Five Whys for Managing Project Dynamics

Five Whys provides a structured yet simple approach to solving problems as they occur during a project and can provide a framework for a team to work through complex problems. It is a simple process at its core.  The Five Whys is a question-asking method used to explore the cause/effect relationships underlying a particular problem. Ultimately, the goal of applying the Five Whys method is to determine a root cause of a defect or problem. Basically the process is to ask why to the problem statement and then ask why to that result again five times, although don’t feel limited to stopping at five if you have not reached the root cause.

It is best to understand clearly the problem statement in order to head in the right direction. Points of consideration should be the current condition or state, available data at hand and the gap in delivery to expectation or performance targets. Taking the time up front to understand the problem statement is a key to success of applying Five Whys; however, it is equally as important to be open to changing this problem statement as you and the team learn more during the application of this approach. What we thought was the base problem at the beginning could very well be what we perceived or projected on to the situation versus the true problem.

Additionally, quantifying and qualifying the problem statement is an important element. It is best to keep the problem statement as brief as possible – a sentence or two.
Examples might be: 

• Currently entering data in to four different unconnected systems cause task completion to be 30% later than scheduled for completion 
• The design tool fails to complete its operation twice daily           

The application of Five Whys should avoid turning the emphasis into a Five Whos as a search for blame. It is important to stay focused on the “issue” and not the person, even if you are dealing with human factors or behaviors. By focusing on the question “Why”, we are much more likely to avoid using the “Who” question.

Now that seems straight forward for a “technical” problem in the project, but what we project managers deal with a majority of the time are the human factors, challenges, obstacles, and human behavioral issues.

How should Five Whys be applied to these human factors without the perceived attacking “why” because the why word can and often does cause people to go in to a defensive posture. Often the application of Five Whys in these human factor situations tends to be one on one and not in groups. This is useful as it can prevent the feeling of being out numbered and hence defensive.  

Some factors that may lead to greater success would include:

• Perform as one on one discussion.
• Listen, Listen and Listen some more
• Hear with an open and objective ear (remove those hearing filters. Don’t approach the Five Whys having already formed a conclusion)
• Use alternatives to “Why”.

• Examples might be “help me understand”, “what caused that : “, “was there something different that could have been done”, etc. 

The application of Five Whys is a very powerful tool in the project managers took kit and applied in the right circumstances can lead to quick and effective solutions and resolution of human and team dynamics during a project.

– Debra Hein