Blog

Updated August 1st 2023

I recently lead a programme on creating High Performing Teams, and our session turned to the concept of ‘Johari’s Window’. In case you haven’t heard of this concept, it was created by two American psychologists, Joseph Luft and Harrington Ingham in 1955 and is a technique used to help people better understand their relationship with themselves as well as others.

The ultimate goal of the Johari Window is to enlarge the Open Area or the Arena Area in our picture here (i.e. the area known to self and others), without disclosing information that is too personal (i.e. so personal that it makes you uncomfortable). The Open Area is argued to be the most important quadrant, as, generally, the more people know about each other, the more productive, cooperative, and effective they are likely to be when working together.

One of the gentlemen attending the High Performing Teams programme, a managing director of an SME, mentioned that he does not feel comfortable sharing personal information with colleagues (e.g. what he had got up to at the weekend) because he doesn’t want to make them feel uncomfortable, e.g. feel like their life isn’t as prosperous as his. He also doesn’t expect them to share personal information and so keeps all conversations work-related. It’s an interesting argument.

Kinjerski and Skrypnek (2006) have explored what they term ‘Spirit at work’. ‘Spirit at work’ is described as having high feelings of wellbeing, feeling like your work matters and feeling connected to your colleagues; it helps provide meaning and fulfilment in work.  These researchers found a number of factors that contribute to ‘Spirit at work’. We will come back to all of them in future blogs, but what’s most pertinent now based on this gentleman’s argument is the following; The importance of having a sense of community among workers.

Those with high ‘Spirit at work’ have positive relationships in work that is promoted in their workplace. They develop personal relationships, they work cooperatively and they have a social life and share ‘fun times’ together.

According to the participants who have taken part in Kinjerski & Skrypneks’ various pieces of research, personal relationships are important because people know each other as people, as well as colleagues. They connect and share information with each other and they support one another. The work environment becomes like a family where there are strong connections, which provide a sense of belonging to a community. Participants in the study explained that when these personal relationships are developed it helps them to work more effectively as a team. Those who experience greater affection and caring from their co-workers perform better in their job.

There is a whole host of research showing that those who experience greater affection and caring from their co-workers perform better in their job. Barsade & O’Neill (2014a) conducted a longitudinal study looking at the emotional culture of employees and how this affects the person and their work performance. They created a theory around the culture of ‘Companionate Love’ and how this influences people. ‘Companionate Love’ they assert, is important and can greatly influence the workplace. It involves warmth, affection and connection; it is less intense and not passionate or romantic. It is linked to interdependence between people and having sensitivity towards others. The more employees feel this type of companionate love at work, the more likely they are to be engaged in work.

Over the coming weeks, consider the Open Area of Johari’s Window and ask yourself if you are developing the personal relationships and connection that lead to ‘Spirit at work’ and ‘Companionate love’? If you are not, consider the blocks (internal and external) to you from doing so and keep posted for more about Leadership, ‘Spirit at work’, Johari’s Window and more.