NEEDS ASSESSMENT KNOWLEDGE BASE

JOHARIWINDOW
A PPLICATION TO N EEDS A SSESSMENT F INDINGS PURPOSE
Inthecontextofneedsassessmentfindings,thepurposeoftheJohariWindowistoexaminemultiple perspectivesonthefindingsofyourassessment,exploringtheboundariesbetweenbothyourperspective andtheperspectivesofothers.

NEEDSASSESSMENTAPPLICATIONS
Needs(i.e.,gapsbetweencurrentanddesiredresults)areviewedfrommanyperspectiveswithinany organizationandthiscanmakethefindingsofanassessmentchallengingtoprioritize.Forexample,when gapsbetweencurrentanddesiredresultsareidentifiedtheprioritizationgiventothosediscrepancieswill routinelyvarybetweenthoseindividualsdirectlyassociatedwiththeperformanceandthosethatare dependentontheresultsfortheirworkwithintheorganization.Youcan,however,usetheJohariWindow exercisetoassistyouinidentifyingtheprioritiesofotherswithintheorganizationaswellascommunicating yourpriorities.WhileJohariWindowwasoriginallyconceivedasaselfhelptooldevelopedby psychologist1,byidentifyingtheprioritiesofdifferentstakeholderswithintheorganizationyoucanthen haveopendiscussionsaboutthestrengthsandweaknessesofcompetingperspectiveswhenmakingthe difficultdecisionsaboutwhichneedswillreceivepriorityandwhatstepswillbetakeninordertoimprove performance.

ADVANTAGESANDDISADVANTAGES
ADVANTAGES
TheJohariWindowexercisecanensurethatmultipleperspectivesareconsideredwhenprioritizingthe findingsofyourneedsassessment. TheresultsofaJohariWindowexercisecanhelpyoucommunicatewithotherswhenprioritizingneeds andidentifyingappropriateinterventions. YoucanusetheJohariWindowexercisetoexpandonthefindingoftheneedsassessmenttoalso includeinformationonwhatpreferencesdifferinggroupsmayhaveonwhatshouldbedonein responsetoidentifiedneeds.

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DISADVANTAGES
TheJohariWindowtechniquecanbemorelimitedthanothertoolsortechniques(e.g.,SWOTor brainstorming)forgeneratingideasaboutwhattodonext. TheJohariWindowexerciserequiresthatallstakeholdersvaluetheperspectivesandpotential differencesbetweengroupswithintheorganization.

GENERALPROCEDURES
1. Createalistofeithertheneeds(i.e.,gapsinresults)thatwereidentifiedintheneedsassessment,oralist ofthepotentialperformanceinterventionsthatyouareconsideringasrecommendationsbasedonthe needsidentifiedduringtheassessment.Itisbestnottomixthetwo,needsandinterventions,therefore ifyouwanttogainperspectivesonboththeprioritizationoftheneedsandtheprioritizationofpotential interventionsyoushouldconducttwoseparateJohariWindowexercises. 2. Identifyrepresentativesfromothergroupsrepresentingtheperspectiveswithintheprogram,project,or organization(e.g.,managers,individualsinacountryoffice,orothersoutsideoftheWorldBank). 3. Providetherepresentativeswiththelistofidentifiedneeds(orpotentialperformanceinterventions)and askthemtoprioritizethembasedontheirperspective. 4. Prioritizethesamelistofidentifiedneeds(orpotentialperformanceinterventions)fromyour perspectiveaswell.Ifyouareworkingwithateamontheneedsassessmentthenthiscanbedoneasa teamthroughavarietyofgroupdecisionmakingtechniques(e.g.,nominalgrouporstrawpolls). 5. Withprioritylistfromeachgroup,placethehighestprioritydataelementsintotheJohariWindow matrix.Youcanincludeyourprioritiesincomparisontotheprioritiesofanothergroup(seeFigure One).Oryoucancomparetheprioritiesfromdifferinggroups,leavingoutyourperspective(seeFigure Two). 6. ReviewthecompleteJohariWindowmatrix,alongwithrecommendationsofhowtoexpandtheneeds assessmenttoaddressgapsbetweenwhatisknownandunknownfromeachperspective,withyour needsassessmentpartners.Basedonthefindingsanddiscussions,planyourneedsassessmentdata collectionandanalysisprocesses.

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NEEDS ASSESSMENT KNOWLEDGE BASE

Figure1:NeedsAssessmentapplicationofJohariWindow(forcomparisonwithyourperspective)

PrioritiesfromYour Perspective Prioritiesfromthe Managers Perspectives NotPriorities fromthe Managers Perspectives

NotPrioritiesfromYour Perspective

Figure2:NeedsAssessmentapplicationofJohariWindow(forbetweengroupcomparison)

Priorityto Staff Priorityto Managers NotaPriorityto Managers

NotaPriorityto Staff

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Figure3:JohariWindowExample(withbetweengroupcomparisonofneeds)

Priorityto Staff Priorityto Managers NotaPriorityto Managers

Unitperformanceon annualreviews. Lowmotivationofnew staffmembers Littleperformance feedbackfrommanagers

NotaPriorityto Staff
Lengthoftimetocomplete projectswithintheunit Numberofdaysrequiredfor newstafftoreachadequate performance

Figure4:JohariWindowExample(withbetweengroupcomparisonofperformanceinterventions)

Priorityto Staff Priorityto Managers NotaPriorityto Managers

Performancespecific training Redesignednew employeeorientation Improvedmentoring program Quarterlyperformance feedbacksystem

NotaPriorityto Staff
Newhiringstandards Renewedemphasison standardizedinterviewing procedures Motivationalworkshops

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NEEDS ASSESSMENT KNOWLEDGE BASE

TIPSFORSUCCESS
Beforegettingstarted,discusswithparticipantsthespecificgoalsyouarehopingtoaccomplishthrough theJohariWindowexercise. Workwithgroupmemberstoincludefactorsinallfourquadrantsofthematrix.Leavingquadrantsof thematrixemptywilllimityourabilitytomakequalitydecisions.

REFERENCESANDRESOURCES
BeachE.K.(1982)Johariswindowasaframeworkforneedsassessment.JournalofContinuingEducationin Nursing.13(1),2832.
1

Seehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johari_window

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