Using the Gemba Walk to Learn and Engage

While there are many things that affect employee engagement, getting leadership to the place where work is done, the Gemba, and actively engaging with the workforce, seeing with their own eyes the problems that occur, listening to associates and giving advice and direction (coaching) to the team is a critical factor in increasing overall engagement.

All too often, attempts are made to solve problems without knowing anything about or are not being familiar with a particular area or process -- resulting in a misdiagnosis or failed solution. Answers come from the floor, from the Gemba, where the condition occurs. You need to go to the real place and experience these conditions for yourself before being able to take the next steps.

A Gemba Walk is a method to engage the workforce in their native environment. The primary purpose of Gemba walking is to teach. When you are the Gemba walker, you are playing the role of sensei (mentor, coach, teacher). The role of the sensei is to ask questions, introduce new tools and approaches, stimulate new thinking, teach, and (sparingly) to give advice.

A Gemba walk is not a random, unplanned visit to “check up” on the workforce or catch employees being unproductive. It is also not the equivalent of a department meeting whereby leadership pull staff together to deliver a series of messages. Instead, Gemba walks are planned in advance and entered into with a particular objective in mind (e.g., teach something, learn something, role model a behavior, build a relationship, etc.).

Gemba Walks can be summarized by:

     Go to the actual place.

     Get the facts about the actual thing or activity.

     Grasp the entire situation.

     Generate reasons that explain what is happening.

     Guide corrective actions or countermeasures.

 It has been said that the farther removed a leader becomes from the place where the work gets done, the less effective he/she will be in supporting those who do the work. And while that statement may be largely accurate, it’s also true that all operational leaders, but particularly department leaders and above, are pulled in many different directions during a given day, week, or month and may not feel that they have time to spend out in the operation where the products are made or the services rendered.

Additionally, some leaders, particularly those that didn’t start out working in operational roles, may not know how to productively spend time in the operation. Where should they go? What should they observe? Who should they talk to?

No matter what your position is or what you are working on you can not underestimate the importance of going to the Gemba. You can’t solve problems at your desk. Going to the Gemba is a great way to get the entire team involved in identifying and solving problems. It is grounded in fact finding using actual conditions from the actual workers who perform the work. This activity creates energy within the team solving the problem leading to experimentation, ideas, and discussion on improvements.

As leaders, we should spend the majority of our time on the Gemba engaged with both the people and process. This time should be structured and not what I call “Industrial Tourism” where all the leader does is walk around and shake hands and kiss babies. This is superficial and actively works to disengage employees.

A former President of Toyota once said he spent more than 80% of his time at the Gemba helping solve problems and removing the burden from the workforce. By doing so, he is helping develop those that he encounters and this creates a more engaged workforce.

Gemba walking teaches us to see in new ways what we have failed to see before. So what do you look for and how do you see it? All management should learn to ask these three simple questions:

       1) What is the process?

       2) How can you tell it is working?

       3) What are you doing to improve it (if it is working)?

Contrary to popular opinion, the workforce will come to appreciate the presence of leadership in their place of work because it sends the signal that leaders want to understand the challenges they face every day and opens up opportunities for a constructive dialogue.

While conducting structured Gemba walks have many benefits, here are nine reasons why leaders should be doing Gemba walks:

• Gemba walks build relationships with those that do the work and create value in the organization.
• Interacting with employees at the Gemba enables leaders to uncover problems and eliminate them quickly.
• Gemba walks provide leaders with the opportunity to praise people for the good work that they do.
• Management can be sure that the work that needs to be done is getting done.
• Goals and objectives can clearly be communicated face-to-face.
• A visible leader can increase employee engagement.
• Gemba walks can help develop people through coaching and mentoring.
• Gemba walks can help the leader validate data, emails and spreadsheets with their own eyes.
• Gemba walks can enable accountability to occur since the leader is not disconnected from the actions or results. When they “see it” they “own it”.

Remember, as the leader engages the people and processes, he or she should always show respect and understand if something is amiss, it is not the individual’s fault, rather the process and the leader are the guilty parties. A Gemba walk is not an employee evaluation. The purpose is to observe, understand, and ultimately improve processes.

