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Gemba walk questions: 60 to ask on the floor, and why you ask each one

Short answer

Gemba walk questions are open questions a leader asks at the workplace to understand how the work is really done: what the standard is, what gets in the way and what has been tried. They are about the process, not the person.

Good gemba walk questions are open, about the process, and asked where the work happens. Ask what the person is doing, how they know it is right, what slowed them down today and what they have already tried. Then watch the work to see whether the answer holds. This page lists 60 questions in nine groups. Each has the reason you ask it, so you can pick the five to eight that fit the theme of today's walk and leave the rest. The Lean Enterprise Institute describes a gemba walk as going to see the current situation through direct observation and inquiry before acting, and suggests talking about purpose, process and people. The groups follow that order: the work and its standard first, then what gets in the way, then what the people doing it need.

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How to use this list

Do not carry all 60 onto the floor. Pick one theme for the walk, such as changeovers on line 3 or first-hour scrap in the weld cell, and choose five to eight questions that serve it. Take two or three opening questions, a few from the groups that match the theme, and the closing questions.

The 60 questions in nine groups

  1. Questions 1 to 6

    Start

    Say why you are there and get the person talking.

  2. Questions 7 to 14

    The work

    Learn how the job is really done, step by step.

  3. Questions 15 to 22

    The standard

    Find out if there is a standard and if normal is visible.

  4. Questions 23 to 30

    Obstacles

    Surface the stops, searches and workarounds of the day.

  5. Questions 31 to 36

    Safety

    Hear about the reaches, near misses and shortcuts.

  6. Questions 37 to 42

    Quality

    See how defects are caught, held and fed back.

  7. Questions 43 to 48

    Flow

    Follow what triggers work and what it waits for.

  8. Questions 49 to 54

    People

    Check cover, training, handover and what happens to ideas.

  9. Questions 55 to 60

    Close

    Confirm what you heard and agree what happens next.

Open and close every walk with the first and last groups. Take the theme of the day from one group in between.
  • Ask one question, then stop talking. Count to five before you fill a silence. The second thing people say is usually the useful one.
  • Ask to be shown. What people do and what they say they do often differ, and that gap is what you came for.
  • Write down what you saw and heard, not what you think it means. Conclusions come after the walk.
  • Do not fix anything on the walk unless someone is about to get hurt or a defect is about to ship. A leader who gives orders on a gemba walk gets shorter answers on the next one.
  • Say when you will be back, and keep to it.

Keep notes on a sheet, not in your head. The gemba walk checklist has 30 prompts in six groups, with space for what you saw and the follow-up. If the walk itself is new to you, read what a gemba walk is and how to run one first, then come back here for the questions.

Take the walk with the gemba walk checklist

A walk plan and route, 30 prompts in six groups and a findings table with owners and due dates. Free, after one short form.

Free to use: print it, copy it and edit it for your team. Enter your name and work email once to download.

See what is on each sheet on the gemba walk checklist page.

Questions to start the conversation

The first minute decides how honest the rest of the walk is. Say what you came to learn, ask if it is a good time, and begin with questions anyone can answer. Use two or three of these on every walk.

  1. 1

    I am here to learn how changeovers go on this line. Is now a good time to watch one?

    Why: People work differently when they think they are being inspected. Naming the theme and asking permission tells the operator the visit is about the process.

  2. 2

    What are you working on right now?

    Why: An easy opener that anyone can answer. It also tells you whether the job in front of you is the one on the schedule.

  3. 3

    How long have you run this job?

    Why: Someone in week two shows you how the training works. Someone in year ten shows you the workarounds nobody wrote down.

  4. 4

    What does a good shift look like at this station?

    Why: You hear the target in the operator's own words. If it does not match the number on the board, you have found a gap before asking anything else.

  5. 5

    Is today a normal day?

    Why: A trial run, a new material lot or a missing team member changes everything you see. Ask before you draw conclusions from an unusual day.

  6. 6

    What is the first thing you check when you start your shift?

    Why: It shows what the operator has learned to distrust. That is often the least stable part of the process.

Questions to understand the work

You cannot see a problem in work you do not understand. These questions get the job described in order by the person who does it. Listen for the steps that take a long story to explain.

  1. 7

    Can you walk me through the job one step at a time?

    Why: Hearing the steps in order shows which ones the operator explains easily and which need a long story. The long stories are where the method is not settled.

  2. 8

    What tells you to start the next piece?

    Why: You find out whether work starts on a signal, such as a kanban card or an empty slot, or by habit. Work started by habit is how overproduction begins.

  3. 9

    Where does this part come from, and where does it go next?

    Why: An operator who knows the next step can tell you what matters to it. One who does not is working to the drawing alone.

  4. 10

    Which step takes the longest?

    Why: Compare the answer with the time study. A difference points to waiting or rework that the study did not count.

