Lean Enterprise Institute Logo
  • Contact Us
  • Newsletter Signup
  • Cart (78)
  • Account
  • Search
Lean Enterprise Institute Logo
  • Explore Lean
        • What is Lean?
        • The Lean Transformation Framework
        • A Brief History of Lean
        • Lexicon Terms
        • Topics to explore
          • Operations
          • Lean Product & Process Development
          • Administration & Support
          • Problem-Solving
          • Coaching
          • Executive Leadership
          • Line Management
  • The Lean Post
        • Subscribe to see exclusive content
          • Subscribe
        • Featured posts
          What do you actually do on the gemba?

          Lean Product and Process Development at Scale:...

          craftsmanship

          Pursuing Perfection: Craftsmanship in Product Development

          • See all Posts
  • Events & Courses
        • Forms and Templates
        • Featured learning
          • The Future of People at Work Symposium 

            July 18, 2024 | Detroit, Michigan

          • Hoshin Kanri

            September 06, 2024 | Coach-Led Online Course

          • Lean Warehousing and Distribution Operations

            September 11, 2024 | Plant City, Florida and Gainesville, Florida

          • Key Concepts of Lean Management

            September 16, 2024 | Coach-Led Online Course

          • See all Events
  • Training & Consulting for Organizations​
        • Interested in exploring a partnership with us?
          • Schedule a Call
        • Getting Started
        • Leadership Development
        • Custom Training
        • Enterprise Transformation​
  • Store
        • Book Ordering Information
        • Shopping Cart
        • Featured books
          Managing to Learn: Using the A3 management process

          Managing to Learn: Using the A3 management process

          A3 Getting Started Guide 2

          A3 Getting Started Guide

          • See all Books
  • About Us
        • Our people
          • Senior Advisors and Staff
          • Faculty
          • Board of Directors
        • Contact Us
        • Lean Global Network
        • Press Releases
        • In the News
        • Careers
        • About us

The Lean Post / Articles / What do you actually do on the gemba?

Article graphic image with repeating icons

Operations

Line Management

What do you actually do on the gemba?

By Michael Ballé

November 4, 2014

Dear Gemba Coach: What is it you actually do on the gemba?

FacebookTweetLinkedInPrintComment

Dear Gemba Coach,

What is it you actually do on the gemba?

Good question — and hard to answer when not on the gemba. If I had to sumarize it in one point, I’d say that I try to see through the lens of the seven wastes at work level to the larger customer and capital wastes beyond. The following paper published in Industrial Engineer captures this quite well:

www.iienet2.org/uploadedFiles/IIE/Author_permissions/IEOct14Balle.pdf

(© 2014 by the Institute of Industrial Engineers. All rights reserved.)

FacebookTweetLinkedInPrintComment

Written by:

Michael Ballé

About Michael Ballé

Michael Ballé is co-author of The Gold Mine, a best-selling business novel of lean turnaround, and recently The Lean Manager, a novel of lean transformation, both published by the Lean Enterprise Institute. For the past 25 years, he has studied lean transformation and helped companies develop a lean culture. He is…

Read more about Michael Ballé

Leave a Comment Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Related

Turner Case Study: Lean in Construction

Line Management

Respect for People: Making the Job Easier for Workers

Case Study by David Drickhamer

silhouette pulling up another mountain climber up mountain

Line Management

Lead from the Front, Lead from Behind

Article by John Shook

The Human Element of TWI (Training Within Industry)

Line Management

The Human Element of TWI (Training Within Industry)

Article by Patrick Graupp

Related books

Toyota Way of Dantotsu Cover

The Toyota Way of Dantotsu Radical Quality Improvement (Paperback)

by Sadao Nomura

The Gold Mine Trilogy 4 Book Set

The Gold Mine Trilogy 4 Book Set

by Freddy Ballé and Michael Ballé

Related events

September 06, 2024 | Coach-Led Online Course

Hoshin Kanri

Learn more

September 11, 2024 | Plant City, Florida and Gainesville, Florida

Lean Warehousing and Distribution Operations

Learn more

Explore topics

Line Management graphic icon Line Management
Operations graphic icon Operations

Subscribe to get the very best of lean thinking delivered right to your inbox

Subscribe
  • Privacy Policy
  • Sitemap
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Instagram
  • Facebook

©Copyright 2000-2024 Lean Enterprise Institute, Inc. All rights reserved.
Lean Enterprise Institute, the leaper image, and stick figure are registered trademarks of Lean Enterprise Institute, Inc.

This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. Learn More. ACCEPT
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Non-necessary
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
SAVE & ACCEPT