Lean manufacturing doesn’t have to be a complicated process or involve lots of foreign-sounding buzzwords. What matters most is that you engage with the frontline employees regularly and use the walks as an opportunity to learn and improve. So, establish and stick to a routine including regular visits to the Gemba, check the status of visual controls, follow-up on daily accountability assignments, and ask the three simple questions everywhere. This approach can help you with every aspect of the improvement process, from root cause analysis to Kaizen. Keep learning, thinking, and teaching in the Gemba.

Lean Quote: You Are What You Tolerate

On Fridays I will post a Lean related Quote. Throughout our lifetimes many people touch our lives and leave us with words of wisdom. These can both be a source of new learning and also a point to pause and reflect upon lessons we have learned. Within Lean active learning is an important aspect on this journey because without learning we can not improve.

"You get what you expect and you deserve what you tolerate."   —  Mark Graban

As a leader, what you tolerate in the business is what eventually becomes the culture and ultimately dictates the performance of your business or unit. If you tolerate under performance, then under performance becomes the new norm. if you tolerate missed targets, then missed targets become the new norm. if you tolerate excuses, then excuses become the new norm.

And he that is good for excuses is seldom good for anything else!

And by tolerating, I mean the conscious decision you take on a daily basis to accept that level of performance. The conscious decision to allow the excuses that surround you to infiltrate your plans or offset the underperformance.

If you do not tolerate underperformance and excuses, they will disappear from the culture. If you constantly practice the way to do things, prioritize and execute on the most important things and generally do more of the right things more often, then success will become a habit.  The consequence of not doing this is that underperformance becomes the culture.

Leaders need to be first grounded in their own values and hold fast to that line – then holding others accountable to it as well. No exceptions except in very extreme circumstances and only if it would not change the goalposts for the organization itself. As the leader, you are the first line of defense for your own and the company’s values – don’t let anyone change those. You become what you tolerate.

For more inspiration check out Mark’s post. 

5 Steps To Be an Effective Leader Of A Culture-Driven Organization

Image credit: https://pixabay.com/photos/smilies-figures-together-leader-3298337

The recent changes in a global economic environment forced a lot of companies to change their values, priorities, and organizational cultures. Still, following the path of transformation is impossible without being guided by a successful, prominent, inspiring, and culture-driven leadership. How to become an effective leader of a culture-first organization and what does it mean to be? Let’s find it out.

How are Culture and Leadership Interconnected?

The company’s culture and its leadership style are always directly interconnected. What’s more, it is quite difficult to say where the reason is, and there is the consequence. Does the leader develop the culture? Or does the culture define the suitable leader? It looks like an egg and a chicken dilemma but still, the core cultural values affect the suitable leadership model, and the leaders themselves should support, promote and follow these values as well. 

Below are five steps that will help you become a leader of a culture-driven company. 

How to Become an Effective Leader of a Culture-First Company

What does it mean to lead a culture-driven organization? Perhaps, it means saying every word and making every decision being strongly guided by the cultural framework accepted in the organization. For example, the top sites listing cheap custom writing services have assisting their users and never posting pre-ordered reviews as their main priorities and cultural foundations. 

Leading a culture-driven organization means driving the company’s growth while sharing and promoting its values within the team and beyond it. It also means the way of doing business itself by making ethical decisions which will strengthen the company’s reputation as a culture-driven one. Lastly, it means making sure your employees sincerely share the company’s culture and are ready to stand for it.

And here is how to achieve these goals.

1.     Be Self-Aware

Any effective leadership begins from within, deeply in the soul of the leader. To become a leader of a culture-driven organization, consider getting started with yourself, your values, and your priorities. How do the ones of the organization match with the cultural cores of the company? Do you share them sincerely? Do you believe in what you are going to do? If you have answered in a positive manner, you have quite a lot of chances of leading this company’s growth. Still, make sure you understand your gaps as well and work on improving them.

2.     Stand for Your Values

Standing for the values the company promotes is the second step an effective leader should make every day. What’s more, you should stand for them in every action you do. Translate these values when communicating to your team, when dealing with the customers, when solving the problems with the partners and when outlining the company’s growth strategy. Stand for these values when telling about the company you are leading regardless of the environment.

