1. Project Quality Management
5 Why’s
Project Quality Management

2. Five Why’s Preparation
Even though the discipline is called 5 Why’s is not always necessary to reach 5 before the root cause of a problem is fully explained
It may take more than 5 why’s to get to the bottom of it. It will depend on the complexity of the problem, or its related process or problem.
Why “5” then?
As a rule of thumb (heuristic), 5 is the number at which most root causes are clearly identified. Don’t worry about not meeting or exceeding this number though. THERE IS NO CONTEST.
Just follow your thought process and let it decide how many Why’s you require to get to the point where the root cause is evident.

3. Project QM: Five Why’s
Five why’s is a Root Cause Analysis Tool. This analysis identifies one or several root causes that ultimately reveal the reason why a problem originated. There are other tools that can be used simultaneously with the 5 Why’s to enhance the thought process and analysis.
Problem
Root Cause
Corrective
Actions
Root Cause analysis Tools:
Ishikawa Charts (Fish Bone)
Design of Experiments
Is / Is not Analysis
5 Why’s
Cause & Effect Diagram.
Statistical Data Analysis (Cpk, Paretto Charts, Anova,etc…)

4. A Note About “Why”
As a professional, I try to be an polite as I can about pressing on sensitive areas. Sometimes “Why” is annoying when asked in a sequence. So feel free to ask the “why” question in a different way – but do get the “why’s” of a problem. I’ll give you an example.

5. Five Why’s - Experts Decide the Questions Themselves
Five Why’s - Experts Decide the Questions Themselves. Here’s How It Works…
5 Why’s addresses more than one problem at the same time. The first WHY is related to the process, or lack of it, that created the primary problem.
WHY #1
In the Quiz case: PM: “Why so disorganized?”

6. Why #2 – Possible follow up
PM: “Why has this not been addressed yet?”
Politely: “When did you first notice this problem of disorganization?”
Polite empathetic - “How long have you operated under this level of stress?”
Why #2 addresses the problem with the current system that failed to signal the issues before they clustered into a mess. This is a problem of its own and must be treated independently of the product problem itself. - Example in the Medical Office Scenario - CULTURE

7. Possible WHY Questions Related to Quiz Case
1. PM: Why so disorganized? – “No one seems to be in sync with anyone else.” 2. PM: When did you notice this becoming a real problem? “Almost the day we started two years ago. Every month it’s worse.” 3. PM thinks: Why and how did it get so progressively disorganized? Says, politely: Have you tried to address this in any way in the past? – “SO many times, but it never fails, not everyone can make the meeting, so too few stay in the loop.”

8. What makes it difficult for everyone to get together?
Related to Case
PM thinks: “Why doesn’t everyone come to a meeting that is so important to the organization?” PM SAYS:
What makes it difficult for everyone to get together?
“We are all so disorganized we can’t organize our time for this. Makes no sense, that’s why I need help. I’m going crazy and it took me three months to convince Dr. Practiceowner to authorize hiring a consultant.”
What are YOU Thinking? Frame it in a WHY First

9. One Possibility
PM THINKS: Why does Dr. P not readily respond to his employees’ obvious stress? This has been going on awhile.
PM SAYS: “Now that Dr. P has responded in support of you, let me ask: Does he clearly understand what precisely you must do each and every day to serve your patients and one another?”

10. For all the Five Why’s:
When able, ask the full question including the problem or cause behind it. If there is a problem with misfiling patient information and results, ask:
“Why is that documentation misfiled, typically?”
If the answer is “we are so busy, we tend to rush to get out of here end of the day – we just get a little careless with the paper,” ask:
“Why is more than one person assigned to file documents at the end of the day?”

11. Five Why’s Preparation
A well defined problem is a half resolved problem; it is important to state the problem as clearly as possible.
Whenever possible define the problem in terms of the requirements that are not being met. This will add a reference to the condition that should be, and is not. I call it, “envisioning the benefits of the quality result,” and implies that the process is broken, not the people (who may feel broken). Gets everyone on board early.

12. Five Why’s
Clear statement of the reason for the defect or failure to occur, understood even by people that is not familiar with the operation where the problem took place.
Remember something can be obvious to you, but not acknowledged, or ready to be recognized by others, so don’t put forth opinion yet
Be unbiased and genuinely concerned.

13. Five Why’s A more concise explanation to support the first statement.
Get into the technical / process arena. The explanation or replies can branch out to several different root causes here. It is OK to follow each of them continuing with their own set of remaining 3 why’s and so forth.

14. Five Why’s – The Third Why
It may be tempting, but hold off on conclusions yet. Follow the regular thought process even though some (or all) underlying root causes have already surfaced. Get your own documentation system in place as a new professional PM so you can capture key elements of a person who tells you a great deal at once. Practice polite interruption.
This 3rd why is critical for a successful transition between the obvious and the not so obvious. The first two why’s have prepared you to focus on the area where the problem could have been originated; the last three why’s will take you to a deeper comprehension of the problem.
Visualize the process of the problem developing (process mapping) and narrow down the most likely sources.
You may be missing the obvious by rushing into “logical” explanations!

15. Five Why’s – The Fourth Why
Clear your mind from preconceived explanations and start the fourth why with a candid approach. You may have two or more different avenues to explore now; explore them all. Even if one or several of them turn out NOT to be THE root cause of the problem, they may well lead to continuous improvements.
This may a good time to include a Cause and Effect analysis.

16. Five Why’s – The Fifth Why
When you finally get to the fifth why, it is likely that you have found a systemic cause. Most of the problems in the process can be traced to them. Moving to the world of production or machines, problems may be traced to an incorrectly followed Preventive Maintenance or Incorrect machine parameters setup.
When you address a systemic cause, do it across the entire process and detect areas that may be under the same situation even if there are no reported issues yet. (In our case: people who clean/organize/design office)
If you have reached the fifth why and you are still dealing with process related cause(s), you may still need one or two more why’s to deep dive into the systemic cause.

17. Five Why’s – Conclusion
5 Why’s was likely done well when you can organize the collected data in one sentence and define it in an understandable manner. If this is not possible, chances are that there is GAP between one or several of the why’s. Revisit the 5 Why’s and identify those gaps to fill them in. If there is coherence in the way that the sentence is assembled, it shows consistency of the thought process.
“The massive disorganization” occurred due to “busy individuals operating their own way without the framework of a standardized process”. This was caused by “lack of a systems understanding and approach” primarily because no time was invested in collecting and analyzing each person’s workload in relation to patient quality standards resulting in a faulty operation of the system = massive disorganization.

18. Five Why’s TOOL – Conclusion
The outcome of a 5 Why exercise is a root cause of a the defined problem, not the resolution of the problem itself; that comes later. 5 Why’s is not a standalone Problem Solving technique!
Don’t worry about diagnostics, action plans and effectiveness verifications in the initiating process. First, you need a common understanding to make the successful transition toward bonding as a unit, focused on generating the info you need to make this project a success. It is always a TEAM win.