Johari Window

Johari window

Johari window is a tool and communication model that helps improving interpersonal relationships. This was developed by Jo Luft and Harry Ingham in 1955. It uses two concepts, feedback and disclosure or self-exposure to improve relationships. Exposure concerns the ability of the individual to express feelings and ideas in an open method. Feedback involves the ability of the individual to receive information from others.

The model has four regions that represent basic areas of knowledge or information held by individual and others. The following figure gives those regions.

       

Region 1. Open or arena.

•          This region denotes the information known to self and others as well.

•          Represents the individual’s communication ability that allows him to freely share and receive information with and from others.

•          This ability is the key to a successful interpersonal relationship in an organization.

•          The larger this region, in relationship to the other panes, the more effective the individual  is in dealing with superiors and subordinates.

Region 2. Blind spot.

•          This region represents information known by others—superiors, peers, or subordinates—that is not known to the individual

•          Larger blind spot will result due to over-exposure and neglect of feedback.

•          The person will be confident of his own opinions and likely to expect compliance from others.

•          Will trigger feelings of hostility, insecurity and resentment.

•          Requires to improve listening skills.

Region 3. Façade.

•          This region represents how much information an individual keeps private.

•          Everyone makes conscious or unconscious decisions to withhold certain information from others.

•          This information may relate to personal habits or professional knowledge.

•          With larger façade, the person will attempt to gain control and will have an outward appearance of confidence. Will tend to become isolated from subordinates and colleagues. Will result in distrust.

Region 4. Unknown (dark).

•          This region represents the information unknown to both self and others.

•          Unknown (dark) will be the result of minimal use of both feedback and disclosure.

•          Larger unknown will result in withdrawal and aversion to risk-taking.

•          Will be viewed as indifferent, cold, aloof and indecisive.

Any individual can achieve something, that is limited. Simple arithmetic of ‘one plus one is two’ is not applicable for human brains. The achievement can be unlimited when more than one brain work together. Interdependence is the best to achieve fantastic results. Interdependence is nothing but teaming with others. For a team to become cohesive and effective, interpersonal relations are of prime importance. Improve your interpersonal skills by making use of Johari window.

You can increase your relationship and in turn your effectiveness by increasing your open area. There are two possibilities to achieve this.

1.       By reducing or shrinking the blind area. You can achieve this by soliciting feedback from your team members.

           

Take certain precautions in receiving feedback.

•          Do not allow the feedback to become criticism.

•          Initially people will not be able to give exact feedback.

•          Train the people in giving correct feedback.

•          Discuss the feedback and analyze them to arrive at  the essence. This process will refine the quality of feedback.

•          Take action based on the feedback. This will encourage the feedback provider to come out with more feedbacks.

While receiving the feedback, choose the right attitude.

•          Rationalization or self-analysis.

•          Quick acceptance or data collection.

•          Withdrawal or expressing feelings.

•          Aggression or help seeking.

•          Humour or concern.

•          Generalisation or experimentation.

Make use of the following points while giving feedback.

•          Should be descriptive, not evaluative.

•          Focus should be on behaviour, not on person.

•          Should be data based, specific and not impressionistic.

•          Should be suggestive, not prescriptive.

•          Should be need based & solicited.

•          Should reinforce positive behaviour.

2.       By reducing or shrinking your façade area. This can be achieved by using disclosure or self-exposure. Disclosure is nothing but freely sharing your knowledge. Disclose what is there in your mind to your team members so that they would understand you better. There are two dimensions to self-disclosure: breadth and depth. Both are crucial in developing a fully effective relationship. The range of topics discussed by two individuals is the breadth of disclosure. The degree to which the information revealed is private or personal is the depth of that disclosure. It is easier for breadth to be expanded first. Depth is more difficult to reach, and includes painful memories and more unusual traits that we might hesitate to share with others.

How To Motivate Employees

How to motivate employees

We cannot motivate others. But we can provide an environment that is more conducive for them to get motivated.

No employee will start his daily work with an intention to spoil something. Everybody wants to contribute for the betterment. But they need leadership and support of management to achieve this. We need to explain employees the “why” of their work, detailing its significance and relation to the organizational goal.

Employees will get motivated if their goal is in alignment with the organization. That means they must know why the organization is in existence that is, the vision and mission of the organization. But interestingly, in many organizations many employees don’t have the knowledge of this vision and mission. This may be due to many factors including lack of communication from top management.

