What is the 5W2H principle? Planning work with 5W2H

5W2H is a planning work principle, in which 5W representing:

• Why (Why does it?)
• Who (Who does it?)
• When (When does it?)
• What (Doing what?)
• Where (Where does it?)

And 2H is:

• How (How does that work?)
• How much (How much money and resources are needed to do the work?)

These are components that support effective planning and work progress chart for a particular job. The planning 5W2H helps businesses, as well as individuals, orient their work goals.

The meaning of 5W2H method in work management

The 5W2H brings 7 effective benefits when managing and improving work performance, specifically:

Defining goals

The question "Why?" is to answer the reason for doing the job. You can use some questions to clarify this W:

• What is the purpose of doing this work?
• Will this work support the team or individual’s KPI?
• What are the consequences if I don't do this?
  

Identifying the work to be done

This stage helps businesses answer the “What” question in the planning 5W2H method. What we need to do here is determine the tasks that need to be done to accomplish the work goals. Some additional questions would be:

• What is the specific content of this job?
• What are the steps to do this work?
  

Who is the person in charge?

This section answers the “Who” question to clarify who does the work. Because in a department or team, each person performs a different task. Therefore, we need to identify each person's duties to meet the set job goals.

Determining “Who” will include many aspects, not just “Who does this?”, more specifically:

• Who checks this work?
• Who is responsible if something goes wrong?
• Who is the supporter?
• What will the coordination process among departments?
  

Time limit to complete the work

The deadline to complete the work is the answer to the “When” question, considering the work goals and available resources to give the appropriate time.

If the time is too long, the person doing the work will be distracted. On the contrary, too short a time affects the quality of work as well as the performance to achieve the goal.

Determining where to work

The work site identification phase is one of the 5W elements and answers the “Where” question. Here, we need to determine a specific working location, which can be in an office, construction site, or factory. Determining the workplace also contributes to the completion of the correct planning 5W2H process.

How to do the work?

The purpose of the “How” question is to shed light on how things work. For example, the company or team can do it themselves or hire an outside team, do the work by hand, or have other tools to help.

All working methods affect the process of completing the goal, namely the deadline and the implementation, even affecting the 2nd H question - “How much?”

Questions to well establish the “How?” to be:

• What is a work instruction sheet?
• What is the job evaluation criteria table?
  

How much does it cost to get the job done?

The answer to “How much?” is the planning of costs as well as resources to perform the work. Cost is one of the components that affect the progress as well as the way the work is done. Planning 5W2H process also needs to be cost-based to determine the roles and responsibilities of each object.

If the business hires the human resources of another team to complete the task, there will be costs. On the contrary, if the business does it by itself, it will need the support of resources and departments. Thereby, the enterprise will divide the specific work of each person reasonably and have an appropriate cost.

The role of the 5W2H principle for businesses

It can be said that the planning 5W2H model is one of the simplest methods and can be applied to every business. This model supports businesses:

• Clearly define personal and work goals for the project and the company.
• Determine the correct working method, test method
• Identify resources to do the job
• Provide strategies and plans for high-performance, high-quality work.
• Help businesses and organizations optimize time to get things done.
• Minimize costs as well as finance to serve the work.