by harkster
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Steps to Conducting a Five Whys Analysis

• 1. Gather the Team

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• Invite all employees affected by the issue to participate in the analysis

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• 2. Choose a Leader

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• Identify an individual to facilitate the process, guide the meeting and document all findings

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• 3. Define the Problem

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• Agree on the specific definition of the problem that you have met to discuss. The leader should document the agreed definition.

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• 4. Ask the First "Why"

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• The leader asks 'Why?' the defined problem initially occurred. As a team, discuss and explore various avenues of thought.

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• 5. Record the Answers

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• Record all answers no matter how obvious they seem. Discuss these answers and agree on the most likely systemic cause before moving to the next 'why'.

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• 6. Repeat for Each "Why"

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• Repeat the process of asking 'Why?', where each iteration is questioning the answer to the previous 'Why?'. Agree on a systematic cause at each level until you have reached a root cause. This should be clear when discussions no longer bring about productive or useful answers.

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• 7. Agree on Corrective Actions

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• Review each question/answer combination and agree on the corrective action (if required), down to, and including, the level of the root cause.

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• The "Leader" assigns responsibility for each corrective action and documents this in the analysis.

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• 8. Record and Share the Analysis

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• The leader documents and communicates the findings (including follow up actions) to the group involved in the discussion and any others affected by any of the proposed changes.

  See description

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This checklist was created by harkster

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