To make the employees to get aligned with the vision and mission:

·         Recruit the people with right attitude and inclination towards them

·         Keep refreshing the vision and mission so that all employees become aware of them

Attitude and energy.

People choose to have a negative or positive attitude. They also choose their level of energy and where to focus it. Therefore, employee motivation (empowerment) is a choice as well.

We can categorize employees based on the combination of their attitude and energy level. They are as below.

To create a conducive environment, we must find out what makes an employee tick. So, the first step is to engage with each individual. Aon Consulting did extensive research in employee commitment. They came up with the five drivers of employee motivation known as performance pyramid.

Find out the driver of each employee and work out strategies separately to effectively address their drivers.

Positive, pro-active, forward looking, and focused mangers can inspire the employees work for them. Employees normally don’t leave organizations but managers. So, every manager must understand the importance of their role in engaging the employees. Exercise the following:

·         Explain the employees and make them understand how they affect the bottom line.

·         Encourage them to come out with cost-saving ideas and implement the good ones with due recognition and appreciation.

·         Invite suggestions from them for process improvements.

·         Find out if any of them are aware of customer requirements or customer requests.

·         Ask for their opinions on various important matters of the department.

·         Encourage employees to actively participate in setting objectives and goals for the department.

Asking employees for their input and due respect to the same show that you respect and trust them. It also increases the quality  of decisions being made. Make them understand that though their input is taken in the right spirit the authority to take a final decision lies with you as a manager.

Don’t micromanage your employees. Entrust the works to them with:

·         The exact result (outcome) needed

·         The time frame for the same

·         The attributes of the result (outcome)

·         The clear indication of what will happen in case of failure

·         The instruction to keep you posted on progress; they cannot tell you that they could not accomplish on the target (due) date

·         The assurance that you are always there to help them

·         The confidence that they can reach you anytime if there is a problem or your guidance is needed

Provide your employees two things.

1.       The right working environment, and

2.       The right resources to accomplish their task.

Demand two things from your employees.

1.       The right result in time

2.       The right quality  of the result

Making mistakes.

Allow your employees to make mistakes. People who never try anything, only don’t make mistakes. But make one thing very clear. Nobody is allowed to make the same mistake twice. It is punishable. Whenever they make genuine mistakes shield them from your boss and act as a firewall for them. Have a discussion with the employee and analyse the mistake. Explain him what went wrong and how to avoid the same in future. This way, you will build their confidence and win their trust.

It is important to remember money and fear are only short-term motivators and won’t work with everybody. 

Electric Hazards - How To Control Them

Electric hazards – How to control them.

Since electricity has become a familiar part of our life. And interestingly, we tend to overlook the hazards of electricity and fail to treat it with due respect. Electricity exposes us to electric shock, electrocution, burns, fires, and explosions. Electricity can pass through only conductors and human body is a good conductor.

Electric shock.

Electric current passes through a closed circuit due to a

potential difference which is measured in Volts. This potential difference is maintained between wires and the ground. These wires are known as live wires. The ground potential is always zero. A person gets an electric shock when he interrupts the current path and allows it to pass through his body. This can happen in any one or all of the following ways.

·         When he touches two live wires of a circuit

·         When he touches one live wire standing on ground

·         When he touches any metal body, which is a conductor, which got energised with electricity due to some problem

An electric shock can result in a slight tingling sensation to cardiac arrest. The effect depends on many factors as:

·         The amount of current flowing through the body

·         Duration of the current flow

·         The route the current takes through the body

·         Frequency of the current (Alternating current (AC) only has frequency and direct current (DC) does not. In our country the frequency of electricity is 50 Hz (Cycles per second)

Burns.

Burns are the most common shock-related injury. An electrical accident can result in an electrical burn, arc burn, thermal contact burn, or a combination of burns.

Electrical burns are among the most serious burns and require immediate medical attention. They occur when electric current flows through tissues or bone, generating heat that causes tissue damage.

Arc or flash burns result from high temperatures caused by an electric arc or explosion near the body.

Thermal contact burns are caused when the skin touches hot surfaces of overheated electric conductors, conduits, or other energized equipment. Thermal burns also can be caused when clothing catches on fire, as may occur when an electric arc is produced.

Static electricity.

Static electricity can build up on the surface of an object like polyester saris. This static electricity can discharge to a person under right conditions and cause a shock. Another example is getting an electric shock while touching a car door handle on a cold, relatively dry day. This shock is not as potentially dangerous as normal electricity shock. In work places, with handling of plastic pipes and the like, static electricity can discharge over flammable or combustible materials and can cause explosion. Proper grounding (earthing) and other measures are required to prevent this.

