Liberating Structure: What I Need From You

What I Need From You (WINFY) is a simple, but effective way of working with other groups of people to create and receive requests.

People working in different functions and disciplines can quickly improve how they ask each other for what they need to be successful. You can mend misunderstandings or dissolve prejudices developed over time by demystifying what group members need in order to achieve common goals.

Since participants articulate core needs to others and each person involved in the exchange is given the chance to respond, you boost clarity, integrity, and transparency while promoting cohesion and coordination across silos.

Four Structural Elements

1. Structuring Invitation

• Invite participants to ask for what they need from others (often in different functions or disciplines) to be successful in reaching a specific goal
• Invite them also to respond unambiguously to the requests from others

2. How Space Is Arranged and Materials Needed

• Large room to accommodate 3 to 7 functional clusters of participants in different sections
• Chairs for a group of 3 to 7 people to sit in a circle in the middle of the room
• Paper for participants to record needs and responses

3. How Participation Is Distributed

• Everyone is included in his or her functional cluster
• Everyone has an equal opportunity to contribute

4. Sequence of Steps and Time Allocation

• Explain the process by describing the steps below. Reiterate the goal or challenge being addressed to make sure that the context is the same for all. Emphasize that requests must be clear and specific if they are to receive an unambiguous yes or no response. Make it clear that no answers other than yes, no, I will try, and whatever will be allowed. Position the functional clusters around the room. 3 min.
• Functional clusters use 1-2-4-All (or 1-2-All) to make a list of their top needs from each of the other functions in the room. Needs are expressed as requests that can be delivered with care and nuance in the following form: “What I need from you is _.” Clusters reduce their lists to two top needs, write these down in their expected form, and select a spokesperson to represent the cluster. 5–15 min.
• All spokespersons gather in a circle in the middle of the room.
  One by one, spokespersons state their two needs to each of the other spokespersons around the circle. At this stage, spokespersons take notes of requests, but no one gives answers or responses. 15 min.
• Working individually (or by conferring with others in their functional cluster), each spokesperson writes down one of four responses to each request: yes, no, I will try, or whatever (whatever means the request was too vague to provide a specific answer). 5–10 min.
• Addressing one spokesperson in the group at a time, every spokesperson in the circle repeats the requests made by him or her, then shares his or her responses (yes, no, I will try, or whatever). No discussion! No elaboration! 10 min.
• Debrief with What, So What, Now What? 15 min.

Purposes and Objectives

• Learn how to articulate functional and/or personal needs clearly
• Practice asking for what functions and/or individuals need
• Learn how to give clear answers to requests
• Reestablish and/or improve communication inside functional clusters
• Make progress across functional silos
• Mend connections that have been broken
• Get all the issues out on the table at the same time for everyone to see
• Reduce frustration by eliminating preconceptions and rumors
• Build trust so that group members can share accountability with integrity

Tips

• Remind participants that a whatever response means their request was too vague to provide a specific answer
• Strictly enforce the “no immediate response” rule
• Strictly enforce the rule that the only responses are yes, no, I will try, or whatever (no further elaboration is allowed)
• Encourage everyone to ask for what they truly need to be successful
• Don’t include more than 7 roles/functions
• WINFY helps you move from complaints to valid requests.
• Use question-and-response cards to help groups sharpen how they express their requests
• Without undermining the seriousness of the exercise, work to keep the atmosphere constructive, friendly and positive.
• Strong facilitation is necessary for this structure to be effective. Make sure that the clarity of needs and responses it not muddied by elaboration or discussion. Cut of conversation in a friendly, but clear manner
• Make sure to limit the expressed needs to groups that are actually in the room.
• Invite groups to use ‘Whatever’ as a response to needs that are too vague. Although this may sound harsh, its a great learning experience for groups to reformulate their needs in a more clear, concise manner

Examples

• For a global technical group (with members in multiple countries) facing the need to make decisions in a fast-changing market
• For hospital executives and managers launching a patient-centered care initiative that requires multi-specialty collaboration
• For helping one-on-one relationships become more generative