Johari Window

What Is Johari Window?

The Johari Window is a psychological tool for developing self-knowledge and building effective communication in any teams. Developed by psychologists Joseph Luft and Harrington Ingham in the 1950s, this method was used to understand the relationships between the people through a four-quadrant grid.

The Johari Window consists of four quadrants: Open, Blind, Undercover, and Secret. This quadrant dealt with the personal data that was both known to the individual and other people as well. The blind Blindness quarter addresses the knowledge that others know about the individual but of which the individual is unaware. The Keeping this information to themselves is called The Hidden quadrant of the individual. The Unknown quadrant represents the data which both the individual and other persons don`t know.

Through expanding the Open quadrant through self-disclosure and feedback, people can increase self-awareness, less,blind spots and improve their interpersonal relation. It widely applied in counseling, team-building exercises, and personal development workshops, and it is used to foster communication and understanding between and among individuals.

Example

An application of the Johari Window can be demonstrated using an example of a team-building exercise that involves other members giving feedback to their peers. Therefore, employees may bring up matters such as the other's criticism during a feedback session. This is something that the recipient may not have realized before (Blind quadrant). And with that new knowledge, the person can start on the process of modifying their way of communication. In such a way another team member might tell a secret that is difficult to share - a problem of maintaining work/life balance (Hidden quadrant), causing positive feedback from others. That is done through showing up and providing feedback, and as a whole having an expanded Open quadrant, then trust, understanding, and group work are evolved.