3.     Promote Shared Vision

Being an effective leader is good but your efforts lose their meaning when you have nobody to lead. What’s more, effective leadership is always built on the set of values the leader and the team support and share. People believe in people, and most of them would like to feel like a part of something important, great and significant.

This means that you have not only support and promote your values. You should also make sure your team members do the same, and perfectly, they should do it sincerely.

4.     Improve Job Satisfaction

There is no great corporate culture without a high job satisfaction rate among employees. What’s more, those team members unhappy with their work conditions, work tasks, the leadership style, and the company’s attitude towards them will never support its culture and will never promote its values. That is, improving employees' job satisfaction is the task worth putting first on the list.

How to do it right? The only way is to support and promote a trusting environment at the workplace, encourage your team members to share their opinion, and show them the company’s gratitude for their efforts.

5.     Listen to Feedback and Keep Learning

You got it right - readiness to open communication and listening to the feedback of your team and upper leadership is one more key to becoming an effective leader of a culture-driven organization. Still, listening wouldn’t be enough without a careful analysis of the reasons and consequences. Make sure to focus on the existing problem, look for its root causes, and try to solve it by being guided by the cultural values the company stands for. Analyze the mistakes and suggest ways to avoid them in the future.

Conclusion

Being an effective leader is challenging. Being an effective leader of a culture-driven organization is challenging even more. Fortunately, there are no secret tips. The only winning strategy is to sincerely stand for the values of the company and keep them in mind at every step. 

About the Author: Frank Hamilton is a blogger and translator from Manchester. He is a professional writing expert in such topics as blogging, digital marketing and self-education. He also loves traveling and speaks Spanish, French, German and English.

Lean Tips Edition #175 (#2836 - #2850)

For my Facebook fans you already know about this great feature. But for those of you that are not connected to A Lean Journey on Facebook or Twitter I post daily a feature I call Lean Tips.  It is meant to be advice, things I learned from experience, and some knowledge tidbits about Lean to help you along your journey.  Another great reason to like A Lean Journey on Facebook.

Click this link for A Lean Journey's Facebook Page Notes Feed.

Here is the next addition of tips from the Facebook page:

Lean Tip #2836 – Enable Your Teams To Set Their Own Goals

Separating goal setting from the performance evaluation and rewards process liberates your teams to set ambitious stretch goals based on their specific knowledge of the requirements of a project. If they aren’t tied to a specific target, they are freed from the fear of failure and able to set more ambitious targets aligned to the stretch goals set at the executive level.

Lean Tip #2837 – Set Aside Time Each Year to Focus on Goal-Setting

As a Lean Leader, I’ve facilitated many annual planning meetings.

The planning meeting begins with the team members assessing the goals the team had established in the preceding year, and whether those goals were realistic or not. If we failed to meet certain goals, we’d break down why that happened. From there, we brainstormed about possibilities for the current year.

Lean Tip #2838 – Set Goals That Align With Company Objectives

Each employee's goals should be tied to the company's overall growth strategy. When employees understand how their individual role and responsibilities contribute to the bigger picture, they're often more focused and motivated to achieve goals that result in success for both the business and themselves. Consistently communicating strategic business goals (and regularly emphasizing the company mission) can help keep employees engaged in the work they do.

Businesses may choose to link their company performance goals to key strategic objectives, and from there convert those into team-performance goals. As a result, employees may accept increased accountability as they recognize how their individual performance directly impacts the company.

Lean Tip #2839 – Emphasize Attainable Goals

Burdening an employee with an out-of-reach goal can lead to frustration with the process and a resulting lack of motivation for further improvement. They might think, "Why should I even bother if this is an unreasonable goal for anyone to achieve?"

Attainment is an important factor in the SMART goal framework. As mentioned above, goal-setting can fail when the objective is overly ambitious or unrealistic, given the employee's skill set and available resources.

Lean Tip #2840 – Reward Employees Who Achieve Their Goals

It's critical to recognize employees who achieve or exceed set goals. Not only does such a recognition (reward, bonus, certificate, or public acknowledgment at a staff meeting) honor that employee's efforts, but it also demonstrates that the company values this type of commitment and hard work. It may even further incentivize the rest of the workforce to work hard on their own goals. Alternatively, when such hard work goes unnoticed, employees can justifiably feel there's no point in working so hard and may reduce their productivity or even begin looking for a new job elsewhere.

