does). Truly empathetic documentation is about who it serves.
Think about the next person to read it. Is it a junior teammate who needs a step-by-step guide? Is it a client who needs a high-level overview? Is it your future self who will have completely forgotten why you chose this specific vendor? Regardless, the audience may be the most important part of the writing process.
By adding a "Who is this for?" and a "Why did we do it this way?" section to your docs, you’re baking empathy directly into the process. You’re building a foundation of understanding for the next person who has to work on the system. It's the ultimate act of paying it forward.
Code Reviews and Peer Reviews as a Learning Opportunity
In our world, peer reviews can be fraught with tension. We often focus on what's "wrong," pointing out inefficiencies or errors in someone's work. This can feel like a personal critique rather than a collaborative effort.
Instead of just pointing out a flawed network diagram, try framing your feedback as a question: "I'm curious about this part of the diagram. Could you walk me through the logic here?" This approach puts the focus on understanding, not just correcting. It's about learning together and building a better solution, rather than making someone feel like their work is flawed. The same goes for accepting feedback; see it as a chance to patch a vulnerability in your own knowledge.
Don’t just give your documentation or code a “thumbs up” to keep the machine churning. Thoughtful (but precise) feedback goes a long way to ignite exponential growth.
It's a Practice, Not a Project
Building empathy into a tech culture is not a one-time project you can check off a list. It's an ongoing practice, a set of habits you have to build every single day. It starts small, with tiny shifts in how we communicate, how we document, and how we interact with each other. By recognizing that the human system is the most critical and complex one we'll ever work with, we can start to build more resilient teams and stronger relationships, one empathetic action at a time.