Hypothetical: What, When, Where, Who and Why

Hypothetical situation: I contact you via mobile and tell you that I have some very important information that I have to relay to you, however there are two issues that may affect how much of the information I can pass on. The first is that my battery is running low and could fail at any time; and the second is that I am in a noisy environment and thus it is very hard to have an interactive discussion (so it’s going to be a one way transfer).

Now, I five distinct pieces of information to relay and it is up to you to prioritise the order in which they are to be delivered, recognising that it will not be possible to change the order once I’ve started providing the details and that I could be disconnected at any time.

The five pieces are:

1. What: A description of what actually occurred.
2. When: A description of when it occurred.
3. Where: A description of where the event occurred.
4. Who: A description of who caused/was affected by the event.
5. Why: A description of why/how the event occurred.

So, what is your chosen priority order? Submissions via a comment below.

Aside: Being a hypothetical it is absolutely recognised that the optimum order is very context dependent: for instance if the subject matter is one of a personal/family nature, then obviously the who is vitally important; likewise if the subject matter was relating to a viral outbreak, then the where becomes a critical information element. It could also be argued that prioritising the more briefly delivered elements first, like the when, would optimise the likelihood of a greater number of elements being communicated. This is of course the challenge of a hypothetical. Think carefully about your response and if you really feel the need to justify your chosen order, then please feel free to do so.