Joe and Harry and You - part I

Some years ago, Joe Luft and Harry Ingham came up with something they called the Johari Window. Their work can really help us to identify and prioritise our development needs in the 'interpersonal relationships' area. Here are just ten areas of interest to Joe and Harry - these may also be of interest to you:

1. How well do you get on with colleagues, customers and bosses?
2. How honest are they with you?
3. How genuine?
4. How fake?
5. If others thought you were rubbish would they tell you?
6. If you thought other people were rubbish would you tell them?
7. Would you give and take such feedback on these types of tricky issues?
8. Do people assume that you know all about your strengths and weaknesses?
9. Do you have blind spots and how would you know if you are blind to them?
10. Do you test the boundaries and the potential of your working relationships?

A window into your world

In Part II, I will give specific tips on tackling these ten tricky questions, but first let us consider the Johari Window itself. It can be partially described as a 'window into your world'. When we work together we look through (your) window at you, but you decide how much we learn about you (your open window) and how much you keep hidden from us (your hidden window).

For example, you might be very 'open' about past work experiences, but you keep 'hidden' all the rows you may currently be having with your spouse. We are all different - some people may want to keep their work experience a secret, but are happy to chat to anyone about the row they had last night with their spouse.

Joe and Harry came up with one big window containing four inter-related windows. One being OPEN, one being HIDDEN, one they called BLIND and one they called UNKNOWN.

OPEN

Through the OPEN part of the window, we see those aspects of your behaviour and your life that you are happy for people to know about. You know about what goes on in your life and, because you are open about it, so do others.

So what?: People generally like us to be open with them. They feel trusted when we are open. They like knowing where they stand with us and with other colleagues.

Questions you might ask are: Does the boss know I want promotion? How can I get a feedback contract with everyone at work so that giving and receiving feedback at work is a more comfortable experience?

HIDDEN

What goes on inside the HIDDEN part of the window is NOT visible to other people. It represents those aspects of your behaviour and your life that you know all about but, because you keep quiet about such things, no one else knows about them - or so you think. This is your HIDDEN window.

So what?: The problem with trusting in the HIDDEN window is that many people can tell if we are not being open with them. They know when we are 'putting on a brave face' or hiding behind a facade of good humour. Many of us are not aware that our facade has become transparent.

People can see right through us and might even regard our behaviour as fake or insincere.

Questions you might ask are: What would be appropriate for me to disclose to others - perhaps the fears and concerns I have - fears that others might share? How can I get a feedback contract (as above) so that talking about concerns at work is a more comfortable experience?

BLIND

What goes on inside the BLIND part of the window, however, is visible to other people, but NOT to you. Like most people, you will probably have a number of blind spots about aspects of your behaviour and your life. For example, you may think you get on well with everyone at work when, in fact, only one or two people like you! Ouch!

So what?: We may only find out about our blind spots when gossip about us gets back to us or when someone has the grace to tell us quietly that we either: have a problem; or our facade (see HIDDEN above) has become transparent and people can see right through us.

Questions you might ask are: What blind spots have I had in the past and how did I find out about them? Has my facade become transparent and can people perhaps see right through me?

UNKNOWN

Finally, what goes on inside the UNKNOWN part of the window is NOT visible to you and NOT visible to other people. This is your UNKNOWN window and it represents what you do not know about yourself and what others do not know about you.

So what?: This window can become dominant and problematic in your life if you never make disclosures (you keep quiet all the time) and you never step out of your comfort zone. You may never try anything new or ever seek to fulfil your (unknown) potential at work.

Questions you might ask are: Have I asked my boss how I can get the training I need to get better work and then, one day, a promotion? How can I get started on a professional development plan, visit other venues, try things out that are new to me etc?

Pitchcare and other industry associations all offer training and development for people at all levels in the turfcare and groundcare sectors - we have no excuse!

In Part II - I will give you specific tips on tackling the ten tricky questions above. In the meantime, good luck with your projects and your training and development this winter.

You can still get supervisory training this winter

If you are:
- Untrained as a supervisor
- Aspire to be a supervisor in the future,
- In need of a refresher

LANTRA accredited Pitchcare workshops this winter (that earn BIGGA CPD points), and are relevant to you as a groundsman or greenkeeper, include:
- Enhanced Communication Skills - on 25 February 2016
- Problem Solving & Decision Making - on 24 March 2016

You can take one workshop or both of them. You can join the hundreds of other groundsmen and greenkeepers who have been helped by Pitchcare to become key players in their own organisations.

For more details, including how to book your place on all Pitchcare workshops visit the website www.groundsmantraining.co.uk or contact Chris Johnson, Pitchcare's Training Co-ordinator at chris.johnson@pitchcare.com