Most of the electrical accidents happen due to the following factors:

·         Unsafe / faulty equipment or unsafe installation

·         Unsafe environment

·         Unsafe act / work practices

Following are some ways to prevent electrical accidents.

·         Use of insulation

·         Guarding

·         Grounding (earthing)

·         Electrical protective devices

·         Safe work practices

Insulators.

Use of insulators such as glass, mica, rubber, pvc, etc are used to cover conductors. These insulators must be suitable for the operating voltage of the system and must withstand environmental impacts. The insulation of wires and cables are colour coded as follows.

For single phase AC supply: Red – Phase, Black – Neutral, and Green – Earth (Ground)

For three phase AC supply: Red, Yellow, and Blue – Three phases, Black – Neutral, and Green – Earth

For DC supply: Red – Positive, and Black – Negative

Guarding.

Guarding involves locating or enclosing electric equipment to avoid people coming into contact with live parts accidentally. Appropriate cautionary signs must be placed at the entrances of electric rooms and guarded locations to alert people and forbid entry to unauthorized people.

Grounding (Earthing).

Grounding is intentionally creating a low resistance path for the current to flow into the earth. This prevents build up of voltages and thereby prevent electrical accident. Though it substantially reduces the risk, there is no guarantee that persons will not get a shock, or injured, or killed by an electrical accident.  

Protection devices.

Fuses are meant for short circuit protection and overload relays are for over current protection. Now MCBs (miniature circuit breakers) are available which combine both short circuit and overload protection.

ELCBs (Earth leakage circuit breakers) are available to protect from shocks. They are available with three sensitivity ratings: 100 mA for domestic applications, 100 mA and 300 mA for industrial applications.

Safe practices.

Refer my earlier post “Safety code – Electrical”  

SWOT Analysis

SWOT analysis

SWOT is an acronym for Strength, Weakness, Opportunity, and Threat. It is a powerful analytical technique which helps you to:

·         Understand your strengths

·         Understand your weaknesses

·         Look for opportunities available and

·         Look at the threats you face.

Of the above four, opportunities and threats are mainly present in the external environment. The SWOT analysis helps an organization to evaluate its internal resources and capabilities. It also helps the organization to make use of the opportunities available and to effectively counter the threats it faces.

This technique can be used by individuals also. The starting point of a successful SWOT analysis is to understand that there are four general objectives, one for each part of the analysis, the goal you wish to achieve.

Ask a few fundamental questions.

While working, include heads from all functional areas, key external stakeholders including suppliers and customers. Keep the group size manageable. Plan well to get everyone’s input and ideas.

STRENGTHS – A strength is a strength if and only if it is present and meets a critical customer need. The customer can be internal or external or both.

• What do you do really well?
• In what product or service areas do you excel?
• What makes you unique in the marketplace?
• What your characteristics are highly regarded?
• What unique resources can you draw on?
• What do others see as your strength?

Answer from your own point of view, your customers’, your teams', and others.

WEAKNESSES – A weakness is a limitation that prevents the organization from achieving its objective.

• What do you not do well? How do you know?
• What needs to be improved? In what way, by whom?
• Are there weaknesses you don’t see but others do?
• What does the team look for that you don’t provide?
• What are your measures of success telling you?
• Are you really prepared to find out?
• Where do you have fewer resources than others?

Answer from your own point of view, your customers’ and others.

OPPORTUNITIES – These relate to any positive or favourable current or future advantage or trend.

• What opportunities would help you become more successful?
• Where would you find them?
• What external changes, events can you take advantage of?  Technology, demographics, legislation, education?
• How can you turn your strength into opportunities?

THREATS – These relate to any unfavourable situation, trend, or change.

• What financial problems do you have?
• Are there internal/external changes that threaten you?
• What do you know about your competitors?
• Are they successful? Why? How?
• What obstacles impede your progress?
• Which obstacles can be dealt with or overcome?
• What threats do your weaknesses expose you to?

 Record the answers in a table of the following format.

Strengths	Weaknesses
Opportunities	Threats

 Now, take the strategic factors identified as strengths and weaknesses. Take each and then rank them across some criteria relevant to the organization. The ranking matrix might look like the one below:

Strengths	1	2	3	4	5
A B C D E
Weakness	1	2	3	4	5
A B C D E

Now, work out jointly, the strategies to turn:

·         Threat into opportunities

·         Weaknesses into strengths