NEEDS ASSESSMENT KNOWLEDGE BASE

JOHARIWINDOW
A PPLICATIONTO N EEDS A SSESSMENT P LANNING

PURPOSE
Whenusedforneedsassessmentplanning,thepurposeoftheJohariWindowistoexaminemultiple
perspectivesofplanningissues(forinstance,datacollectiontechniques,prioritytasks,potentialdata
sources);exploringtheboundariesofbothyourperspectiveandtheperspectivesofothers.

NEEDSASSESSMENTAPPLICATIONS
Successfulneedsassessmentrelyonmultipleperspectivesinordertoensurethattheprocessisaccurately
capturingbothwhatresultsmustbeaccomplishedandthestatusofcurrentachievements.WhileJohari
Windowwasoriginallyconceivedasaselfhelptooldevelopedbypsychologist1,modifiedapplicationsof
thistoolcanalsohelpusviewourneedsassessmentsfrommultipleperspectives.Withinaneeds
assessmentJohariWindowoffersyouatoolforidentifyingtheboundariesofdata,information,and/or
knowledgefromdifferingperspectivesinordertoensurethattheneedsassessmentisattainingfindings
thatrepresentsystemicperspectives.UseJohariWindowto(a)planforasuccessfulneedsassessment,(b)
verifytheboundariesofthedatayouhavecollected,or(c)communicatewithothersaboutwhat
informationisnecessaryinordertoensurevaliddecisionscanbemadebasedontheneedsassessment
findings.

ADVANTAGESANDDISADVANTAGES

ADVANTAGES
TheJohariWindowtechniqueensuresthatmultipleperspectivesareconsideredwithinthecontextof
theneedsassessment.
ThroughaJohariWindowexercise,youcanexpanddiscussionsofwhatinformationshouldbecollected
duringyourneedsassessment,theprocessesusedinyourassessment,and/ortheavailableresourcesfor
collectinginformationnecessarytomakedecisions.

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

WBI EVALUATION GROUP (2007)

NEEDS ASSESSMENT KNOWLEDGE BASE

GENERALPROCEDURES
1. Identifyalistofdataandinformationthatarerequiredtocompletetheneedsassessment.Forinstance,
unitperformancedata,individualperformancedata,surveyresults,focusgroupperspectiveson
performanceexpectations,trainingevaluationsforthelastyear,longtermstrategicobjectives,360
degreefeedbackdatafrommanagers,orotherdatathatwillberequiredtomakeappropriatedecisions
duringthecausalanalysisandrecommendationsstagesoftheneedsassessment.
2. Approachmembersfromgroupsthatmayhavedifferingperspectiveandprovidetheminformationon
thegeneralgoalsandcontextoftheneedsassessment.Thesegroupscouldrepresenttheperspectivesof
managers,individualsinacountryofficeorsector,orothersoutsideoftheWorldBank.Askmembersof
eachgrouptoprovideyouwiththeirperspectivesonwhatinformationisrequiredtocompletea
comprehensiveneedsassessment.
3. Createalistoftherequireddataandinformationelementsfrombothyourperspectiveandthe
perspectivesofothers.Thisshouldbeacomprehensivelistofallthedifferenttypesandsourcesofdata
andinformationthatmayprovideusefulguidancetotheneedsassessmentandthelaterdecisions
associatedwiththeneedsassessmentfindings.
4. Selectfivetotenoftheelementsthatareofthehighestpriorityforyouincompletingtheneeds
assessment.Ifyouareworkingwithateamontheneedsassessmentthenthiscanbedoneasateam
throughavarietyofgroupdecisionmakingtechniques(e.g.,nominalgrouporstrawpolls).
5. Gobacktothosewhoprovidedyouwithaninitiallistofthedataandinformationthattheyperceivedas
criticaltotheneedsassessmentandaskthemselectfivetotenthattheywouldrankasthehighest
priorityfortheneedsassessment.Theyshouldselectfromthecompletelistofpotentialdataelements,
includingyourlist,theirlist,andthelistsprovidedbyotherswithdifferentperspectives.
6. Withprioritylistfromeachgroup(includingyourown),placethehighestprioritydataelementsinto
theJohariWindowmatrix(seeFigureOne).Thegroups(individuallyand/orcollectively)who
providedalternativeperspectiveswillrepresenttheperspectivesofOtherswithintheJohariWindow
exercise;whileyour(oryourteams)perspectiveisalsocapturedbyyourprioritization.Forexample,
priorityitemsthatareonyourlist,butnotofthelistfromtheothergroup,goinquadrantC.Likewise,
priorityitemsthatareonthelistofothersbutnotonyourlistgoinquadrantB,andsoforth.
7. AsyoucompleteeachquadrantoftheJohariWindowmatrixanalyzetheinformationtodeterminewhat
additionalstepsshouldbetakenduringtheneedsassessmenttoensurethatyouhavesufficient
informationformakingdecisions(seeanexampleinFigure2).
8. ReviewthecompleteJohariWindowmatrix,alongwithrecommendationsofhowtoexpandtheneeds
assessmenttoaddressgapsbetweenwhatisknownandunknownfromeachperspective,withyour
needsassessmentpartners.Basedonthefindingsanddiscussions,planyourneedsassessmentdata
collectionandanalysisprocesses.

WBI EVALUATION GROUP (2007)

NEEDS ASSESSMENT KNOWLEDGE BASE

Figure1:NeedsAssessmentapplicationofJohariWindow

Priorityto NotaPriorityto
You You

Priorityto
Othersinthe A B
Organization

NotPriorityto
Othersinthe C D
Organization

Figure2:JohariWindowExample

Priorityto NotaPriorityto
You You

Priorityto Resultsfromafocusgroup Informationthatwasnt

Othersinthe withemployees sharedinafocusgroupdue
Unitperformancedata toofficepolitics
Organization
Performanceobjectivesof Individualperformance
WBIprogram evaluationswithinunits

NotaPriorityto Informationfromemployee Datafromcountryoffices

Othersinthe surveys thatwasnotcollected
Dataregarding duringtheneeds
Organization
performancethatwas assessmentduetotime
collectedduringtheneeds limitations
assessment Longtermobjectivesof
regionalministryoffices

WBI EVALUATION GROUP (2007)

NEEDS ASSESSMENT KNOWLEDGE BASE

TIPSFORSUCCESS
Beforegettingstarted,discusswithparticipantsthespecificgoalsyouarehopingtoaccomplishthrough
theJohariWindowexercise.
Workwithgroupmemberstoincludefactorsinallfourquadrantsofthematrix.Leavingquadrantsof
thematrixemptywilllimityourabilitytomakequalitydecisions.

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

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

WBI EVALUATION GROUP (2007)