Free training deck
Updated · About 25 minutes
Obeya room training presentation
An obeya, Japanese for big room, is a space where a team puts all the information about a project or a plant on the walls and meets there to make decisions. It began in Toyota's product development. This free deck explains it in about 25 minutes. Its 15 editable slides cover what an obeya is and why teams use one, what goes on the walls, how to keep the walls useful, the meeting rhythm, project versus plant obeyas, how to set one up, an illustrative example, the common mistakes, an activity to sketch your own obeya and four check questions with answers. Every slide has speaker notes.
Free to use: print it, copy it and edit it for your team. Enter your name and work email once to download.
A look inside
What is in the 15 slides
For project leaders, plant and department managers, engineers and CI coordinators. Widescreen, in plain language, with speaker notes on every slide.
Slide 5: What goes on the walls 
Slide 10: Example: an obeya for a product launch 
Slide 12: Try it: sketch your obeya
- 1Obeya: the big roomCover
- 2AgendaWhat an obeya is and why use one · What goes on the walls · The meeting rhythm · Setting one up, an example and common mistakes · Activity and check questions
- 3What an obeya isObeya is Japanese for big room: a space where a team puts the key information for a project or a plant on the walls and meets there.
- 4Why teams use oneInformation is scattered across emails, spreadsheets and people's heads.
- 5What goes on the wallsGoals and targets, Plan and schedule, Status, Problems, Decisions
- 6Keep the walls usefulOne owner per board, who keeps it current.
- 7The meeting rhythmShort stand-up meetings at the walls: often weekly for a project, daily for a plant.
- 8Project obeya and plant obeyaProject or product development and plant performance
- 9Setting one upChoose the purpose: one project, a product launch or plant performance.
- 10Example: an obeya for a product launchAn illustrative example of a launch team's obeya.
- 11Common mistakesWalls that are not kept up to date, so people stop trusting them.
- 12Try it: sketch your obeyaA 15-minute team activity
- 13Check your understanding4 check questions
- 14AnswersThe answers, to discuss
- 15Key points and next stepsNext: set up the boards we sketched and hold the first meeting.
How to run it
Running the session
- 1
Prepare
Read the speaker notes once and swap the illustrative example for one from your own area if you have it. Print the PDF if people like a handout.
- 2
Present
The slides take about 10 minutes. Every slide has notes, so you can talk from them rather than read the slide.
- 3
Do the activity
Pick one project or area your team runs. The activity slide takes the team through it step by step; allow 15 minutes.
- 4
Check and follow up
Ask the check questions before showing the answers, then agree one next step with an owner and a date before people leave.
The check questions
- 1. What does obeya mean?
- Big room, in Japanese.
- 2. Where did the obeya come from?
- Toyota's product development, made famous by the first Prius project.
- 3. Name four kinds of information on the walls.
- Any four of: goals, plan, status, problems and decisions.
- 4. What should most of the meeting time go on?
- Red items: the problem, the countermeasure and who owns it.
Templates and guides to go with it
- Obeya room plannerPlan the walls, owners, cadence, agenda and rules of an obeya, then run the weekly review of KPIs, problems, actions and milestones.
- Daily huddle agendaA 15-minute start-of-shift stand-up in six timed blocks, with yesterday's SQCDP results, today's plan, actions and escalations.
- Escalation matrix templateWho is called for each type of issue and after how long, with severity rules, contacts and an escalation log.
- Kaizen project plan (Gantt chart)One improvement project as a Gantt chart: tasks by phase with owners, predecessors and working days, a 16-week grid, milestones and a status from planned against actual % done.
- Topic: Lean leadership and employee engagementEvery guide we have on the subject, sorted.
- Topic: 5S and visual managementEvery guide we have on the subject, sorted.
After the session
Put it on the wall
Free printable poster on the same subject, so the team sees it every day: a PNG to download now, and print-ready PDFs from Letter to 24 x 36 in.
FAQ
Obeya room training presentation: common questions
More free training decks
- 5S training presentationSort, set in order, shine, standardize and sustain in 16 slides, with a 15-minute sort activity and a quiz.View deck
- Kaizen training presentationWhat kaizen is, its principles, PDCA and four steps to a first improvement in 17 slides, with an activity and a quiz.View deck
- Autonomous maintenance training presentation: the 7 stepsThe 7 steps of jishu hozen, who does what and how step audits work, in 19 slides with notes and a quiz.View deck
- 8 wastes of lean training presentationValue vs waste, the 8 wastes (TIMWOODS) with examples, muda, mura and muri and a waste walk, in 17 slides.View deck
- Gemba walk training presentationGo see, ask why, show respect: how to plan, run and follow up a gemba walk, in 16 slides with a practice walk.View deck
- Root cause analysis training presentation: 5 whys and fishboneDefine, contain, the 5 whys, the fishbone diagram and verifying the cause, in 18 slides with a team activity.View deck
- TPM training presentation: the 8 pillarsWhat TPM is, the six big losses, OEE and the 8 pillars, in 19 slides with a loss-spotting activity.View deck
- World class manufacturing (WCM) training presentationThe WCM pillars, cost deployment, the 7-step approach, model areas and audits, in 17 slides.View deck
- DMAIC training presentationDefine, measure, analyze, improve and control, with the main tools of each phase, in 16 slides.View deck
Training is the start. Keeping it going is the hard part.
See how plants run their audits, improvements and follow-ups in LeanSuite, on a call built around your own problem.
Schedule Demo