The Approachability Window Tool will help you build your team’s trust in you by improving your communication skills. It will also help you build meaningful relationships between you and your employees.

Using the Approachability Window Tool

The top section shows a picture of the Approachability Window. The Approachability Window is the yellow section and it represents how approachable your employees think you are. The two other sections are things that can get in the way of Approachability. There is the hidden spot and the blind spot. The hidden spot is things that you know, but your employees do not. A common example is personal things about your life. Sharing these experiences can help your employees see you as a normal person and not their scary supervisor. The blind spot are things that you don’t know but your employees do. This is the “is there spinach in my teeth?” of leadership. You need to ask for feedback on things you are doing or testing. If you don’t ask then you may never get the employee’s perspective, and they will assume that you don’t care about what they think.

The bottom section has tips on how to encourage feedback and tips on how to grow relationships. Read through those suggestions and work on implementing them in your life.