Liberating Structures

What I Need From You (WINFY)

Surface essential needs across functions and accept or reject requests for support. This structure creates a rapid exchange where people get crystal clear on what they truly need from others—and discover what others need from them. It’s liberating because it replaces vague assumptions with explicit asks, and transforms “maybe someday” into “yes, no, or here’s what’s possible.”

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What I Need From You (WINFY)

Surface essential needs across functions and accept or reject requests for support.

Help

In person & Online

Group

55-70 min.

What is made possible - What it unlocks

WINFY makes it safe to ask for exactly what you need—without apology or politics. It reveals hidden dependencies, uncovers bottlenecks, and exposes misaligned priorities in minutes. Participants gain clarity on where to focus their energy, what to stop doing, and how to build reciprocal support across silos. The structure turns passive waiting into active negotiation, and creates a culture where needs are named, not buried.

When to use it

When teams or departments are stuck in “waiting mode” and progress feels slow
To surface hidden dependencies before launching a new project or initiative
When collaboration feels one-sided or imbalanced across groups
To clarify roles and responsibilities at the start of a partnership or reorganization
When people are overcommitted and need to renegotiate priorities transparently
To break down silos and build mutual accountability across functions
When you sense unspoken frustration about who’s doing what for whom
To reset expectations and align support after a period of confusion or conflict

🛠️ The five design elements of What I Need From You

Each Liberating Structure consists of five simple design elements to make participation possible for everyone. By shaping these elements with care, you move beyond rigid control or chaos and create space for people to contribute, listen, and co-create.

1. The Invitation
2. Setup & Materials
3. Participation Flow
4. Group Configuration
5. Sequence & Timing

1. The Invitation

How you frame the purpose or question that sets the focus and energy of the group.

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. Setup & Materials

The arrangement of space and which tools or resources are needed to support interaction.

Large room and chairs 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
Works well in person or in a digital workspace with breakout rooms and shared boards

3. Participation Flow

Who gets a voice and how everyone is actively included in the process.

Everyone is included in his or her functional cluster
Everyone has an equal opportunity to contribute
Every functional cluster chooses a spokesperson for some of the rounds

4. Group Configuration

How people are arranged (alone, small groups, or all together) and how this shifts during the activity.

3 to 7 functional clusters (no limit on number of participants in each cluster)
One group of 3 to 7 spokespersons to speak on behalf of each functional cluster
There will be several moments where people move from their functional cluster to a large group conversation and back to the cluster again.
Works with any size group, from 4 to 100+

5. Sequence & Timing

The step-by-step flow of the activity and the time given to each step to keep energy and focus.

Explain the process by describing the steps below. Reiterate the goal or challenge to ensure everyone shares the same context. Emphasize that requests must be clear and specific to receive an unambiguous response. Make it clear that only four answers are allowed: yes, no, I will try, or huh?!. Position the functional clusters around the room. (5 min)
Functional clusters use 1-2-4-All (or 1-2-All) to list their top needs from each other function in the room. Needs are expressed as requests in this form: “What I need from you is _____.” Clusters narrow their lists to two top needs, write them down, and select a spokesperson. (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 other spokesperson around the circle. Spokespersons take notes of requests but don’t give answers or responses yet. (15 min)
Working individually (or by conferring with their functional cluster), each spokesperson writes down one of four responses to each request: yes, no, I will try, or huh?! (huh?! means the request was too vague for a specific answer). (5–10 min)
Addressing one spokesperson at a time, every spokesperson repeats the requests made to them, then shares their responses (yes, no, I will try, or huh?!). No discussion! No elaboration! (10 min)
Debrief with What, So What, Now What? (W3) (15 min)

Total time: 55-70 minutes

Online version

Adapted for virtual use, with the same impact

All the steps are the same as described above.
Make sure to highlight the spokes persons when they gather. Let the other participant turn of their camera’s and mute their microphones.

Prepare breakout rooms for the functional clusters when they gather. If possible you can let them do a 1-2-4-All (or 1-2-All), but you’ll need extra breakout rooms.

Also use breakout rooms for small group debrief with What, So What, Now What? or stay in the mainroom using 1-All with a Chatterfall/Chatstorm

Total time: 55-70 minutes

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All Liberating Structures in 1 e-book

All Liberating Structures (44!) including explanations, visual step-by-step guide, and worksheets in a handy workbook for € 11,-

Simple methods for big changes
Have interactions that truly matter
Build a culture of innovation step by step
Involve and activate everyone in the group

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Proven over decades

🧠 Why it works

Liberating Structures are not magic tricks—they work because they tap into how people naturally think, connect, and collaborate. Each structure is carefully designed to unlock participation, spark creativity, and build trust, using principles grounded in social science and human interaction.

