--- title: "Help Me Understand" description: "Participants write questions about a major topic or organizational change under five prompt headers: Who, What, When, Where, and How. The room clusters common themes and a designated leader or panel responds directly to key clusters and notable outliers." last_updated: "2026-09-07" canonical: "https://unitedwetransform.com/exercises/help-me-understand/" --- # Help Me Understand Participants write questions about a major topic or organizational change under five prompt headers: Who, What, When, Where, and How. The room clusters common themes and a designated leader or panel responds directly to key clusters and notable outliers. **Time:** 45 minutes. Gamestorming lists 30 to 90 minutes. 45 minutes provides a reliable standard cadence for all five question prompts. **People:** 5 to 24. Individual question drafting followed by volunteer whole-room clustering and leader responses. ## Choose this exercise **Purpose:** Collect, cluster, and directly answer participant questions regarding a new project, change initiative, or policy. **Use it when:** Use when introducing an organizational change, project rollout, or strategy where leadership needs to surface unspoken questions and clarify next steps. **Skip it when:** Skip when leadership cannot give direct answers, when the project plan is fully confidential, or when the session purpose is open ideological debate rather than information gathering and clarification. ## Materials and tools - 1 pad of 3x3 inch sticky notes per participant - 1 bold marker per participant - A wide wall, whiteboard, or butcher paper divided into 5 columns labeled WHO, WHAT, WHEN, WHERE, HOW - 1 roll of painter tape if using butcher paper on painted walls ## Before participants arrive 1. Write the central topic or initiative title visibly at the top of the board. 2. Draw 5 vertical columns across the board with bold headers: WHO?, WHAT?, WHEN?, WHERE?, HOW?. 3. Distribute sticky notes and markers to all participant seats. 4. Ensure the responding leader or panel understands their role: answer clearly, admit when an answer is unknown, and record unresolved items. ## Say this to open Leaders can anticipate many concerns during change, but they cannot anticipate everything. Today we are using five prompt words to map all your questions: Who, What, When, Where, and How. Your job is to write as many honest, specific questions as you have on sticky notes, one question per note. We will cluster the themes together on the board and our project lead will answer the main clusters directly. ## How to run it ### 1. Set the frame (3 minutes) State the topic clearly. Explain the five categories and remind participants to write one concise question per sticky note. Confirm that questions can remain anonymous. ### 2. Silent question generation (10 minutes) Participants silently write questions across all five prompts: WHO, WHAT, WHEN, WHERE, and HOW. For example: 'Who approves budget exceptions?' or 'When does the new schedule take effect?' Anyone who has no questions may sit quietly. ### 3. Post and cluster (10 minutes) Participants walk up and post their sticky notes in the matching columns. Ask two to three volunteers to group similar notes into thematic clusters within each column and label each cluster with a short descriptive tag. ### 4. Leadership response (17 minutes) Guide the group's attention to the largest clusters in each column. The responding leader addresses the primary themes and up to two notable outlier questions. If an answer is currently unknown, the leader records it on a tracking pad for future follow-up. ### 5. Document and conclude (5 minutes) Facilitator summarizes next steps, collects all posted notes, and confirms where and when written responses to unanswered questions will be shared. ## Debrief questions - Which common themes or surprises stood out most across our five columns? - What critical information do we still need before moving forward? **Finished output:** A categorized board of participant questions clustered under Who, What, When, Where, and How, with direct leader responses recorded and unanswered items compiled into an action list. ## Remote Set up a shared digital whiteboard with 5 vertical columns labeled WHO, WHAT, WHEN, WHERE, and HOW. Participants create digital notes silently for 10 minutes. The facilitator and volunteer co-hosts drag notes into clusters while sharing the screen. The leader addresses the top clusters over video, while a designated note-taker records responses and open questions directly in the board's parking lot. ## Hybrid In-person participants post physical sticky notes while a designated digital buddy or co-facilitator transcribes them onto a shared digital board. Remote participants post directly into the digital board, which is projected in the room. The leader speaks to both the room and the camera when answering clusters. ## Access and participation choices - Participants may submit notes anonymously without names or identifiable handwriting. - Participants can pass on writing questions without having to give a reason. - Offer typed chat submission or verbal dictation to a scribe for participants who prefer not to write by hand. ## If the session gets stuck **Participants write complaints or venting statements instead of questions.** Prompt them to reframe statements into inquiries starting with the column header, such as turning 'The deadline is impossible' into 'When will project milestones be finalized?'. **The leader becomes defensive or gives long-winded answers that consume all available time.** Intervene gently, remind the leader of the time limit per cluster, and suggest noting unresolved details for the written follow-up document. ## Terms used here - Outlier question: A unique, standalone question that does not fit into any larger thematic group but highlights a distinct concern or blind spot. ## Sources and adaptation Observed in Gamestorming. Gamestorming attributes the concept to Sam Kaner's Facilitator's Guide to Participatory Decision-Making, which cited Arthur B. VanGundy's Five W's and H technique. The original Gamestorming activity described running each of the 5 question words sequentially for 5 minutes each or all at once, taking 30 to 90 minutes. UWT standardizes the combined generation into a practical 45-minute block, adds specific clustering steps, and incorporates clear guidelines for recording unanswered items. [Gamestorming](https://gamestorming.com/help-me-understand) [Gamestorming](https://gamestorming.com/help-me-understand/) [SessionLab](https://www.sessionlab.com/methods/help-me-understand) Current run sheet: https://unitedwetransform.com/exercises/help-me-understand/