Lean Tip #2841 – Work Closely With Employees Who Fall Short

Not every employee will successfully attain their goals, regardless of how hard they try. Ideally, their manager periodically assesses progress and steps in to provide assistance where needed. In a situation where the agreed-upon deadline arrives and the employee hasn't met their goals, there should be an in-depth discussion about what went wrong, combined with encouragement to try again and address or rework the stated objectives. Working with your employees to set goals helps strengthen a culture of ongoing feedback and open communication. Employees with clearly outlined goals are also in a prime position to push themselves, meet new challenges, and feel aligned to big-picture initiatives.

Lean Tip #2842 – Keep Objectives Simple

Focus on objectives you know you can achieve in the given timeframe. Many employees think they need to contribute to every department objective and end up spreading themselves too thin. Prioritize your objectives according to what the business needs most. Remember, there’s no magic number for how many objectives you should have—it depends how complex they are, as well as the time and resources available.

Lean Tip #2843 – Goals Should Start at the Top

The best way to get an entire organization rowing in unison and in the same direction is to line people up behind a common cause.  If, for example, your top-level goal is to grow profit of the company by 5%, everyone in the organization should be able to identify what they are doing to either help grow sales or reduce costs.  By flowing down goals and key themes from the top of the organization, you are linking the efforts and performance of every employee to the central mission of the entire company.  Whether you have 10 employees or 10,000, a simple alignment of everyone’s actions to the select few strategic objectives is essential.

Lean Tip #2844 – Employees Should Take the First Step…

Once the key areas of focus have been outlined for your staff, ask your employees to identify the ways in which they will each support the mission.  When employees set their own measures, it involves them in the process and lets them set the bar for their performance.  Further, by taking the first step in setting their own performance goals, employees can make a direct link between their efforts and how they contribute to the organization’s success.

Of course, you will likely want to assign additional measures to the employee, but if you simply assign all measures to the employee, you are eliminating them from the process.  Personalized goals can have a powerful effect on things like accountability and morale – they created them, they own them!

Lean Tip #2845 – Support Your Team

For the best results from start to finish, support your team and help them focus on achieving their goals. This is definitely not the time for a laissez-faire management style.

Take the time to:

Make sure they understand what they need to do to achieve their goal 

Give them the tools they need to stay productive 

Define milestones for each goal

Schedule regular individual and team reviews to keep everyone on track 

When you support your team, you give them a better chance of being successful in all they do. 

Lean Tip #2846 – Align Organizational Purpose With Team Goals 

Organizations today need to be dynamic in order to adjust and adapt to the latest developments. Good managers don’t just tell their employees to do tasks; they also tell them why they need to do what they are assigned to do.

Employees who connect their work with the mission of their organization feel their job is more important and their work holds much significance. However, the majority of employees are still unsure about how their work contributes to the “big picture”. Good managers help them understand the value of their work and how it’s vital to achieve organizational goals.

Lean Tip #2847 – Demonstrate Empathy With Their Team

A study shows that empathy is one of the main drivers of overall performance amongst managers. Empathetic managers understand the emotions of their team members. They understand how team members are feeling and this quality enables them to communicate effectively and solve problems right in the bud. As a result, their employees trust them more and managers can build rapport, which fuels team success. Being empathic towards employees equips good managers to form personal bonds with employees and foster long-term relationships with them.

Lean Tip #2848 – Make Communication A Priority

Effective communication is the key to not only maintaining amicable relationships in the workplace but also delivering work successfully. Good managers are the first ones to recognize this, and therefore, invest their time and energy in ensuring a smooth flow of communication throughout the project.

From navigating team meetings with poise to providing people with the right direction in the project – a great project manager ensures that things never slip through the cracks.

Lean Tip #2849 – Set Up The Team For Success

Good managers don’t just inspire their teams to collaborate and work efficiently, they don’t settle until the team reaches the pinnacle of success. To ensure this, they focus on individual performances, while aligning their efforts with the overall team goal.

By bringing together all the aspects of successful team building like communication, collaboration, clarity and trust, they make sure that the team knows the purpose of their efforts. They know that success comes only with collaborative efforts, and that’s exactly what they inspire the team to perform.

