What Is a Gemba Walk and Why Is It Important?

A Gemba Walk is an increasingly popular project management approach. By going to the actual place where work is done, project managers often uncover new ways to support staff and opportunities for improvement. The technique is collaborative, with the team offering details about what is and should be done and why.

Here, we’ll define what Gemba Walk means, what is a line walk audit, and why they are important.

What is a Gemba Walk?

A Gemba Walk is the practice of executive leaders, supervisors, and managers personally observing where the actual work is being done. It’s used by individuals devoted to continuous improvement, and by those who practice Lean and Six Sigma business methodologies.

“Gemba” is a Japanese term that means the “place where value is created or “the real place”. Gemba is also linked to the Japanese term “genchi genbutsut,” which translates to go and see. The Gemba may be an emergency room, a classroom, a construction site, or a production floor.

A Gemba Walk is a crucial part of the lean management philosophy. Its main goal is to observe, understand and boost processes to leverage a culture of continuous improvement and to identify everyday issues.

What is the purpose of a Gemba Walk?

Implementing a Gemba Walk brings several benefits to companies:

• It helps detect both positive and disruptive innovations.
• It allows for strategic decision-making that takes into valuable data and insights.
• It helps businesses identify opportunities.
• When Gemba Walk is implemented successfully, it can foster a culture of continuous improvement.
• It helps businesses analyze and enhance different processes that equate to streamlining operations and saving money or time.
• It boosts facility safety since you can identify safety concerns before accidents or injuries occur.
• A manager making an effort to visit employees on the floor improves their morale and shows that they care about their team’s well-being.
• It brings stakeholders and teams closer together by finding solutions to their issues.
• It allows companies to standardize processes.

How to do a Gemba Walk

Before you visit the shop floor, you’ve to make a plan that depends on your objectives and goals.

At times it may unstructured, for instance, if you’re new to the company. If you have been in the company for a while, your plan will be familiar with the details. Whichever route you take, be prepared for your Gemba Walk.

1. Prepare your team

A Gemba Walk is not a surprise inspection, instead, it’s a technique for working closely together for great or positive changes.

Thus, it’s important to describe the purpose of the walk and allow the team members to understand what to expect. They should know that the aim is ultimately to eliminate obstacles, which makes it hard for them to do their best work.

2. Strategically plan the Gemba Walk

A Gemba Walk shouldn’t be confused with MBWA (Management by Walking Around,) which is a style of business management that involves managers or leaders wandering around through the workplace to check on the status of ongoing work, the employees, or equipment in an unstructured manner.

During a Gemba Walk, managers have a particular task or process in mind that may present an opportunity for improvement.

3. Ask a lot of questions

A great mantra for a Gemba Walk is to simply assume nothing. Do not guess why some individuals, for example, are doing things in a specific sequence or in a certain way, ask them.

Ask questions about workspace supplies, arrangement, exception handling, etc.

4. Don’t suggest any change during the walk

The Gemba Walk is not a time for action, but for information gathering and observation. Once you’ve completed your information gathering, you can ask employees or identify opportunities for improvement.

5. Follow up

Make sure you follow up with your employees, ask for additional input and let them know what you learned.

If you don’t find anything important during your walk, you have to share it with your team members so they are not left wondering about your impression.

What Is a Gemba Walk and Why Is It Important?

Hopefully, this article has been a great introduction to this useful improvement technique. Regular Gemba Walks can provide some significant advantages.

It’s an important part of Lean management and helps in:

• Lowering costs
• Improving productivity
• Increasing collaborative thinking and teamwork
• Aligning with client satisfaction efforts.