What is a Gemba Walk?

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What is a Gemba Walk? A gem (or sometimes gehma-ba, pronounced gem-ha-bay) walk is the traditional term used for non-scientific personal observation of physical activity where the action is taking place. The word originally came from gembutsu, meaning real thing occurring in reality. It was applied to physical phenomena where some physical object was observed. This term then extended to the description of walking ways.

We now know that gemba walks are not scientific; rather they are observational and subjective. That is to say, the observer decides what is good to observe. An observer can choose to look at only the activity of one foot or two feet or a hundred feet. There is no way to tell what is good to observe simply by observing the walk, so samba walks are more like a walk around the earth or a map drawn by an expert.

The basics of growth hacking is to observe employees in various activities, follow-up on those activities, record the observations, then make a report on what was learned. Once again, observations on activity are made by asking employees to stand still and walk around a block or area while the human resource manager follows them with a notebook and a camera or video camera. Then the human resource manager analyzes the information and decides what is good to improve on, what is good to retain, and what needs improvement.

Gemba walks are not random. Instead, they are planned and methodical. There is a set order to the walks and employees are told exactly what to do and when to do it. When following the employees, the leader makes sure to follow them in the same manner as he would if they were walking around the company or community. A gemba walk is much more organized and systematic than just randomly walking around.

There are many principles of ergonomics and management theory that apply to what is a Gemba walk and they include proper alignment of equipment, posture, use of space, balancing, and walking slowly and efficiently in line with other team members and leaders. One of the main goals of the walk is to improve the overall efficiency of the workforce, but it does this through focused teamwork and leadership. By listening carefully to the team members, the leader is able to tailor the walks to each individual, which in turn helps improve their productivity. Many management and ergonomic software programs exist to help managers implement the walks into their teams. 

All of these programs as offered in the following link are designed to collect data reports and produce visual summaries of the events that occurred during the walks. Some of the key findings from these reports can be used for future planning and strategies. As more time is spent in the field practicing and executing Gemba walks, the more useful they will become in the future. As the program gains popularity and is implemented throughout the company, the methods used to become more streamlined and effective. As more teams and departments begin to use these methods to improve their daily operations, productivity increases and the company is able to provide its customers with the best products and services. Check out this post: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Growth_hacking, for more useful knowledge on this topic.