Ever felt like decisions in your workplace are made far away from the real work?
The Gemba Walk is Lean’s antidote to “managing from the office chair.”
In Lean methodology, Gemba is a Japanese term meaning “the real place” , the location where value is actually created.
In manufacturing, that might be the shop floor. In healthcare, it could be a hospital ward. In e-commerce, it’s the actual userflow. In service industries, it’s the call center, retail floor, or logistics hub.
A Gemba Walk is when leaders or managers leave their desks and go to the gemba to:
- Observe work as it happens
- Engage with employees doing the work
- Ask open-ended questions to understand processes
- Identify waste, problems, or opportunities for improvement
Unlike a top-down inspection, a Gemba Walk is not about catching mistakes. It’s about learning and improving through respectful, first-hand observation.
Why Gemba Walks Matter
Many improvement initiatives fail because leaders rely on second-hand reports or metrics without understanding the context. Gemba Walks bridge that gap.
- They connect leaders with reality. You see what’s really happening, not just what’s reported (or imagined).
- They build trust. Employees know you value their perspective.
- They uncover hidden waste. Issues become visible that spreadsheets never reveal.
- And they drive better decisions — first-hand insight leads to smarter, faster action.
In Six Sigma terms, a Gemba Walk is a powerful way to enrich your DMAIC projects. In the Define and Measure phases, it brings context to the data you’re gathering. In Analyze, it helps spot root causes. In Improve and Control, it ensures solutions work in the real environment.
How to Conduct a Gemba Walk
Plan with purpose
Before you step onto the floor, be clear about why you’re walking. Are you mapping a process? Hunting for waste? Investigating a recurring problem?
Pick a time when the process is active, not during downtime, so you can see the actual workflow.
Go with respect
Start by greeting people warmly. Let them know you’re here to understand, not to criticize.
Remember: the Gemba Walk is about seeing through their eyes.
Observe first, ask later
Spend time simply watching the work unfold. Resist the urge to interrupt.
When you do ask questions, make them open-ended:
- “What’s the most challenging part of your day?”
- “If you could change one thing, what would it be?”
Take notes, not immediate action
Record what you see. Use an observation sheet to capture process steps, delays, and potential causes of waste.
Avoid jumping in to “fix” on the spot. Premature solutions often miss the bigger picture.
Instead, review findings with the team after the walk.
What to Look For
During a Gemba Walk, train your eyes for the Seven Wastes of Lean — often remembered with the acronym TIMWOODS:
| Waste Type | What It Looks Like | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Transportation | Unnecessary movement of materials | Moving parts between distant workstations |
| Inventory | Excess stock tying up cash | Overstocked raw materials |
| Motion | Unnecessary human movement | Searching for tools |
| Waiting | Idle time between steps | Waiting for forklift delivery |
| Overproduction | Making more than needed | Producing ahead of demand |
| Overprocessing | Doing more work than required | Extra signatures for simple approvals |
| Defects | Errors requiring rework | Incorrect assembly |
Common Mistakes
The fastest way to ruin a Gemba Walk is to turn it into an audit. That kills trust immediately.
Other traps include:
- Walking without a focus — aimless strolling produces random observations.
- Ignoring follow-up — if employees share issues and nothing changes, engagement collapses.
- Over-interpreting — don’t jump to conclusions without confirming with the people doing the work.
Examples of Gemba Walks in Action
A plant manager noticed that a welding station had frequent downtime.
During a Gemba Walk, he saw that workers often waited for a forklift to deliver materials.
A simple schedule change for deliveries cut idle time by 20%.
In a hospital emergency department, a Gemba Walk revealed long patient waits due to inefficient triage routing. Redesigning the flow reduced average wait time by 15 minutes per patient.
In software development, an agile coach discovered deployment delays caused by unclear handoffs between QA and DevOps. Adding a handoff checklist eliminated the bottleneck.
Pro Tips from Master Black Belts
- Always debrief with the team right after the walk.
- Link observations to hard data like cycle time, defect rates, or on-time delivery.
- Use visuals. Photos, sketches, or value stream maps can help.
- Schedule Gemba Walks regularly, not just when problems arise.
Takeaway
Gemba Walks are more than a Lean ritual. They’re a mindset shift from managing by reports to leading by presence.
If you want real improvement, start by going where the work happens and listening to the people who make it happen.
Mindset mantra: Go see. Ask why. Show respect.
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