Gemba Walks

Presented By:

Ernie & Tracey Richardson

This workshop is designed to help you learn by doing. Not only will we discuss the skills, behaviors and processes that are essential for creating the lean management system. We will actually go on several walks to the gemba in order to see how the work is performed and practice management behaviors that support continuous improvement through relentless problem solving.

Outline for the Program:

  • First, let’s take a walk and talk about what we see. Gemba walk followed by a debrief
  • What is the purpose of a gemba walk? Why take a walk?  What do we hope to accomplish?
  • What is the process of a gemba walk? How do we take a walk?  What are we looking for and why?
  • What are the people issues associated with a gemba walk? What does respect for people really mean?  Understanding and managing our impact.
  • Basic Leadership/Management behavior and principles:
    • Go See, Ask Why, Show Respect – What these things really mean and how they factor into a gemba walk
    • Looking at and understanding process rather than just looking at results
    • Management as science and discipline rather than art
  • Develop a plan for our second gemba walk. Let’s take another gemba walk and talk about what we see.
  • Debrief on differences between our first and second walk, document, report out/debrief.
  • Lean leadership behaviors and methods
  • Thinking about our management systems and how they drive behavior, thinking and business results
  • What is the “work” and the added value of management?
    • Processes and tools/methods to accomplish the value-added of management
    • Understanding the “right” tool at the right level in the organization
  • Summary and Q&A

Who should attend:

Leaders, Managers and executives who are responsible for value-creating or support processes in their organizations. Continuous improvement professionals who work with leaders and managers helping them move from conventional to lean management. It’s highly desirable that operations and CI leader’s team up to attend this workshop so they can continue supporting each other in their Gemba walks once they return to their organizations.

Learning Objectives

In this session participants will learn to…

  • Understand what is a true Gemba Walk
  • What is the purpose of a Gemba Walk
  • Learning to see through the process
  • Connecting a Gemba walk to the True North of the Organization
  • Getting to practice with a real life Gemba experience.

Facilitator Bio:

58 combined years experiences in Toyota thinking and methodologies.  Both Ernie and Tracey worked in production and human resources at Toyota Motor Manufacturing as hourly and salary positions in management.  They were coached by Japanese trainers for several years learning many valuable lessons that translates to others today.  Both on the faculty at the Lean Enterprise Institute.  Founders of Teaching Lean Inc, working in the public and private sector.  Authors of “The Toyota Engagement Equation”.