Lean Tip #2850 – Inspire At Every Level

A good manager never fails to inspire others. This inspiration comes at many levels; from boosting the morale of the team when things are not going right to talking it out with individuals when they are facing problems in their personal lives.

Good managers know that their role is not limited to only making a productive environment. Rather they have a role to play in building a positive work culture so that  individuals thrive, and continue to strive for betterment at every level. When you are part of a positive work environment, innovation and creativity come out naturally. And, that’s one of the hallmarks of a great team, led by an equally able manager.

Lean Quote: A Sunrise Taught Me About Missed Opportunities

On Fridays I will post a Lean related Quote. Throughout our lifetimes many people touch our lives and leave us with words of wisdom. These can both be a source of new learning and also a point to pause and reflect upon lessons we have learned. Within Lean active learning is an important aspect on this journey because without learning we can not improve.

"Opportunities are like sunrises. If you wait too long, you miss them."   —  William Arthur Ward

The sun rises every single day. We have the opportunity to see darkness change to light in a matter of minutes every single day. So why don’t we? Because, for most of us, it’s too damn early!

Timing is everything to us. We use “not the right time” or “not enough time” for just about everything and we, as a society, accepts it as the perfect reason because we use the same excuse to get out of things.

Opportunities will present themselves at inopportune times and we only have two choices when they do show up: believe it’s not the right time and let it pass or grab it and go. The timing will never be just right but the clock doesn’t stop for us until we feel the time is right, it keeps ticking.

Mindset is the first step to being prepared. If we don’t have the right mindset, we won’t be taking that next step, no matter how easy the next step may be. If we’re not setting ourselves up for success, we’re defaulting into failure.

Regret can debilitate us or it can inspire us. We can think about the things we didn’t do or take it as a lesson learned and move on. If we’re constantly punishing ourselves by wishing we could turn back time, what good will that do for our future selves? Regret can force us to live in the past or it can serve as a powerful catalyst for change. At the end of the day, do we really want to regret all that time we spent regretting?

Opportunities are never missed; we allow them to pass us by. But with every passed up opportunity, a lesson will follow; it’s up to us to figure out what that lesson is and learn from it.

Everything is harder in our heads and if we don’t get out of our own thoughts from time to time, we’ll miss the sunrise.

Lean Roundup #146 – July 2021

A selection of highlighted blog posts from Lean bloggers from the month of July 2021.  You can also view the previous monthly Lean Roundups here.

The Fog of Big Company Disease – Pascal Dennis talks about the symptoms of big company disease, what he calls the “fog”.

The Five Steps to Getting Better at Anything – Jon Miller shares some lessons from comedian Jerry Seinfeld about achieving success that should resonate with Lean thinkers.

When PDCAMeets Silos – Bruce Hamilton explains that when PDCA meet silos, it too becomes siloed.

The Return of “Ted Lasso” and the End of “Tyrannical” Managers? – Mark Graban shares some leadership lessons from a popular TV show that we can all learn from.

Addressing a Critical Problem in Strategic Planning and Execution & Ensuring Success of Hoshin Kanri – a Better Way to Plan and Execute Your Strategy - Patricia Panchak discusses the challenges of implementing the hoshin kanri process (aka strategy development and deployment) across the organization. 

Ask Art: Why Should I Convert to a Pull System? – Art Byrne advises that you can deliver more value to your customers by converting your business to a pull system and connecting demand directly to your production system.

10 Golden Rules for Radical Quality Improvement - Patricia Panchak & Roberto Priolo explain what you need to know and do to lead your team to make step-change improvements to quality.

In Praise of Depth – Pascal Dennis relates Lean understanding to that of our use of electronic devices for communication advocating the need for deep practice.

What Is a Milk Run? – Jon Miller explains the concept of the milk run within the supply chain and how it sets a base for continuous improvement of material movement.

Staying Positive as a Remote Manager

Image Source: pexels.com

Remote managers face a tough balance. On the one hand, these managers must ensure remote workers remain productive and efficient. Yet, remote managers must also maintain a positive outlook, so they can help workers achieve the best possible results.

