What's in it for me?

WIIFM stands for “What’s in it for me?”. Let’s face it...when looking at anything, we all want to know what’s in it for me. What’s in it for me if I volunteer on this committee? What’s in it for me if I take on this extra work project? What’s in it for me if I become involved in this relationship? When we know that, we know if it’s a worthwhile use of our time. We know if it’s a match with what’s important to us. We know if it will help us move toward our personal and professional goals.

Yet, it’s also important to flip the table and look at WIIFM from the other perspective too. I had a client who was coordinating a large, multi-organizational project worth millions of dollars. She had never done this before; neither had the office worked together in this way before. Before we even started planning the strategy for managing this group, I asked her what was in it for her to manage this project? She was a bit surprised; she hadn’t thought of that before. When I asked her what she wanted to get out of the project, she became clear that she wanted to gain the attention of the CEO and be able to work directly with him in the future. She also wanted the group to have a voice in the process, rather than her controlling the outcome. Once she became clear on her WIIFM, she was able to easily plan her strategy for managing this project.

At her first meeting with the group, she asked all of the participants for their WIIFM. Most people were surprised and asked her why she was interested. She told them that if she knew their goals in this project, then she could help them achieve those goals. If someone wanted to work with another person as their WIIFM, she could help make that happen. If someone was looking for more experience in a new area, she could partner that person with a more experienced colleague. Knowing their WIIFMs in advance would allow her to create a win-win for everyone involved. Once everyone saw that stating their WIIFM would help, not hinder, their progress, they gladly told her what they wanted out of the project. The project is finished yet, so I can't 100% report that her WIIFM strategy worked, but I do know that it got off to a great start just by asking a simple question: "What's in it for you?"