What, Why, Who, When and How

The 5 senses of getting things done.

Think about it, at a very basic level, a lot of human communication really is about these 5 simple words.

What - describes the situation (past, present future) and whether you want it to change or stay the same.

Why - the logic (or not) that explains the situation or need

Who - person or groups of people that are responsible, need to know, are to blame, are the audience, stakeholders, participants or enablers

When - is this now, in the past or in the future, specifically; either a date or a time

How - How did it happen, how does it happen, or how will it happen?


When you are putting a project together and you want to "get stuff done", it's good to always remember these 5 words. Whether it's building a website, running a marketing campaign, setting goals for an employee or making changes to a system or process, these 5 words are to a project what the 5 senses are to us in everyday life.

To be effective we use our senses all the time. Sometimes we use our sight more than our smell, sometimes our hearing more than our touch. If you want to get things done, you need to use your 5 communication channels of What, Why, Who, When and How.

So every time you write an email asking for something, write a project plan, or present a business plan, make sure you've thought about all 5.

Say I want to ask my tech team to build a new webpage for a promotion. Sure, I can say "what" I want. However, if I miss out "why" I might not quite get what I wanted.

Adding "why" allows my audience to understand the reasons driving the "what", and makes it more likely that they understand the context. Also, if you tell someone why you want them to do something, they're more likely to do it than if you don't.

What if I miss out "when"? Of course, that's pretty obvious, I might get it late (at which point I'm going crazy), or the page is useless.

I might not know "who" needs to build the page, (my CTO might decide that), but I can say "who" the audience is and "who" the stakeholders are. This will help the tech team to gather further information that will make the project a success.

Again, I might not have all of the answers to "how" it will get built, but I can give my own "how" we will prioritise it, "how" we will get information and content, "how" we will market it and link it through the site, "how" we will pay for it or get paid for it.

What, Why, Who, When and How

A good communication includes as much useful detail as possible for each of these 5 words.

Think about it next time you write a project plan or ask for something in an email.

You might just get what you wanted.