Effective communication skills are instrumental in achieving personal and professional success, including getting hired, working with clients, leading people, securing new business etc.
A very useful tool to enhance your communication skills is by using the Johari Window. You can use this model a person or amongst a team.
This model was invented in the 1950s by Joseph Luft and Harry Ingram, to describe the different levels of awareness that exist when communicating.
They developed a 2×2 matrix to indicate that there are certain things we know about ourselves, and certain things we do not know about ourselves. In parallel, there are certain things others know and do not know, leading to the following model:
Note that the 4 zones can change in size depending on the topic you are conferring and the relationship with your counterpart.
The more self-aware you are, the bigger your left zones will be (‘Open’ and ‘Hidden’) and the smaller your right zones (‘Blind’ and ‘Unknown’) are.
When the information is in the ‘Open’ zone, it is known for all communication parties and enables communication in optima forma.
The ‘Blind’ zone increases the complexity of communication, because others know something about you that you don’t know. You can improve this by actively soliciting information (feedback or feedforward). Shrinking this zone by actively asking about it, will lead to improved communication and trust.
The ‘Hidden’ zone is when information is intentionally withheld. More information will be disclosed once the trust grows, resulting in a smaller ‘Hidden’ zone (and bigger ‘Open’ zone).
The ‘Unknown’ quadrant represents information that is not yet available. This can be learned through self-development and obtaining new experiences. Pro-actively doing this, will result in a smaller ‘Unknown’ zone and greater self-awareness.
As a person, the Johari Window is for example particularly useful when speaking for a large crowd. Intentionally decreasing your ‘Hidden’ zone will help you to build rapport with the audience.
For teams, the Johari Window is extremely useful to stimulate communications and develop strong teams, based on transparency and trust.
If you are interested in decreasing your ‘Unknown’ quadrant or increasing your self-awareness, don’t hesitate to get in touch!
Photo by Icons8 Team on Unsplash
Effective communication skills are instrumental in achieving personal and professional success, including getting hired, working with clients, leading people, securing new business etc.
A very useful tool to enhance your communication skills is by using the Johari Window. You can use this model a person or amongst a team.
This model was invented in the 1950s by Joseph Luft and Harry Ingram, to describe the different levels of awareness that exist when communicating.
They developed a 2×2 matrix to indicate that there are certain things we know about ourselves, and certain things we do not know about ourselves. In parallel, there are certain things others know and do not know, leading to the following model:
Note that the 4 zones can change in size depending on the topic you are conferring and the relationship with your counterpart.
The more self-aware you are, the bigger your left zones will be (‘Open’ and ‘Hidden’) and the smaller your right zones (‘Blind’ and ‘Unknown’) are.
When the information is in the ‘Open’ zone, it is known for all communication parties and enables communication in optima forma.
The ‘Blind’ zone increases the complexity of communication, because others know something about you that you don’t know. You can improve this by actively soliciting information (feedback or feedforward). Shrinking this zone by actively asking about it, will lead to improved communication and trust.
The ‘Hidden’ zone is when information is intentionally withheld. More information will be disclosed once the trust grows, resulting in a smaller ‘Hidden’ zone (and bigger ‘Open’ zone).
The ‘Unknown’ quadrant represents information that is not yet available. This can be learned through self-development and obtaining new experiences. Pro-actively doing this, will result in a smaller ‘Unknown’ zone and greater self-awareness.
As a person, the Johari Window is for example particularly useful when speaking for a large crowd. Intentionally decreasing your ‘Hidden’ zone will help you to build rapport with the audience.
For teams, the Johari Window is extremely useful to stimulate communications and develop strong teams, based on transparency and trust.
If you are interested in decreasing your ‘Unknown’ quadrant or increasing your self-awareness, don’t hesitate to get in touch!
Photo by Icons8 Team on Unsplash
