Gemba is Japanese for "the real place". In a plant, that's the floor where the work happens. A gemba walk is a leader going there to see how the work is really done, ask questions and learn.
Most gemba walks are a waste of time. The leader walks the same route, says hello, glances at the board and leaves. Or the walk turns into an inspection, and people start tidying up when they see you coming. Neither tells you anything.
A walk that works has three parts:
- Go with a purpose: one theme per walk. Safety, one quality problem, flow through one cell, one changeover. Looking at one thing properly beats looking at everything quickly.
- Ask, don't tell: "Show me how you do this." "What gets in your way?" "What happened the last time this went wrong?" Then listen. The people doing the job know where the problems are.
- Follow up: write down what you saw and what you promised. If someone tells you about a problem and nothing happens, they won't tell you the next one. Close the loop, even when the answer is "not yet, and here's why."
While you're there, look for people waiting, people searching, and workarounds: tape, cardboard, a handwritten note stuck on a machine. Every workaround is a problem the system hasn't fixed. Somebody solved it on their own because nobody else did.
Your action for today
Do one 20-minute walk with one theme. Ask three people: "What's the one thing that slows you down most?" Write down their answers word for word. Pick one you can act on this week, and tell that person what you're going to do.
A free gemba walk checklist, with questions to ask and a findings table:
Gemba walk checklist