  5. 11

    Which step is the hardest to get right?

    Why: Difficult steps are where defects and injuries start. They are also the first place to look for a fixture or an error-proofing device.

  6. 12

    What do you do while the machine runs?

    Why: Machine time is either used for the next task or spent watching. The answer tells you whether the work is balanced between the person and the machine.

  7. 13

    How does the job change from one product to the next?

    Why: Variants are where instructions go out of date. If the answer is a list of things to remember, the standard lives in the operator's head.

  8. 14

    What would a new person get wrong in their first week?

    Why: This names the knack that the work instruction leaves out. Add it to the instruction or the training plan.

Questions to check the standard

A problem is a gap between what should happen and what does. These questions find out whether the should is written down, known at the station and visible to someone walking past.

  1. 15

    How do you know this part is good?

    Why: The answer should point to a gauge, a limit sample or a check sheet. If it is experience alone, quality depends on who is on shift.

  2. 16

    Where is the standard for this job, and when did it last change?

    Why: A standard nobody can find in a minute is not in use. The date tells you whether it has kept up with the product.

  3. 17

    Can you show me how you do this step? Is that how it is written?

    Why: Asked without blame, this shows the gap between the document and the floor. Either the operator needs help or the document is wrong, and both are worth knowing.

  4. 18

    What is the target for this hour, and where are you against it?

    Why: If the operator can answer without walking to an office, the visual management works. If not, problems are being found at the end of the shift.

  5. 19

    Standing here, how would I know that something is wrong?

    Why: It tests whether an abnormal condition is visible to a stranger. A process that only looks wrong to an expert will run wrong for hours.

  6. 20

    What do you do when a check fails?

    Why: You are listening for a stop, a call and a named person. If the answer is that it depends, the reaction plan is not known at the station.

  7. 21

    Which settings do you adjust during a run, and how do you decide?

    Why: Adjustments made by feel are a sign of variation coming from upstream. They also mean the next operator will run the machine differently.

  8. 22

    When was this gauge last checked?

    Why: Operators trust gauges they have seen verified. An overdue or unknown date means the readings cannot be relied on.

Questions to find what gets in the way

Ask about today, not about problems in general. People remember this morning's jam in detail and forget last month's. These questions bring out the losses that never reach a report because the operator deals with them alone.

  1. 23

    What slowed you down today?

    Why: Today is specific. Ask about problems in general and you get general answers. Ask about today and you get the jam at ten past nine.

  2. 24

    What do you have to go and look for?

    Why: Searching is waste that the people doing it stop noticing. The answer is usually a tool, a pallet or a person with a signature.

  3. 25

    Where do parts wait the longest, and why there?

    Why: A queue shows where two steps run at different speeds. The operator next to it usually knows which one is the cause.

  4. 26

    What breaks or jams most often?

    Why: Short stops rarely reach the maintenance log because the operator clears them. Added up over a shift they can cost more than the breakdown everyone remembers.

  5. 27

    What do you fix or work around every day?

    Why: Workarounds hide problems from every report. Each one is a defect, a stop or an injury that has been put off.

  6. 28

    When did this problem start?

    Why: A start date lets you ask what changed at that time, such as a supplier, a tool or a setting. Without it you are guessing at causes.

  7. 29

    What have you already tried?

    Why: It saves you from suggesting the thing that failed last year. It also shows respect for the thinking already done.

  8. 30

    If you could change one thing about this station, what would it be?

    Why: Limiting it to one makes the operator choose. The first choice is often small and cheap.

Questions about safety and strain

Asking whether there are any safety concerns gets a no. Ask about the awkward parts of the job and people describe the hazards they have learned to live with.

  1. 31

    What is the most awkward or risky part of this job?

    Why: Ask about the job and people describe the reach, the lift or the pinch point. Ask about safety concerns and they hear a request for a formal report.

  2. 32

    Has anything nearly hurt you or someone else here?

    Why: Near misses get told in conversation long before they get written on a form. Each one is a warning that cost nothing.

  3. 33

    What do you reach, bend or twist for most often?

    Why: Strain builds slowly and nobody reports it until it becomes an injury. A repeated reach is often fixed by moving a bin.

  4. 34

    When the machine jams, how do you clear it?

    Why: Listen for stopping the machine and locking it out. Clearing a jam with the machine running is how hands get caught.

  5. 35

    Is there any protective equipment that gets in the way of the work?

    Why: Equipment that slows the job comes off when nobody is looking. Better to hear it and find a different glove or guard.

  6. 36

    Where do forklifts and people cross near here?

    Why: The operator knows the real walking routes, which are not always the painted ones.

Questions about quality at the source

These questions follow a defect from the moment it is noticed. They show whether the station can catch it, hold it and tell the step that made it.

  1. 37

    What defect do you see most at this station?

