The Johari Window is shown as a four-quadrant grid (See the grid under "RESOURCES NEEDED")

The four quadrants are:

This quadrant represents the things that you know about yourself, and the things that others know about you. This includes your behavior, knowledge, skills, attitudes, and "public" history.

This quadrant represents things about you that you aren't aware of, but that are known by others.

This can include simple information that you do not know, or it can involve deep issues (for example, feelings of inadequacy, incompetence, unworthiness, or rejection), which are often difficult for individuals to face directly, and yet can be seen by others.

This quadrant represents things that you know about yourself, but that others don't know.

This last quadrant represents things that are unknown by you, and are unknown by others.

The ultimate goal of the Johari Window is to enlarge the Open Area, without disclosing information that is too personal. The Open Area is the most important quadrant, as, generally, the more people know about each other, the more productive, cooperative, and effective they'll be when working together.

The process of enlarging the Open Area quadrant is called "self-disclosure," and it's a give-and-take process that takes place between a single person and the people that she/he is interacting with.

As a single person shares information, her/his Open Area expands vertically and her/his Hidden Area gets smaller. As people on the group provide feedback to the single person about what they know or see about her/him, her/his Open Area expands horizontally, and her/his Blind Area gets smaller.

Done well, the process of give and take, sharing, and open communication builds trust within the group.

People who have a large Open Area are usually very easy to talk to, they communicate honestly and openly with others, and they get along well with a group. People who have a very small Open Area are difficult to talk to, they seem closed off and uncommunicative, and they often don't work well with others, because they're not trusted.

Other people might have a large Blind Area, with many issues that they haven't identified or dealt with yet. However, others can see these issues clearly. These people might have low self-esteem, or they may even have anger issues when working with others.

There are two key ideas behind the tool:

By explaining the idea of the Johari Window, the trainer can help group members to understand the value of self-disclosure, and she/he can encourage them to give, and accept, constructive feedback.

Done sensitively, this can help people build better, more trusting relationships with one another, solve issues, and work more effectively as a team.

At first glance, the Johari Window may look like a complex tool, but it's actually very easy to understand with just a little effort. As such, it provides a visual reference that people can use to look at their own character, and it illustrates the importance of sharing, being open, and accepting feedback from others.