5Ws and 1H 

In this article I will be reminding you of something you probably know already.

Why am I reminding you?

I am reminding you because it is something that you could use more
effectively as part of your daily routine.

5Ws and 1 H - Video Introduction

I've put together a 2min video on this topic if you would like to learn about 5Ws and 1H
that particular way.

If not, read on and you can always look at it later.

5Ws and 1H Introduction

5Ws and 1H is a technique that has been about for many years.
Journalists have used it to put together news' stories.

The police force sometimes use it to ensure they have uncovered the complete story when
investigating a crime.

 By its very nature the 5Ws and 1H uses interrogative words.

What are the six words that make up the 5Ws and 1H?

Who? What? When? Where? Why? and How?

The technique involves using these six words until you are satisfied that you have gathered
all of the facts of the matter.

So how does this little technique help us with Continuous Improvement in our business?

It's just one of these great little reminders that you can keep in your brain as a prompt to
make sure you have covered all of the angles.

Just write the headings down and go through them one at a time.

Say for example we wanted to review the standard operating procedures for a particular
process.

The 5ws and 1H can be a handy reminder to make sure we have reviewed everything.

Who is involved in the Process?

How many staff are involved in the current process? Who are they?
How many people should be involved? Who is responsible for what?

What is the main activity being conducted?

What happens in the process? What are the main pieces of information that are required to
carry out the task? What is the customer demand for the activity? What special resources
are needed to carry it out?

When does the Process take place ?

At what time of day is the process carried out? Is it an
appropriate time or has it always been done at this time?

Where is the process carried out?

Where physically does the work get done?
Is it in the best place? Does it minimise the amount of movement for people, documents
and materials?

Why is the process carried out?

Question why the team are carrying out the activity in the first place?

Does it add any value? Do we need to do it at all? Is there a
better way in doing it?

How do we carry out the process?

What are the detailed steps involved describing how the job is done?

In conclusion

Just by working though these six questions we can gain a lot of information about a process
in a structured way.

This information can be the basis for Continuous Improvement
ideas and new improved Standard Operating Procedures.

Try this experiment

1.Print off the worksheet below
2.Try using it to review a particular process

Here is the link :

5ws1h.pdf

Hope this helps.

Best regards,

Graham Ross 

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