Go to the gemba: see where the work happens
Go to where the work is done, look and ask, and turn what is seen into actions with an owner.
The task in figures
- Gives you back
- 2.5 h a monthper team; today it takes 2.5 to 5.8 h a month
- Elmira today
- Does it
- Frequency
- Weekly
- Who does it today
- Engineer, Senior, Lead
- Version
- Elmira Junior
What hurts today.
The findings stay in the notebook, and nobody follows them up.
People walk without knowing what to look at, and see the usual.
Moving the notes into the plan takes longer than the walk.
Problems are understood where they happen, not in a room. So whoever leads improvement walks the area every week: prepares what to look at (what is red, what is pending), observes, asks whoever does the work and writes down what they see. The value is in what happens next: if the findings stay in the notebook, the next walk finds the same thing.
Done today with
- On the floor
- Paper and whiteboard
- Spreadsheet
- Email and chat
- BI dashboard
Each step, today and with Elmira.
Before you go, Elmira tells you on WhatsApp what is red and what is pending; on the floor you text her each finding, say it in a voice note or send its photo, and she turns it into an action with its owner, with the photo attached.
| Step | Today | With Elmira |
|---|---|---|
| Prepare what to look at: what is red and what is pending | Spreadsheet, BI dashboard10 min – 20 min | |
| Go and see, observe and ask whoever does the work | On the floor | Your call |
| Write down what was seen, with photos | Paper and whiteboard, On the floor10 min – 30 min | |
| Turn each finding into an action with an owner | Spreadsheet, Email and chat15 min – 30 min |
The conversation
- Ana, continuous improvement engineer
Elmira, I am going to the gemba in Packaging. What should I look at?
In Packaging, “Cut Packaging’s waste” is critical and “Raise line 2’s OEE” is at risk. One action is overdue: Jorge Muñoz’s replacement of the sealer’s blades. The sealers are a good place to start.
- Ana, continuous improvement engineer
Sealer 2 has no cleaning standard. Pedro Rojas should write it by the 23rd.
Create the action “Write the cleaning standard for sealer 2”
Goal: Cut Packaging’s waste
Team: Packaging
Responsible: Pedro Rojas
Due on October 23, 2026
- Ana, continuous improvement engineer
Approve
Done: I created the action “Write the cleaning standard for sealer 2”.
Does this happen to your team?
Book a demo and we will show you Elmira doing this task.
More cases of routines and daily management
- Run the start-of-shift daily huddleThe board shows data from days ago, and nobody trusts it.
- Run the team’s weekly briefingThe meeting goes on looking for data instead of deciding.
- Run the team’s weekly debriefingThe week closes without looking back, and the same problems come back.