Why You Should Ask Questions?

In everyday life, you must cultivate the habit of asking questions. Effective questioning is a desirable skill that allows you to analyze, and understand situations. It enables you to gain insight into what is happening in your environment, update your knowledge and be better prepared to handle situations and proffer solutions.

The 5Ws and 1H; who, what, when, where, why, and how, is a problem-solving technique used as a framework for research-oriented inquiry, analysis of business problems, decision-making, analysis of opportunities, crime investigation, investigative journalism, and so on. The truth is that the 5Ws1H model is applicable in all facets of human endeavours.

It is a formula for getting complete information about a subject. This means a statement can be measured as complete or otherwise based on the extent to which it provides answers to these questions to five questions.

5W&1H is a method of asking questions about a process, a problem or. It is used to comprehend details, analyze inferences and judgments to get to the fundamental facts and guide statements to get to the abstraction. These six interrogative pronouns are the source of all questions and if you answer the significant questions that can be derived from these pronouns, your analysis will be more complete and you will formulate better solutions and decisions.

The six questions serve as the basis for information gathering, decision-making and communication, opportunity analysis, and problem-solving.

Information Gathering

• What happened?
• Who was involved?
• When did it take place?
• Where did it take place?
• Why did it happen?
• How did it happen?

Decision-Making and Communication

• What is to be done? Why this? What else could be done?
• Who will do it? Why them? Who else could do it?
• When will it be done? Why then? When else could it be done?
• Where will it be done? Why there? Where else could it be done?
• Why will it be done? What is our purpose?
• How will it be done? Why will it be done this way? How else could it be done?

Opportunity Analysis:

Step One: Write down the six basic questions in one column to structure your analysis of a given opportunity such as investment.

Step Two: Develop as many questions as possible related to the opportunity that starts with each of the six pronouns. Write down all the questions in random order that come to mind, using the six pronouns to stimulate your thinking.

Step Three: Organize your questions into a framework and start answering the questions.

Problem-solving

Step One: Identify the problem;

Step Two: Write down the six basic questions;

Step Three: Write down all conceivable questions relating to each question in step one;

Step Four: Organise the questions in a logical order; and

Step Five: Provide answers to the question.

In fact, to investigate an act, we must take note of who did it, by what aids or instruments he did it, why he did it. where he did it, and how and when he did it.

The significance of using the Five W’s and One H Method is that none of the questions can be answered with a simple yes or no.  Use this method to insure you have considered the facts necessary for a thorough report, analysis, or decision. A report can only be considered complete if it provides answers to these factual questions.