How to Do a Gemba Walk

Coaching Gemba Walkers

By: Michael Bremer

Narrated by: Virtual Voice

Taking a Gemba Walk to Go See, Ask Why, and Show Respect is a key way to engage people more actively 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.

This edition adds two new chapters - standard work for an 'Outside Executives Walk' and a new chapter on 'How to Keep Your Gemba Walks Fresh and Meaningful.'

The book describes three key reasons for doing a Gemba Walk: 1. Clarify Purpose: Gemba Walks provide a wonderful opportunity to learn if people inside the organization deeply understand ‘why’ they are doing their work activities. 2. Process Understanding: 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 People: The walks allow leaders to discover barriers that inhibit people’s ability to do great work.

This edition also expands 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 practices: Toyota, Autoliv, OC Tanner, Cogent Power, and the author’s experiences as Vice President of the Association of Manufacturing Excellence Award's 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?