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Learn about the meaning of Gemba Walk, how to do effective Gemba Walks, and examples of how the process can promote continuous improvement.
Published 4 Apr 2023
A Gemba Walk is a workplace walkthrough which aims to observe employees, ask about their tasks, and identify productivity gains. Gemba Walk is derived from the Japanese word “Gemba” or “Gembutsu” which means “the real place”, so it is often literally defined as the act of seeing where the actual work happens. A gemba walk is a simple yet powerful lean method done by employers to promote continuous improvement.
A safety Gemba Walk, or Gemba safety walk, is simply a safety walk integrated with the Gemba method. Safety Gemba Walks emphasize on the continuous improvement of safety by watching the actions required to complete daily tasks and determine ways to make work safer. While a typical site safety walk through aims to maintain compliance with safety standards, a safety Gemba Walk focuses on looking for opportunities to continuously improve workplace safety.
A virtual Gemba Walk, also called a remote Gemba Walk, is performed remotely using communications media such as video conferencing tools. Virtual Gemba Walks gained worldwide popularity when a large number of employees began working from home to mitigate the health risks of being in close proximity with fellow employees in traditional work settings (usually in the office) during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Virtual Gemba Walks are usually conducted via one-on-one video calls, online focus group discussions, and shadowing exercises, where a worker shares his/her screen while working and his/her manager quietly observes then asks questions when deemed fit. This makes Gemba Walks possible in this scenario without the need for the observer and employee to be physically present and at close proximity in one place.
Whether on-site or remote and with or without a safety scope, Gemba Walks are important because they enable managers and leaders to see what processes are like on an operational level. Gemba Walks help eliminate incorrect assumptions about the workforce and drive changes with a lasting positive impact. Developed in Toyota, Gemba Walks can empower organizations to sustain continuous improvement efforts and help solve disconnects between leadership vision and implementation of processes in operations.
Performing a Gemba Walk is the best opportunity to take note of good ideas, feedback, complaints, and issues in the workplace. Apart from going where the actual work happens and proactively engaging with employees, listed below are the top benefits of implementing and learning from Gemba Walks periodically:
While processes are unique for each company, any organization that wishes to conduct a Gemba Walk can be guided by the following steps:
Undoubtedly, Gemba Walk is one of the most important principles of Kaizen, or the Japanese philosophy and methodology of continuous improvement. A key step in the Gemba Walk process is making sure to regularly follow up on the information gathered to keep things on track. Here is how to carry out a Gemba Walk, along with some helpful tips and recommendations for an effective process:
Through Gemba Walks, opportunities for improvement are easier to recognize. Prioritize and highlight areas that might need attention. Gather data through improvement charts as a basis. In addition, determine where your target areas or what your target processes will be.
Digital checklists are effective tools to perform efficient data-gathering procedures. The main reason for doing Gemba Walks is to observe and record input. Gemba Walk Checklists can also serve as guides to ensure that all points are being observed, asked, and recorded. You can also use checklists in other cases like performing safety inspections, 5S audits, and a lot more.
Create Your Own Gemba Walk Checklist Eliminate manual tasks and streamline your operations.Get started for free
Eliminate manual tasks and streamline your operations.
Never conduct Gemba Walks on the spot. Employees may feel uncomfortable and think that they have done something wrong. Schedule your Gemba Walks and inform the involved workers about it. It is ideal to perform a Gemba Walk once a week in each department for about 45 minutes.
Asking the most relevant and significant questions during the Gemba Walk leads to an interactive session with employees and helps build a positive relationship between managers and employees. You get to know where the gaps are by asking the right questions. Check the status of priorities and action plans and if they’re efficient to pass certain KPIs and improvement plans.
Write down your findings and visualize them by taking photos of what you saw and observed. By writing observations and taking photos, you are more likely to be engaged and focused on discussion and reflection. Most importantly, it will help you recognize patterns which may call for a reworking of action items later.
Managers and leaders must manifest the proper attitude when conducting Gemba Walks. Remember that this is about the process and not about the worker. Avoid giving suggestions or sharing your personal views but rather be attentive and learn new things from the insights of the worker. Provide positive feedback on work done well.
