The steps involved in using the Five "Whys" tool are as follows:

1. Identify the problem.  If it is a broad or complex problem it is likely you will ask the question "why" more than five times.  Write the problem down on a board or somewhere that is visible to the group working on the problem.  If the group gets off-track in the discussions the facilitator can refocus the group by bringing their attention to the problem statement.

     Example:  "Why is enrollment dropping in our after-school programs?"

2. As the first "why" of the problem statement.  Write down all of the answers so that they are visible to the group.

     Example: "Because there is no consistency with the instructors for the programs."  

                         "Because people don't have enough money these days to pay for extra things."

                              "Because the kids say the programs are boring."

3. For each of the answers to the first "why", the group must determine if the answer uncovers the root cause.  If it does not, ask "why" again and write down the subsequent answer.

Example:

Why #1 -  "Because there is no consistency with the instructors for the programs."  

Why #2 - "We have to get volunteers to teach the programs and most people can't commit to instructing every week."

4. Keep doing step 3 until the group decides that the root cause has been identified.  Five is the general number of times you will ask "why", but depending on the complexity of the problem it could be more or less.  

Example:

Why #1 -  "Because there is no consistency with the instructors for the programs."  

Why #2 - "Because we have to get volunteers to teach the programs and most people can't commit to instructing every week."

Why #3 - "Because we don't have a budget to pay instructors."

In this case, the root cause is the answer to "why" #3: there is no budget to pay instructors.

Your group may find that the original problem statement has more than one root cause or may need to be broken out into several problem statements.  The end result is one or more root causes that are the basis for your HPT project work.