Grasp The situation
Understand the problem
Set expectations
Follow-up

Gemba Walks are all about this, the reason I do a Gemba walk is to understand what the current condition is with my own eyes so that I honor the real situation.

While I’m there I have to understand the problem… But that is not good enough I have to admit to myself that there is waste and I must teach others that waste does exsist so that they can see.

Now I must set expectations and this is were it gets tricky. I have to be careful not to dictate the solution, but to try and coach the leader or employee to see the need for something to improve the situation. At the beginning this could be a visual that tracks the problem so that I know how offten this happens or what the number one issue is. In later stages it could be the formation of a team to begin the PDCA workshop or DAMIC project. (I should not try to solve the issue on the floor)

Then I must follow-up constantly. This is the hardest part in my opinion. If you are treating the Gemba Walk as a one time event you will fail and make lean a program of the month. Don’t start if you are not prepared to continue. Setting expectations with out follow-up is worse than setting no expectation at all… Food for thought…

Thanks for listening.
Douglas Miller

Your question is actually two questions, and they have separate answers.
“The best way to conduct a gemba walk to make the most of them” is outlined in the original post – though I can go into more detail, it is best to try it first and see what you can learn by doing what is described.

The second question – “…and to make people think that lean actually works and can make their life easier if they try” is more problematic. You simply can’t “make” someone think or believe anything. They have to do that for themselves.

What you can do is to teach them to visualize what an ideal work flow would look like, then ask them to observe an actual one and describe to you what they see that is preventing the worker from doing the job the best way. IF a person is willing to learn and is teachable, you can spend time with them and teach them to do this by observing yourself, and asking them questions to direct their eyes until they can see the same things.

Ultimately, it is a BIG help if a few people can gain this experience with someone who has done this for a long time, a “sensei” if you will – a coach in common English. That can reduce the learning time considerably.

Like any skill, acquiring this one takes practice in an environment where the right kinds of encouragement and advice are offered. It takes some struggling and correction. It takes some drive and motivation, and those things must come from within to be truly effective.

My experience is relatively small (almost 5 years in Process/Lean management) and new at this company (almost a month). My idea of conducting Gemba walks as a 1/2 hour walk at the production and packaging shop floor, with the heads of dept and tech depts, is to try and make them think more in a Lean perspective in general as also assist me to understand better the situations.

What I would like to know is…what is the best way to conduct the Gemba Walks in order to make the most out of them, and make people think that Lean actualy works and can make their life easier if they try. Carrently they just watch it in separation of the rest of the production something like extra work to please the managers and not as a tool to solve problems.

Many thanks in advance…
AsotosIos

The more the organization practices the process of engaging with each other in this way, the better everyone will become at doing it + the better the operation will become.

As described, a gemba walk should not require people to alter their normal work patterns. In fact having them do so defeats the whole purpose. The key point is to compare what should be happening vs. what you observe so that you can check if the processes and systems are working correctly.

Checking KPIs doesn’t, in my mind, require anyone to present anything. They are there to see.

Now – if it may be that your machine operators are engaged in improvement activities that are intended to impact the KPIs.

If that is the case, then it is entirely appropriate to have the present:
- The target condition.
- The starting condition.
- What problems and barriers are preventing the target condition.
- What they are working on.
- What results they anticipate.
- What results they achieved.
- Explain any differences, and what they learned about the process.

This would be part of the people development process, and would be an appropriate check to see how well the Team Leader is teaching it – by checking how well his students (the operators) have learned it.