    Why: The operator sees every part, not a sample. Compare the answer with the top line of the scrap report.

  2. 38

    What do you do with a part you are not sure about?

    Why: You find out whether doubtful parts are held and marked or passed along in hope. A marked hold area nearby is a good sign.

  3. 39

    How often do you check, and where do you write it down?

    Why: It compares the real check with the control plan. A record filled in from memory at the end of the shift is not a check.

  4. 40

    Which defects arrive from the step before?

    Why: It tells you whether feedback travels upstream. If the operator sorts bad incoming parts quietly, the step that makes them never learns.

  5. 41

    When you find a defect, who do you tell, and what happens then?

    Why: It tests the escalation path. If the story ends at telling someone, the station never sees the problem closed.

  6. 42

    What makes a part hard to inspect?

    Why: Poor light, a missing limit sample or a feature nobody can reach all let defects through. These are fixes a leader can pay for.

Questions about flow, material and information

Use these when the theme of the walk is delivery, inventory or changeovers. They ask what tells the station to produce, how much, and what it runs short of.

  1. 43

    How do you know what to run next?

    Why: A schedule, a kanban card and a supervisor's word are very different systems. If the answer changes during the day, so does the plan.

  2. 44

    How much do you make at a time, and who decided that?

    Why: Batch sizes are often set years ago for a reason nobody remembers. The question opens the door to making less, more often.

  3. 45

    What do you run out of?

    Why: Shortages show where replenishment is not tied to use. Ask whether the operator finds out before the bin is empty or after.

  4. 46

    How long does a changeover take, and what takes most of it?

    Why: The operator knows which part is waiting and which is real work. That split is the starting point for any changeover reduction.

  5. 47

    What information do you get late or not at all?

    Why: Drawing changes, schedule changes and quality alerts often stop one level above the station. Late information produces scrap that looks like operator error.

  6. 48

    What happens to the parts in that pile?

    Why: Point at a real pile when you ask. Unlabelled stock is waiting for a decision that nobody owns.

Questions about people, skills and ideas

The Lean Enterprise Institute lists people beside purpose and process as what a leader should talk about at the gemba. These questions ask what the people doing the job need in order to do it well.

  1. 49

    Who covers this station when you are away?

    Why: If the answer is nobody or one name, the skill is a single point of failure. It belongs on the training matrix this month.

  2. 50

    How were you trained on this job?

    Why: You learn whether training follows a method or means standing next to whoever is free. The second kind passes on the workarounds too.

  3. 51

    What have you suggested lately, and what happened to it?

    Why: It measures the idea system from the user's side. An idea that got no reply teaches a person to stop suggesting.

  4. 52

    What do you need from me or your supervisor?

    Why: It gives the operator a direct line for one request. Only ask it if you intend to act on the answer.

  5. 53

    What did the last shift tell you at handover?

    Why: Handover is where problems are passed on or lost. If the answer is nothing, each shift starts from zero.

  6. 54

    What are you proud of here?

    Why: Walks that only look for problems teach people to dread them. This question finds the practice worth copying to other lines.

Questions to close the walk and follow up

End every walk with these. They check that you understood, let the operator rank what to fix, and set the date of your return. The last one is for the start of the next walk.

  1. 55

    Have I understood this right?

    Why: Say back what you heard in your own words before you leave. It catches a misunderstanding while the person who can correct it is still in front of you.

  2. 56

    Is there anything I should have asked and did not?

    Why: People hold back the main point when it did not fit your questions. This gives it a way out.

  3. 57

    What should we do first?

    Why: The person doing the job ranks the fixes by what hurts most. Starting with their choice makes the next walk easier.

  4. 58

    Who needs to be involved to fix this?

    Why: The answer names maintenance, quality or a supplier and gives you the first call to make. It also shows who the operator thinks can help.

  5. 59

    When should I come back to see it?

    Why: A date agreed at the station is a promise. It also tells you how long the area thinks the fix should take.

  6. 60

    What did we agree last time, and did it get done?

    Why: Ask it at the start of the return walk. Checking your own follow-up first is the fastest way to earn straight answers.

Weak gemba walk questions, and what to ask instead

Most weak questions are closed, start with why did you, or carry the answer inside them. Each one below is rewritten so that it asks about the process and cannot be answered with a yes.

Weak gemba walk questions and better ones

  • Weak question

    Is everything OK here?

    What you get: A yes. People do not hand a problem to a visitor who asked in passing.

    Ask instead

    What slowed you down today?

  • Weak question

    Why did you not follow the work instruction?

    What you get: A defence. The question has already decided that the operator is at fault.

    Ask instead

    Can you show me how you do this step? What makes the written way hard to follow?

  • Weak question

    Do you know the target?

    What you get: A yes, whether or not they do.

    Ask instead

    What is the target for this hour, and where are you against it?

