Effective Communication Technique

Running head: COMMUNICATION
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Title: Effective Communication Technique

COMMUNICATION
Question 1: The Johari Window
The Johari Window is a psychological model that explains about the relationship and
the mutual interaction between people in a group. It is a tool that helps one understand their
relationship with themselves and that of fellow members in a group. The objective of this
model is to create trust within the group setting by disclosing information about oneself with
the group members. The Johari window is made up of four quadrants the open self, the blind
self, the hidden self and the unknown self. The open self-quadrant explains the behaviours,
attitudes, skills and features that one is aware of about themselves and are willing to share
with others. It explains a state whereby one is straight forward to themselves and others about
their intentions (Geyer and Young, 2009).
The hidden self is the state of a person know to others but not known to him. This
occurs especially when one unconsciously copies personalities. The hidden self indicates the
state of a person known to himself but unknown to others (Parveen, 2015). This is seen
mostly in introverts, people who do not share much about themselves. Lastly is the unknown
self. This state is unknown to neither the individual nor to others. In a health care setting
where there is ineffective communication and the physicians are under immerse stress, the
idea to solve this is increasing the open area of the Johari window. This can be done by
reducing the hidden area, whereby the health care professionals tell one another about their
unknown aspects. They could also help one another to minimize the blind area by trying to
learn themselves from what others tell them (Videbeck, 2010). This would help bring sanity
at the work environment.
Question 2: Formal Organizational Communication
Formal communication depends on the formal organization in a firm. For effective
management, communication should flow smoothly down the hierarchy of management.

COMMUNICATION
Formal communication stabilizes communication thus bringing out the clarity of the message.
There are three types of formal communication: downward, upward and horizontal
communication. Downward communication flows downwards through the management
hierarchy, from the superiors to the subordinates (Scott and Lewis, 2017). This type of
communication occurs during dissemination of orders, policy directives and instructions.
Downward communication is beneficial if the feedback is constructive. This communication
build up an atmosphere of transparency by passing information through the official channels.
The employees’ morale is boosted by frequent downward communication as it shows the
management is concerned about their progress.
Upward communication is the opposite of downward communication. It originates
from the subordinates to the superiors. Upward communication helps providing suggestion on
how to improve the work environment, solving work related disputes and sharing ones
feelings about the firm. Upward communication is very beneficial in solving problems. Once
a problem is brought to the superiors, the bigger possibility is that it will not occur again.
This communication gives rise to valuable suggestions and ideas from the subordinates. The
biggest disadvantage about this communication is that handing down of decisions by
superiors could occur. Lastly, horizontal communication occurs among people at the same
rank in an organization. This type of communication helps individuals interact at their level
without involving those in other levels (Mukherjee, 2009). This type of communication is
important in coordinating tasks, building of rapport, solving problems and sharing
organization’s goal related information. This communication helps employees to develop
sense of teamwork and work together to attain a common goal to the interest of the firm.
However, problems like ego clashes could occur especially when one of the employees
communicates regularly (Zink, 2018).