Knowledge Base · Seeing Problems
What questions should I ask on a gemba walk?
Ask open questions about the work itself: what are you working on, what is getting in your way, where does this process break down, and what would you fix first? The book's gemba stories, from Nehemiah inspecting the walls to site maturity visits, share one pattern: the leader goes to see and to listen, not to audit or to teach.
A gemba walk fails or succeeds on the leader's mouth. Chapter 3 of the book is clear that the walk is about seeing the real work with your own eyes, and the questions serve that purpose. They are open, curious, and aimed at the process rather than the person.
- What are you working on right now, and what does good look like for this task?
- What is getting in your way today?
- Where does this process usually break down or slow up?
- If you could fix one thing about this work, what would it be?
- What do you need from me that you are not getting?
The book's own examples show the posture behind the questions. Nehemiah, before announcing any plan, went out at night and inspected Jerusalem's broken walls himself rather than trusting secondhand reports. Dave's site maturity assessments worked the same way: weeks spent walking floors and talking with the people doing the work produced the insight that no survey or performance report could have given, and the 100-day plans built on that reality.
One warning from the chapter: the people answering need to believe the walk is safe. If your questions sound like inspection, you will get performance answers, not truthful ones. Ask, write things down where people can see you doing it, and thank them. Then make sure at least one thing you heard visibly changes.
Related questions
- What is a gemba walk (a "go and see"), and how do I do one?
- What are the most common gemba walk mistakes?
- How do I run a 100-day improvement plan?
Source: Continuous Improvement in the Workplace, Ch. 3 (Learning to See).