Q. 109  WIFM - While the Lean Six Sigma projects start with the Sponsor asking WIFM (What's in it for me?), is it appropriate for Green Belt and Black Belt leaders and the team members to ask the same WIFM question? Should cross functional support members also demand WIFM response for themselves? 

 

 

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Let us see key roles involved in a typical Six sigma project .

  - Team Member(s) (who belongs to the Six Sigma Project)
  - Six Sigma Green Belt(GB)
  - Six Sigma Black Belt(BB)
  - Champion (Some companies might not have this may be- this person will be involved in Tollgate reviews(along with Black belt), removes barriers for the team . Some  organisations have champions as sponsors)
  - Six Sigma Project Sponsor

 

I have arranged the roles purposefully from a bottom up approach.

 

Note :

There is another role - Six Sigma Master Black Belt (MBB). However it is not relevant to any specific project, but all six sigma projects will come under this umbrella.

 

Let us dissect for which of those aforementioned roles, a person can ask the WIFM question and why .

 

1. Champions/Sponsors:
  Six Sigma costs energy, time and effort. People playing these roles would expect either a tangible benefit such as ROI outweighing this cost or an intangible benefit

of customer satisfaction doing a six sigma project, which potentially results in getting a new business opportunity, in the nearby future.
 

2. Black Belt(BB):
   BB are defined roles in that, persons playing this role are expected to do certain activities and they are bound to abide by that. Unless they feel that there is a strong reason for not executing a six sigma project which they can justify, they are supposed to execute. Therefore, in my opinion, BB shall not indulge in asking WIFM

3. Green Belt:
   In my opinion, a Green Belt certified person should not ask WIFM. Because he is already aware (or supposed to be) of the impact Six Sigma can make when pursued in the right way as it should be. He/she may not be fully aware of the tools/techniques in Six Sigma much like the BB. That can be his/her only shortcomings. The GB has to understand the fact, that this role may not be 100% of his/her work. Six Sigma activity will be an additional work , apart from his/her regular project work. This extra effort spent in six sigma is compensated by the fact that the GB learns additional tools/techniques with constant interaction with the BB , which can be used in some of his/her day-to-day project activities.

 

4. Team Member:
   I feel a person playing this role, has the absolute legitimate right to ask the WIFM question. Because he/she will need to know the factors which can motivate him/her to work and put that extra effort. Without knowing about something, who would be interested to touch anything ?  The team member is the one who will gather the data for measurement and he/she will do have to some other basic activities. Gathering data is a cumbersome and tedious activity in general. It can be boring at times. There has to be quite a few awareness sessions to the team members which talks about the importance of Six Sigma and what benefits it can give to the team and organisation and crucially to the customer(internal or external). It is the benefit to the team , that team members would be interested in. Not everyone be interested to go with a career ambition towards Six Sigma. How will we motivate those team members? If we are able to do that, then you get succeed in your objective, with respect to the work assigned to the team members. Remember the fact this is primarily a volunteer role , unlike say a BB role (which is a designated role).
    

Conclusion:

My take is that Persons playing either one of the two roles - Sponsor, Team member have the legitimate need or requipment to ask WIFM question though the need or reasonfor them to ask that question may differ. Person playing the sponsor role will ask because of what benefits the six sigma project can bring to the organisation. Person playing the team member can ask that question to know what kind of growth it can bring to him- whether career growth, promotional benefits, monetary reward, visibility etc.,.
   

Yes support function members should also demand for WIFM for themselves.

Asking this question will help them to get a deep insight about what improvement or lean is going on, this will help them to contribute from their side individually, as they will be aware of the benefits and ROI from the improvement in progress...

Staff should be incentivised at all levels. If you look at the RACI chart  each individual has some role to play. Keeping staff motivated will bring them all together with a shared vision & purpose and will facilitate the change quickly.

Without a WIFM, there is no urge for anyone to make an effort towards an improvement or to make any changes. It is, hence, appropriate for the GB/BB and the cross functional teams to ask for their WIFMs. It may vary from an individual to the next (monetary, learning, advancement, scorecard goals and hence business goals etc) - as it should because it speaks to everyone as "ME". 

 

The chosen best answer is that of R Rajesh for making an attempt to outline the WIFM from everyone's perspective while keeping in mind the note above.