Attribution: Liberating Structure developed by Henri Lipmanowicz and Keith McCandless. Inspired by consultant Kathie Dannemiller and professor Dan Pesut.

Reciprocal Exchange

By pairing needs with offers, people move from passive requests to active negotiation, which builds equity and accountability.

Micro-commitments

Small, specific asks are easier to say yes to than vague requests—and they add up to major progress.

Distributed Control

Everyone has the power to accept, reject, or renegotiate—no one is waiting for permission from the top.

Transparency over Politics

Making needs explicit removes the guesswork and hidden agendas that slow teams down and erode trust.

Riffs and Variations

Start with creative constraints to learn this structure and then... go liberate yourself and try some variations.

Second Round for Clarity: Consider a second round if too much appears to be unresolved or unclear—making concrete and clear requests is an essential skill!
What Wasn’t Asked: In the debrief, give participants a chance to articulate what was not asked of them: something neglected that would help achieve the group’s purpose but was not requested
Individual Interdependence: Instead of functional clusters, use the same WINFY sequence with a group or a team of individuals who are interdependent
Speed WINFY: Use 3-minute rounds with multiple partners to generate a high volume of needs and offers quickly
WINFY Board: Create a visual board where people post sticky notes with needs in one column and offers in another—then match them up
Reverse WINFY: Start with “What do I think you need from me?” to surface misaligned expectations

Tips

Lessons learned from other facilitators.

Encourage everyone to ask for what they truly need to be successful—push beyond politeness to real requests
Remind participants that a huh?! response means their request was too vague to provide a specific answer
Strictly enforce the “no immediate response” rule when spokespersons first share their needs—let people think before answering
Strictly enforce the rule that the only responses are yes, no, I will try, or huh?! (no further elaboration is allowed during the response round)
Have fun and encourage a safe amount of drama—this creates energy and makes hidden tensions visible
Use question-and-response cards to help groups sharpen how they express their requests and make them more concrete
In debriefing, draw out that people are good at complaining and not so good at asking for what they need—WINFY helps you move from complaints to valid requests

Traps

Don't make the same mistakes.

Including more than 7 roles or functions—the waters get too muddy and the process loses clarity
Allowing spokespersons to elaborate or justify their responses—stick to the four-word answers only
Letting requests remain abstract or vague—”I need support” isn’t actionable; “I need 2 hours of your time on Tuesday” is
Allowing immediate responses when needs are first stated—people need time to consider what they can genuinely commit to
Skipping the functional cluster conversation before selecting spokespersons—this loses valuable input and alignment
Forgetting to capture the commitments in writing—verbal agreements evaporate quickly without documentation
Treating “I will try” as equivalent to “yes”—be clear that “try” means uncertainty and may require follow-up negotiation

Try it with…

The real power of Liberating Structures emerges when you combine them into "strings." Link different structures together to build on insights and create more powerful results. Here are some nice combinations:

Conversation Café to talk about what happened during WINFY
1-2-4-All before WINFY to generate a broader sense of shared challenges
15% Solutions after WINFY to turn commitments into immediate action
Generative Relationships STAR to deepen understanding of how people can support each other over time
User Experience Fishbowl to explore how different groups experience the same needs differently
Agreement-Certainty Matrix to prioritize which needs to address first based on complexity and alignment

Field stories

To get to know Liberating Structures without having used them yourself, it helps to see familiar situations from real-life practice. Chances are that you or your team have faced one of these challenges before. Discover how to approach these kinds of situations in a fresh and engaging way.

Emphasize Possibilities: Believe Before You See

Emphasize Possibilities: Believe Before You See with Liberating Structures – Troika Consulting. A Field Story about how Troika Consulting as a peer-coaching structure increased confidence in the collective wisdom of a team and made possibilities visible.

Build Trust as You Go

Build Trust as You Go with Liberating Structures – Impromptu Networking. A Field Story about how an experienced leader used Impromptu Networking to build trust and how repeated use led to more open behavior and stronger collaboration.

Practice deep respect for people and local solutions

Practice deep respect for people and local solutions with Liberating Structures – Appreciative Interviews. A Field Story about how a team coach used Appreciative Interviews to surface local knowledge and turn respect into action—discovering that solutions were already present, just waiting for the right structure.

Amplify Freedom and Responsibility

Amplify Freedom and Responsibility with Liberating Structures – 15% Solutions. A Field Story about how a leader used 15% Solutions to let go of control, increase ownership, and restore responsibility in the team.