The Gemba Walk Done Respectfully: Lessons from a Realistic Scenario

The gemba walk comes from the Japanese term 'genba,' meaning 'the real place' -- the place where value is created and where work actually happens. In Lean, the gemba walk is the practice of senior leaders, managers, or improvement practitioners going to the work site to observe the actual work, ask questions, and understand the current state of operations firsthand. Done well, gemba walks build understanding, surface problems, and demonstrate genuine leadership interest in the work. Done poorly, they are intrusive, threatening, and counterproductive.

Here is a realistic scenario based on common patterns in gemba walk implementation, with identifying details removed.

The Scenario: Two Approaches to the Same Walk

A regional health authority was implementing Lean practices in its administrative processing functions. The Chief Operating Officer wanted to conduct gemba walks to understand current-state performance and demonstrate commitment to Lean. Two gemba walks were conducted -- one in the same week as a monthly performance review that had gone badly, and one six weeks later, after deliberate preparation.

What the First Walk Looked Like

The first gemba walk was unannounced. The COO arrived with three senior managers and a process improvement consultant. Staff were not informed in advance. The COO asked direct questions about process performance and pointed out visible wastes (paper stacks, an unoccupied workstation, a whiteboard that had not been updated). Staff gave short, guarded answers. A team leader was asked to explain a delay visible in the tracking system; she was not able to provide context without accessing a system that was locked during the visit. The COO left the walk with the impression that the team was underperforming. The team left the walk with the impression that senior leadership was looking for people to blame.

What the Second Walk Looked Like

The second walk was announced a week in advance with a clear explanation of purpose: 'We want to learn how the work actually flows and understand what gets in your way. We are not evaluating individual performance.' The team was invited to flag problems they wanted the COO to see. The COO was briefed in advance on the work being observed. During the walk, the COO asked questions ('What makes this step harder than it needs to be?', 'What would help here?') rather than making observations or pointing out wastes. When a team member raised a dependency on an upstream team as a recurring blocker, the COO asked who she could talk to about it. Two weeks later, the upstream dependency was resolved.

Lessons Learned

• Announce and explain the purpose in advance. A gemba walk that is unannounced and unexplained will be interpreted as an inspection or a blame event. Tell people when you are coming, why you are coming, and what you are trying to learn.

• Ask questions, do not make observations. Questions signal curiosity. Observations ('I see a lot of paper here') signal evaluation. The distinction matters to the people being observed.

• Act on what you learn. If a gemba walk surfaces a problem that is within leadership's power to resolve, and leadership does not resolve it, the message is that the gemba walk was performative, not genuine. The second walk generated trust because the COO took a visible action within two weeks.

XNM applies Lean management practices, including gemba walks and process improvement, to public-sector and capital-project environments. Reach out to XNM's strategic advisory team to discuss Lean implementation and process improvement for your organisation.