What Is a Gemba Walk? How to Run One That Leads to Real Improvements

Reports and dashboards only tell part of the story. A gemba walk gets leaders out of the office and onto the floor, the site or the depot, to see how work really gets done and what gets in the way. Done well, it builds trust and uncovers problems early. Done badly, it feels like an inspection with an audience. This guide covers what a gemba walk is, how it differs from a safety inspection, how to run one, and how to turn what you see into action.

Why gemba walks matter

• See reality: procedures and reports often differ from how work is really done.
• Find problems early: workarounds, bottlenecks and hazards are easier to spot in person.
• Build trust: workers see that leaders care about their work and their problems.
• Improve safety: officers have due diligence duties under WHS law, including understanding the hazards and risks of the business’s operations. Seeing the work first-hand is a practical way to do that.
• Better decisions: improvements are based on what actually happens, not assumptions.

Gemba walk vs safety inspection

The two work well together. See our guide to workplace safety inspections.

How to run a gemba walk

1. Pick a focus. Choose one theme, such as safety, quality, flow or a recent problem, and one area or process.
2. Let people know. Tell the team you’re coming and why, so it doesn’t feel like a surprise audit.
3. Follow the process. Walk the work in the order it happens, from start to finish.
4. Observe and ask. Watch how the work is done and ask open questions. Focus on the process, not on blaming people.
5. Record what you find. Note observations, ideas and problems, with photos where helpful.
6. Follow up. Agree actions, assign owners and dates, and tell the team what happened as a result.

Questions to ask

• Can you walk me through how this job is done?
• What slows you down or makes this harder than it should be?
• Where do you feel least safe doing this task?
• What happens when something goes wrong here?
• If you could change one thing about this process, what would it be?
• Is there anything you need that you don’t have?

Common mistakes

• Turning it into an audit: criticising people instead of learning about the process.
• Too many topics: trying to cover everything and seeing nothing clearly.
• Talking more than listening: the goal is to learn from the people doing the work.
• No follow-up: people stop raising issues if nothing changes.
• One-off events: walks work best as a regular habit.

Recording gemba walks

With DIGI CLIP, leaders can use a simple gemba walk form on a phone to record observations, photos and ideas as they walk. Each form is location- and time-stamped. Anything that needs fixing becomes an action in the Action Log, with an owner and due date, so the team can see what came of it.

Illustrative scenario: a gemba walk at a depot

A general manager spends 30 minutes walking the dispatch process at a distribution depot, focusing on safety. A loader shows her how pickers step around a pallet stack to reach a scanner, into the forklift path. She records it with a photo and an action to move the scanner station. The action is closed out the following week, and she mentions the change at the next toolbox talk.

This scenario is illustrative. It shows how a business could use DIGI CLIP and is not an account of a specific customer.

For more on improving processes, see our guides to quality inspection and effective toolbox talks.