What Is the Johari Window?

Transcript

[Presenter] How well do your team members know one another? Better yet, how well do you know yourself?

You'd think working together almost every day, you'd have learned just about everything there is to know about your team. But perhaps not.

Lack of communication and trust keeps many people from bringing their entire authentic selves to work. And, without trust, team performance is bound to slip. Meaningful connections, and in-depth knowledge of everyone's strengths and weaknesses, is crucial to running a productive and happy team.

That's where the Johari Window comes in.

This simple tool can help you and your team members to open up, develop better self-awareness and improve how you communicate. But how exactly does it work? Let's take a closer look.

First, examine the positive personality traits listed in our accompanying article. Select which of these characteristics you feel best describe you. Are you dependable, clever, organized, for example?

Next, ask one or two team members to examine the same list and select which words they feel best describe you.

Now, it's time to build your Johari Window!

Open Area

Draw a four square grid, like the one here, and fill in each quadrant. Start with the Open Area. These are the things you know about yourself and that others know about you. Add any qualities that both you and your teammates chose.

Blind Area

In the top-right quadrant, write the qualities that only your colleagues chose. This is your Blind Area, and it represents the parts of yourself that you may not be aware of, but that others pick up on.

For example, perhaps you hadn't considered yourself a patient person, but your teammates do.

Hidden Qualities

The bottom-left quadrant is all about your Hidden qualities that your colleagues don't know about. So add qualities that only you selected.

For example, maybe your day-to-day role is particularly admin heavy, so your team hasn't seen your creative side, even though you believe this is one of your best strengths.

Unknown Area

Finally, in the bottom-right quadrant include any characteristics that neither you nor your colleague selected, but that you believe may apply now that you've had time to reflect. This is the Unknown Area and can represent a wealth of untapped potential.

Now take a look at your completed Johari Window. Are there any areas that are busier than others?

The ideal Johari Window has a large Open Area. This means you're honest, self-aware, and willing to collaborate with your colleagues. But, if one of the other quadrants seems to be competing, now is the time to look deeper and tackle any underlying issues.

For instance, if you have a large Hidden Area, this may mean that you struggle to promote your unique strengths, or haven't yet found opportunities to practice them at work.

Alternatively, a large Blind Area might suggest that you're unaware of how your behavior affects other people. If this is the case, work on building your emotional intelligence so you can improve your awareness of other people as well as yourself.

Being open and self-aware is critical to minimizing your Hidden, Blind and Unknown Areas, so don't be afraid to have honest conversations with your teammates and ask for feedback.

ou could even carry out the Johari Window exercise as a team, where each person takes time to reflect, complete and share their findings. But this relies on creating a safe, open, and trusting space that allows everyone to be completely honest – with themselves and others.

Now, let's recap.

The Johari Window is a tool you can use to develop better self-awareness. It's made up of four quadrants: the Open Area, the Blind Area, the Hidden Area, and the Unknown Area.

You can fill out your own, or do so with the help of your team, to identify your strengths, confront your conscious and unconscious biases, and learn to be more open and receptive.