How do you exploit the modes, types, and mediums of communication at your disposal to compose and deliver an effective message? In our last post, we explored which questions to ask to create a potent communications process. In part two of our guide, we’ll dive into the 5W1H method to understand how novice and established leaders alike can use it to guide communications decisions.

What’s The Solution?

Also known as the Kipling Method, the 5W1H method asks questions about a process or problem to reach a solution. The method lets the user explore a situation from different perspectives to better understand the full picture.

Anyone who has taken a basic journalism class will recognize the essential questions that comprise the five “W’s” and one “H” of the method: Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How. These questions do not have to be asked in that particular order. Still, they do all need to be asked before undertaking any new communication. Here is a suggested sequence for using 5W1H in an external communications context:

1. WHO is responsible for the tasks and message? Who is responsible for organizing and/or facilitating the communication? (Sample answer: Project Officer)
2. WHAT communication will be used to deliver information? (Sample answer: Project Updates Newsletter)
3. WHERE do we want to send the message? For whom is the communication intended? (Sample answer: General Public)
4. WHEN do we want to send the message? How often will it occur? (Sample answer: Quarterly)
5. HOW are we going to tell them? How will the communication occur? (Sample answer: Website)
6. WHY are we sending this message? What is the purpose of the communication? What goals will it achieve? (Sample answer: Project Updates Newsletter will provide high-level status updates to the general public)

Note that these questions may have multiple answers. For example, the following sequence answers the question, “How?” with three different modes of communication, both interactive and noninteractive:

1. WHO? Project Manager
2. WHAT? Interim Project Update
3. WHERE? Project team
4. WHEN? Weekly, at least 24 hours before the status report is due
5. HOW? Meeting, project plan, status report
6. WHY? Report status, identify issues, and develop solutions as a team

What each of these sequences – and all 5W1H sequences – have in common is that they offer numerous opportunities for leaders to weigh in on the process and product. Unlike other business processes, communications cannot be effective without a certain amount of insight and direction from leadership. Laying out the sequence in advance of a communication – asking all the right questions – helps leaders and practitioners collaborate on an ideal solution that ensures prime conditions for effective solutions.

What’s the Right Answer for Effective Communication?

Answering all of these questions for any communication requires research, planning, and thought. And all of that takes time. That is the great secret to good communication: it can’t be rushed (though in the right context and with the right amount of planning, it can be automated). Communication must be deliberate, anticipating the mindset and needs of both sender and receiver to deliver a carefully crafted message that reaches its target. The right answer for effective communication is understanding the process, asking the right questions, and relying on their answers to guide your work.

Communication plays an essential role in securing and maintaining trust, effectively supporting, and influencing your team, and ultimately succeeding in meeting the needs of your client base. The modern business landscape has added unprecedented dimensions to workplace communication, challenging seasoned professionals and new leaders as they seek to be effective communicators. Using the 5W1H framework allows you to make thoughtful, informed decisions about this most critical element of the modern enterprise.

This post was adapted from a Momentum presentation. Get in touch with a Momentum representative to learn more about working with a consultant to apply 5W1H to your communication process.