Gemba is where real work is done.
“Gemba: A Japanese word meaning “real place” – now adapted in management terminology to mean the “workplace – or that place where value is added. In manufacturing, it usually refers to the shop floor.” Masaaki Imai – Gemba Kaizen
In every organization there are those who are adding value to the customer and those who are supporting the people adding value.
Example:
The manufacturing worker who adds the steering wheel is adding value, the human resources person who pays the worker does not. Not to say that the human resources person does not have value to the company (or the person who wants to be paid), but the customer is not concerned with the payroll process.
It is easy to become disconnected to Gemba. Meetings and phone calls distract and reports give incomplete pictures; which is why you need to visit Gemba.
When was the last time you visited Gemba?
When was the last time you spent a day in Gemba? A day without distractions, meetings, and urgent phone calls pulling at you. A day where you sat and watched quietly as the happenings of the work danced around you.
It is during these times that you learn the most about the inner workings of your business.
Spending an hour is better than walking through smiling and nodding. Spending a uninterrupted half-day is better than looking at the processes from the corner for an hour. Getting right next to the people working and peacefully and respectfully asking questions about why what is done is done can enlighten.
A tool from my box – I can’t hear you
On one of your many (you are doing many, right?) visits to Gemba, imagine what would happen if your employees could not talk with one another. What if your workplace were so loud that if even if an employee yelled at the top of their lungs to the person standing next to them, they could not be heard.
How good is the processes non-verbal communication? How much of the information from the processes is communicated by audio cues?
Now that you are truly listening to Gemba, you are taking the first step to understanding Gemba. True understanding is the first step to improvement. True improvement leads to profit.