Ultimately, it can be difficult for remote managers to stay positive. However, with the right approach to everyday activities, remote managers can alleviate stress, depression, and other common work-from-home issues — and help remote workers do the same.

Now, let's look at five tips to help you stay positive as a remote manager.

1. Keep the Lines of Communication Open

Encourage remote workers to keep in touch via email, video chat, and other communication methods. That way, these workers will have no trouble getting in touch with you if they have any concerns or questions.

Also, show empathy when you communicate with remote workers. Everyone is human and deserves to be treated as such. So, doing things like greeting your remote employees with a friendly "hello" at the start of their work shift or setting up daily check-ins can help you show your staff you care.

Give your remote workers a heads up about any major life changes as well. For instance, if you are moving, share details about your relocation with your remote employees. And, remain accessible to respond to any concerns or questions as your move gets underway.

2. Promote a Healthy Work-Life Balance

Provide your remote employees with myriad opportunities to get away from the hustle and bustle of work. Otherwise, your workers may be tempted to try to complete tasks around the clock. The result: an unhealthy work-life balance, along with various health problems.

Watch for signs of depression and fatigue among your remote workers, too. Employees who appear disinterested in work activities or have trouble concentrating on everyday tasks may be coping with depression and/or fatigue. They can also experience joint and/or muscle pain, a sore throat, and other physical symptoms.

Once again, communication is key, particularly when it comes to promoting a healthy work-life balance among your remote workforce. Let remote employees know to come forward if they feel overworked or stressed out. At this point, you can work with these employees to incorporate ways to cope with their work-from-home stresses, such as creating a routine and adhering to boundaries between work and personal life. Over time, you can ensure your remote workers can optimize their work-life balance.

3. Foster a Culture of Growth

Build and maintain a culture of growth. By promoting a growth mindset to your remote workforce, you can help your employees realize their full potential. And, in the long run, you and your remote staff will be well-equipped to maximize your productivity and efficiency.

It takes hard work and patience to foster a culture of growth. As part of your efforts, you should empower your remote workers. Give these employees opportunities to show what they can accomplish both as part of a team and on their own. Provide feedback along the way, and you can help your remote workers achieve outstanding results.

Of course, you need to set a positive example for your remote team. To do so, commit time, energy, and resources to perform your best. If you accomplish great things while working from home, your remote workers may be prone to do the same. Thus, you and your remote staff can thrive from any location, at any time.

4. Recognize and Celebrate Your Remote Workers

Acknowledge remote workers who contribute to your company's success from afar. Employee recognition can improve retention and satisfaction across your workforce. Plus, it shows your staff you value and appreciate their efforts.

There is no shortage of opportunities available to recognize and celebrate your remote workers. For example, you can honor a remote employee during a video meeting. Or, you can send out an email or meet with a remote employee one-on-one to commemorate their work.

Don't forget to reward remote workers regularly, either. You can provide these workers with extra time-off, gift cards, or other rewards to celebrate their accomplishments.

5. Prioritize Ongoing Improvement

Check the pulse of your remote workforce and learn from employees who work from home. If you engage with your remote employees, you can find out how they feel about their work. Next, you can explore ways to improve as a manager.

Oftentimes, it helps to schedule ongoing one-on-one and group meetings with your remote staff. These meetings let you find out how your remote workers feel at a given time. From here, you can collect feedback and insights from these employees and adjust your management style as needed.

You may want to conduct remote work surveys, too. You can then use these surveys to assess your performance as a manager and plan accordingly.

The Bottom Line on Staying Positive as a Remote Manager

Remote work will likely be a big part of the "new normal" for businesses during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. More companies than ever before have let employees work from home due to the crisis. Meanwhile, business managers have been forced to adjust how they work on the fly. And, they must continue to stay positive as they connect with remote workers in the months and years to come.

The aforementioned tips can help remote managers remain positive and help their employees succeed, regardless of setting. Use these tips, and you and your remote employees can consistently reap the benefits of a positive work experience. 

About the Author: Luke Smith is a writer and researcher turned blogger. Since finishing college he is trying his hand at being a freelance writer. He enjoys writing on a variety of topics but technology and business topics are his favorite. When he isn't writing you can find him traveling, hiking, or gaming.