A Johari window is an excellent exercise which can be done with the help of two or more people in order to improve a relationship or interpersonal communication. This methodology is extremely helpful in creating a proper channel of communication and identifying and bridging the gaps. This exercise will also conduct an analysis based on Johari Window technique and will also interpret the results, in order to create a better understanding of a chosen personal relationship.
I have met my best friend Roger and have discussed with him about our friendship and how close he has been to me for a long time. On the same day, I completed the activity one of the exercise and noted down eight different facts which I think I have disclosed to him in the past few days. The points that I made a note of, are as follows:
a) I am planning to go out for two days for a weekend trip soon
b) I will be soon keeping a dog as pet
c) I have not been very positive about my career in the last few days
d) I have stopped drinking and have decided not to start it again
e) My driver’s license is lost and I need to get it reissued
f) I have left non-veg food for a week or two as advised by a doctor
g) I have formatted my laptop due to a virus last week
h) I went to buy a new bag however didn’t find a good one so plan to do that later.
This activity helped me to trace the things that I feel I have disclosed to my friend and also gave me an understanding of factors which are not very intimate or secret for me.
The next step for me was to note down five different facts which I think are my secrets and I have not disclosed them to Roger. The secret is that I identified are mentioned below:
Activity 2
a) My credit card bills have gone high and I am trying to arrange for a settlement
b) I started smoking for a while
c) I do not like to watch horror movies
d) I am willing to relocate after my studies are over.
e) I have not had home cooked food since the last few days.
During the activity to, I did a self-realisation of the factors which are quite important to be however still I want them to be secrets and have not revealed them to Roger, however I find no harm in disclosing them to him now.
I met Roger again and explained him about the Johari window and also explained the overall process which is being done. My next step was to identify the things that he knows about me, but that he thinks I probably don't know about myself. Hence, I requested him to advise me about this and he promised to get back to me tomorrow with all the information that he thinks he has.
a) I have procrastinated my work a lot since the last two weeks
b) My health has not been good for a while possibly because of eating outside
c) I have lost interest in my hobbies and am feeling low since few days.
d) I need someone to counsel me with my current situations.
Roger was very supportive after learning about the Johari exercise and it was very fruitful to understand that what my perception in terms of various factors is. I did my work performance was something which was gearing and it also seemed that I looked as if I am depressed since the last two weeks. This activity helped me to identify the factors which seemed to be true about me and changed or impacted the perception of my friend.
Roger calls up, and requests to meet and then he provided a list of all the things that he thinks he knows about me however I don't know about myself. Mentioned below are the points that he has mentioned. During the same meeting I also disclosed the list that I made initially during this exercise and took his feedback of whether he knows about all of them and agrees. Roger mentioned that apart from the other points the fact that I had formatted my laptop and I was willing to buy a new bag were not clear to him. This clearly shows, that although I thought that I had communicated myself clearly about the other two things in the past, however my friend was not able to grasp it properly and there must have been a communication barrier to which it was not adequately communicated.
This activity revealed positive results as there were various factors which are think I had communicated to my friend were well informed however it seems that there is some kind of communication gap which occurs at times due to which it is difficult for my friend to understand, and therefore I can identify that there is a clear need for an improvement in my communication methodology, and I must reconfirm before understanding that a particular fact has been communicated to anyone that a talk to.
I had a long discussion with Roger about the overall activity and it came out that, he was aware of the fact that my health is not good even though I did not disclose it to him directly. He clearly told me that I am suffering due to my eating habits and as compared to my understanding it is true that I have been advised by the doctor to have home cooked food as far as possible. Roger was astonished to know about few secrets which I told him during this exercise and mentioned that even after staying close to me he was unable to know about that factor which means that I am not very keen to reveal my intimacy even with closest of friends. This was the last activity and it was very helpful to understand that the pair the overall results of data from the exercise.
The takeaway from this exercise is that I'm good at keeping secrets and at the same time there are lots of things which I think are clearly communicated to other people however they are not, hence I must improve on my communication and should be more alert about the information that they share.