After the Gemba Walk is done, follow up and share what you learned from the activity, including the issues, struggles, and gaps which need immediate action and resolution. This is the phase to substantiate plans for process improvement. Decide which processes should remain and which ones to revamp.
The frequency of a Gemba Walk varies depending on company goals, team size, facilitators, and outcomes. For example, if one of your goals as a business is to consistently meet quality objectives, then you might consider performing Gemba Walks more often than industry standards such as quarterly, monthly, or weekly.
In the same way, large organizations might find themselves carrying out Gemba Walks more frequently than small to medium enterprises because there is a greater number of areas to improve. It is also based on who is performing a Gemba Walk like a branch manager can go to Gemba more often than a director of operations.
Finally, one of the biggest factors in determining the frequency of Gemba Walks is probably the outcomes. Analyzing the results after applying specific improvements can help the organization adjust how often they should be doing a Gemba Walk in order to achieve optimum operational efficiency.
Asking significant questions is one of the most crucial steps in the Gemba Walk process. To ensure an effective Gemba Walk, facilitators should prepare by formulating well-designed questions in a checklist and asking them in a solution-oriented manner instead of trying to look for someone to blame. Consider the following Gemba Walk questions:
One of the most frequently asked questions about Gemba Walks is if the process improvement method is truly effective. Below is a comparison of what an effective Gemba Walk looks like versus a poorly implemented, and therefore ineffective, Gemba Walk:
Just because organizations want to benefit and maximize results from a Gemba Walk doesn’t mean that they can be achieved by mindlessly going on so-called “Gemba Walks” day in and day out. The management should not go on a Gemba Walk for the sake of doing Gemba Walks.
Dr. W. Edwards Deming, one of the world’s leading quality management experts, said that “Management by walking around” is hardly ever effective because someone in management, walking around, has little idea about what questions to ask, and usually does not pause long enough at any spot to get the right answer.
Here are some real-life examples of effective Gemba Walks and what results they achieved in organizations:
Carefully-planned, well-executed, and followed-through Gemba Walks can continuously optimize business processes and improve the quality of work. With the help of a Gemba Walk Software such as SafetyCulture (formerly iAuditor), you can efficiently drive continuous improvement everywhere, every day. Get started today with SafetyCulture, an easy-to-use operational excellence platform. Claim your 30-day premium trial for free!
Gemba is a Japanese term that stands for and translates to “the real place” or “the actual place” where work is performed and value is produced. In a business setup, Gemba can refer to locations such as the factory floor, the production area, the sales site, and any other places where employees are directly engaged in producing products or providing services to customers.
While there has yet to be a consensus among business management experts, a reasonable range for how long a Gemba Walk normally takes could be around 15 to 45 minutes per unit or department. A Gemba Walk of this duration can be adequate for asking questions with follow-ups, documenting employee insights, and detecting potential improvements.
With the help of a free digital template that can be easily customized and used on any mobile device, you can facilitate more efficient Gemba Walks in your organization.
A Gemba walk is typically performed by managers, supervisors, or other leaders within a company who are responsible for overseeing teams, their production, and the various business processes performed in a specific location. This Lean management technique can also be conducted by someone who wants to better understand how the work is done and how it can further be improved. In conclusion, all levels of management are encouraged to leverage Gemba Walks to eliminate waste in business operations.
Gemba Walk aims not simply to be a data-gathering process, but more importantly, an effective initiative to foster teamwork. Practicing Gemba Walks helps flesh out what is actually happening in the workplace and what processes didn’t work well. Eventually, it can lead to a good working relationship between employers and employees because of learning things together that would be of great value to achieve company goals.
The use of checklists during a Gemba walk is not an option, but a must. Gemba Walk checklists are used during walkthroughs to document observations of business processes in the actual work environment. Teams can use SafetyCulture Gemba Walk templates on any mobile device, whether online or offline. Maximize SafetyCulture’s features by taking photos, assigning actions, and creating reports while on site.
Jona Tarlengco
Jona Tarlengco is a content writer and researcher for SafetyCulture since 2018. She usually writes about safety and quality topics, contributing to the creation of well-researched articles. Her 5-year experience in one of the world’s leading business news organisations helps enrich the quality of the information in her work.
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