How to Do a Gemba Walk: Coaching Gemba Walkers

by Michael Bremer

Taking a Gemba Walk to Go See, Ask Why, and Show Respect is a key way to more actively engage people in performance improvement activities. Even if you currently do Gemba Walks in all likelihood you fall short of what the best companies do. This ‘how to guide’ provides leaders a basic menu of options on ways to do a more effective Walks. It will also provide ideas for continuous improvement practitioners on how to coach senior executives seeking to do this well. The guide describes three key reasons for doing a Gemba 1. Clarify Gemba Walks provide a wonderful opportunity to learn if people inside the organization have a deep understanding of ‘why’ they are doing their work activities. 2. Process Leaders can see, with their own eyes, how effectively work activities between departments and between work-groups are aligned with what the organization is trying accomplish. 3. Engaging The walks provide an opportunity for leaders discover barriers that inhibit people’s ability to do great work. The guide describes questions to ask for different types of walks and outlines an approach for leaders seeking to better understand the facts, to make better decisions, and to build consensus to achieve important goals. Examples are drawn from organizations with outstanding improvement Toyota, Autoliv, OC Tanner, Cogent Power and the author’s experiences as Chairman of the Association of Manufacturing Excellence’s Awards Council. A respectful, effective Gemba Walk builds trust and lays the groundwork for a major transformation! It is amazing what one can learn during a walk! How can you be an effective leader and not want to do this?

Genres: Leadership, Nonfiction, Buisness, Business

136 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 25, 2014

Reviews

[Justin Berrey · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was easy to read and understand. It offered some real-life examples; however, I would have liked more extensive examples of Gemba wins. If read with an open mind, I believe anyone in a production environment could put to use the teachings in this book.

[Robert · Rating 5 out of 5]

YComo siempre los mejores libros de liderazgo en ingles.

Go see, ask why, show respect. Help people develop stronger critical thinking skills.

[Martin Carignan · Rating 4 out of 5]

U

[Dr. Phoenix · Rating 4 out of 5]

this title covers all aspects of the Gemba process. Gemba or "at the scene is the shortened form of the Japanese term Genchi Genbutsu, literally the place where the work occurs. The book provides the Toyota definition which is quite comprehensive and includes the facets of: fact-finding, decision-making, consensus-building, and achieving goals.

Interestingly going to the Gemba is an expression utilized by news reporters covering a crime scene

I approached this title knowing full-well that it was primarily an industrial process, but that with creativity and an open mind could be adapted to other applications such a public service organizations. Indeed, Gemba walks are used in many medical settings and the author indicates that it can also be an appropriate process for office settings.

There are distinct species of Gemba walks, and these can be adapted for health and safety, production,

Bearing this in mind, I surmised that this process can be equally applicable in any number of situations including public service organizations.

Important take-aways included the fact that performing a Gemba walk and failing to implement the various suggestions for improvement will inevitably undermine confidence in both the leadership and the process itself.

Another important observation concerns the three-part approach consisting of Planning, go see (ask what and why), and remain respectful.

It is important not to pull a surprise inspection, while at the same time visiting the selected area in its "natural" (day-to-day operational) state. When questioning the line about their processes it is essential to let them seek out the solutions to problems themselves through critical thinking, and to provide open-ended questions. additionally, it is recommended to practice active listening. If there is more than one supervisor conducting the Gemba, each should speak in turn according to previously agreed upon protocols. Finally, it is essential that the Gemba occurs in a blame-free environment, and that the problems be considered as process problems, not people problems.
The title also emphasizes the importance of support services and their role in process efficiency. Support services should sustain and underpin the organizations value creation process.
One of the most important parts of the Gemba walk is to evaluate and differentiate between assumptions, expectations, and reality.
Page 59. Lays out two important points:
1. the function of a Gemba walk is to learn and to see the reality which may otherwise be ignored.
2. A Gemba walk allows observation of the process to ensure that the correct work is being done, the correct way, and at the correct time.
Other important points underscored is the process standardization - this is a facet of both lean and Kaizen philosophy. and not attempting to accomplish too much on a single Gemba walk.
There were a few weak points - the segments relating to Kata coaching and improvement and "when the walk is done" for the stable and unstable states were identical - word-for-word. Though this did not detract from the overall purpose of the book, I found this redundancy annoying.
The section relating to the value stream is largely manufacturing -oriented, but with some creativity portions could be tailored and applied outside the manufacturing domain.
One shortcoming was in the failure to provide a definition of takt, while most individuals reading this title will be from the lean or manufacturing sectors, a definition of this term would have proved useful. Also, the graphics on page 68 were so small you would need a microscope to read them.
Takt is from the Japanese word takuto taimu, which in turn was taken from the German "Takt Zeit," meaning cycle time, It was most likely introduced into Japan by German engineers in the 1930s. Takt refers to the time required to complete a product to meet customer/client demands. It can refer to unit response time or the completion of a specific manufacturing cycle of work or production.
While the author mentions that three times a day to do a process (Gemba) walk is ideal, I personally find this excessive (depending on the domain) as nothing would ever get accomplished.
Conclusion
This slim volume (130 pages) is replete with good advice, and I came away with new knowledge and insights. I always consider that as a baseline. the material was easy to grasp and presented in a logical fashion. I will be able to incorporate much of this into my future teaching and it added to my own personal knowledge base. I would definitely recommend this title to anyone interested in process improvement regardless the domain there are lessons to be learned.

[Fred Leland · Rating 5 out of 5]

How to get to root causes of problems and fix them

This is a great book on how to get to the root causes of problem by actually getting out of the office and out to where the work is done. The book discusses the importance of going to see the work and mentoring those responsible for the work so everyone knows the system and takes responsibility in ensuring the system is effective. This is done through resection communication and respectfully asking critical questions that develop those responsible to become problem solvers. The book had great tools and procedures to help in accomplishing this. I recommend this book to anyone looking to improve his organization, no matter what type of organization it is.

[Al · Rating 5 out of 5]

Packed with useful advice

I liked that the author focused not only on how to do a Gemba, but why each element is important.