How CPAS can Give and Receive Better Feedback
Feedback is something we often don’t put as much effort into but should. It’s important to the development of your business both in communicating internally with your employees and externally with your clients.
The Johari Window, developed by Joseph Luft and Harry Ingham, is a model that’s been around since the 1950s. It focuses on identifying how to improve understanding between two individuals. The model aims to increase the awareness of the importance of disclosure of information or feedback.
How it Works
The Johari Model has 4 quadrants. When preparing to use the model think about an ‘individual’ you interact with. This could be an employee or a client. The model works on a scale of 1 to 100. The vertical line represents how much feedback you solicit from the ‘individual’ while the horizontal line represents how much feedback you give to the ‘individual’. The four quadrants represent the following:
- Shared Universe- this is where you and the individual both share the same information.
- You are blind- this is the information the ‘individual’ knows but that you don’t- rendering you blind.
- They are blind- this is the information you know that the ‘individual’ doesn’t.
- Unknown- this is what you and the individual are both blind too.
The ultimate goal is for quadrants 2, 3 and 4 to become as small as possible.
How to Use It
The Johari model can be applied to just about any situation in business. The two most common applications include:
- Client Development
- Employee Development
By applying the Johari model, you can begin to focus on communication with your clients. Giving and receiving feedback will not only help you provide better services, but a more open dialog can also open up other opportunities with your clients.
Start by selecting your top 5 clients or 5 of your employees. Apply the model to each of them to see how well you think you are doing. No one needs to see this but you- so be honest with yourself.
Once you have completed the model on your selected individuals, look at each individually and determine how you can widen your shared universe by identifying ways to solicit feedback or give feedback.
This exercise is a simple way to increase your communication, improve your internal efficiencies and build deeper relationships with your clients.
About the author
Sarah Johnson is the Chief Growth Strategist with Inovautus Consulting, a firm dedicated to helping CPA firms grow more effectively, and author of Practical Ideas for Growth. Her counsel and strategies have helped move firms to the next level in their marketing and talent acquisition efforts. Connect with Sarah at 773-208-7170, sjohnson@inovautus.com, or www.linkedin.com/in/sjjohnson.