  • Weak question

    Have you tried moving the bin closer?

    What you get: Your idea, politely accepted. You learn nothing about theirs.

    Ask instead

    What have you already tried?

  • Weak question

    Who made this scrap?

    What you get: Silence, and scrap that is hidden next time.

    Ask instead

    What was different when these parts were made?

  • Weak question

    Any safety concerns?

    What you get: A no. The word concern sounds like a formal report.

    Ask instead

    What is the most awkward or risky part of this job?

  • Weak question

    Are you trained on this?

    What you get: A yes. The training matrix says so too.

    Ask instead

    How were you trained on this job, and who would you ask if you were not sure?

A weak question can be answered with yes, fine or a name. The better one asks to be shown something.

Worked example: a 20-minute walk on changeovers

Illustrative example: the plant, the line and the numbers are made up to show how a handful of questions turn into follow-ups. A plant manager at a packaging plant walks line 3 because changeovers are planned at 25 minutes and the last five averaged 41. She picks seven questions before she leaves her desk.

A 20-minute changeover walk: questions, answers and follow-ups

Example numbers

  • I am here to learn how changeovers go on this line. Is now a good time to watch one?

    What she heard and saw
    The operator says the next one is in ten minutes and offers to talk her through it.
    Follow-up
    None. She waits and watches the whole changeover.

  • How long does a changeover take, and what takes most of it?

    What she heard and saw
    About 40 minutes, and most of it is finding the right change parts. She times 14 minutes of walking to the parts cage and back.
    Follow-up
    Maintenance lead to trial a change-part cart at the line for one week.

  • What do you have to go and look for?

    What she heard and saw
    The size 4 guide rails and the hex key that fits them. The key is shared with line 2.
    Follow-up
    Second key ordered the same day, with its own place on the cart.

  • Where is the standard for this job, and when did it last change?

    What she heard and saw
    A laminated sheet from two years ago that lists a filler head the line no longer has.
    Follow-up
    Process engineer to rewrite the changeover sheet with the operator by Friday.

  • What have you already tried?

    What she heard and saw
    Night shift stages the parts before the run ends. Day shift does not, because nobody told them.
    Follow-up
    Supervisor to make staging part of the changeover standard on every shift.

  • What should we do first?

    What she heard and saw
    The operator picks the cart, because it removes the walking without any new rules.
    Follow-up
    Agreed. The cart trial starts on Monday.

  • When should I come back to see it?

    What she heard and saw
    Thursday of next week, after four changeovers with the cart.
    Follow-up
    In her calendar. She will time one changeover herself.
Each follow-up came from what the operator said or showed, not from a list written at a desk.

Seven questions took 20 minutes and produced four actions with owners, and every one of them came from the operator. On the return walk she starts with the last question in the list: what did we agree last time, and did it get done. For more walks written up this way, see the gemba walk examples.

What to do with the answers

A walk that ends with notes in a pocket changes nothing. Before the end of the shift, sort what you heard into three piles: fixed on the spot, needs an owner and a date, and needs a closer look. Tell the people you spoke to which pile their point went into.

  • Points that need an owner go on the action list the area already reviews every day. A rolling action item list is enough.
  • Points that need a closer look become a problem statement. The 5W1H questions turn a vague complaint into something you can investigate.
  • For the wall where leaders start their walk, the gemba walk questions poster has nine of these questions in three groups.
  • For a bank organised by area of the plant, the gemba walk field guide has 48 questions.

A gemba walk is not an audit. When you need a scored check that a standard is being followed, use layered process audit questions or 5S audit questions, and keep the walk for learning.

Audit Management

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Audit management in LeanSuite lets you build, schedule and run any shop floor audit or inspection, from layered process audits to gemba walks, and turn every finding into a tracked action.

See Audit ManagementBest gemba walk software

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FAQ

Questions about gemba walk questions

  1. Ask open questions about the process: what the person is working on, how they know the part is good, what slowed them down today, what they have already tried and what they need from you. Then ask to be shown. Avoid questions that can be answered with a yes or that ask who is to blame.

  2. Five to eight questions on one theme is enough for a walk of 20 to 30 minutes. More than that turns the walk into an interview and leaves no time to watch the work. Choose them before you leave your desk.

  3. Purpose, process and people. The Lean Enterprise Institute suggests that a leader at the gemba talks about the purpose of the work, the process that delivers it and the people who do it. The question groups on this page cover all three.

  4. Do not ask who made the mistake, why someone did not follow the rule, or anything that already contains your own solution. These questions put people on the defensive, and you stop hearing about problems. Ask what was different, what makes the standard hard to follow and what they have tried.

  5. Gemba walk questions are open and help a leader understand the work and its problems. An audit checklist is closed: each line is checked against a standard and answered yes or no. Use the walk to learn and the audit to verify, and do not mix the two on the same visit.

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