What Is A Gemba Walk And Why Is It Important?

Do you want to know the main thing that will switch you from a classical old-timey management style to the new Lean management style? If you do, this is the blog post for you. 

In this blog post, I’m going to show you a Lean technique that will change everything for you, and you can start it tomorrow. I’m going to discuss the seven steps that you can begin using that will significantly improve the productivity of your people and the pattern for making real improvements at the place of work. Stay with us.

What is a Gemba Walk?

So let’s talk about it. What is a Gemba walk? A Gemba walk is a workplace walkthrough that attempts to observe people, ask about their tasks, and identify productivity gains. The term Gemba walk is derived from the Japanese word Gemba, which means “the real place.” It literally refers to identifying the place where work really happens. 

The key concept here, which you might think is basic or fundamental, but is quite fantastic, is to go to the place of work and observe what’s happening with the people closest to the work. The goal is to understand how work is being done, the challenges people face, and opportunities to improve for them, not just for the bottom dollar.

How to Do a Gemba Walk

Here are the steps in the process:

1. Go to the Place Where the Work is Happening: This might seem fundamental, but how many leadership or executive teams actually do this? Most of the time, leadership teams sit isolated in their offices, not understanding what the workers are dealing with. First step, get out of that comfort zone, do field walks, check out your shop floor, project sites, and meetings. Go to the place of work to see what’s happening on location.
2. Talk to and Observe People Doing Work: Listen to them and have real meaningful conversations to understand what they are experiencing.
3. Look for Waste: Look for the eight wastes, overburden, and unevenness. Any of these will negatively affect the people and the bottom line of your business.
4. Map Out an Understanding of the Process: Understand what’s going on from the conversations and your visual observations. Make sure you can visually articulate or note down what’s really taking place.
5. Take Steps to Improve the Environment: Here are some suggestions:

1. • Enabling: How can you better support the people in your organization?
   • Teaching and Training: Is there any training that could help your frontline workers in their tasks?
   • Listening and Adjusting: Maybe they just need you to listen and adjust company systems to support their work.
   • Providing Better Tools or Equipment: Are there better tools or equipment that could support them?
   • Ensuring Enough Time: Do they have enough time to finish tasks and regroup?
   • Improving the Workplace: Is their work area conducive to high productivity?
   • Bringing in Outside Expertise: Is there an expert or resource you need to bring into your organization to solve some problems?

Important Things to Remember During Field Walks

As a part of your overall process, always consider these:

1. 5S-ing: Teach and encourage everyone to sort, straighten, sweep, standardize, and sustain their areas every day.
2. Seeing Waste: Encourage people to memorize the eight wastes: overproduction, excess inventory, motion, transportation, defects, over-processing, waiting, and not using the genius of the team. After 5S-ing, people will see waste and be motivated to make improvements.
3. Start, Stop, and Continue: At the end of your Gemba walk, ask your team:

1. • What should we start doing to improve?
   • What should we stop doing?
   • What should we continue doing that’s working well?

Importance of Sharing Improvements Throughout Your Organization

If you see a before-and-after story or a cool idea during your walks, share it throughout your organization via email, pictures, WhatsApp, or YouTube videos. Don’t underestimate the importance of sharing improvements. This creates dialogue and encourages a culture of continuous improvement.

Effective Method to Properly Observe the Workplace

One key tip is the Ohno Circle, inspired by Taiichi Ohno, the inventor of the Toyota Production System. He would draw a chalk circle on the ground and ask people to stand there for a prolonged period to observe and understand what was really happening without distractions.

Final Thoughts

If you engage in a Gemba walk, preferably every month, don’t go there to dictate solutions. Go to observe and have real conversations. This approach will build a culture of trust, improve the work environment, and ultimately enhance productivity and profits.

Classical management often isolates leaders from workers. Lean management connects them, leveraging the insights of those who know what changes are needed. Manage like this, where you’re connected and observing the real work, because you have the power to make impactful changes.