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    GENBA

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    Wilson Saini
    Genba refers to the real place or location where value-creating work occurs. In business, a genba walk involves immersing yourself in the genba to understand how work is performed firsthand. It helps reconcile reports with reality and build relationships. For knowledge work, physical kanban boards can serve as a genba, visualizing the work process to facilitate discussion and process improvement. The goal is understanding work and refining processes through experience and observation.

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    GENBA

    Uploaded by

    Wilson Saini
    82 views3 pages
    Genba refers to the real place or location where value-creating work occurs. In business, a genba walk involves immersing yourself in the genba to understand how work is performed firsthand. It helps reconcile reports with reality and build relationships. For knowledge work, physical kanban boards can serve as a genba, visualizing the work process to facilitate discussion and process improvement. The goal is understanding work and refining processes through experience and observation.

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    Genba refers to the real place or location where value-creating work occurs. In business, a genba walk involves immersing yourself in the genba to understand how work is performed firsthand. It helps reconcile reports with reality and build relationships. For knowledge work, physical kanban boards can serve as a genba, visualizing the work process to facilitate discussion and process improvement. The goal is understanding work and refining processes through experience and observation.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    82 views3 pages

    GENBA

    Uploaded by

    Wilson Saini
    Genba refers to the real place or location where value-creating work occurs. In business, a genba walk involves immersing yourself in the genba to understand how work is performed firsthand. It helps reconcile reports with reality and build relationships. For knowledge work, physical kanban boards can serve as a genba, visualizing the work process to facilitate discussion and process improvement. The goal is understanding work and refining processes through experience and observation.

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    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    of 3

    What is Genba?

    When you search for the term genba in Google, you might be surprised to get
    results for the term gemba. But don’t fret! They mean the same thing.

    Genba is the Japanese word for “the real place.” The sound that is made when
    pronouncing “n” and “ba” together seems like an “m”. That’s why most native
    English speakers mistook the term as gemba. Because of this, we see this term
    used interchangeably in business literature.

    In business, genba is used to denote the “place where work is done.” If you’re a
    surgeon, your genba is the operating room. If you’re a chef, your genba is the
    kitchen. The idea is that the genba is the place where the value is created and most
    likely, where waste is also encountered.

    Genba – Toyota Production System – Source: Toyota.co.uk

    Genba Walks
    Knowing where your genba gives you an opportunity to immerse yourself
    in how the work is being done. As a leader or manager, this helps provide a better
    picture of why certain problems or issues happen. It also helps you better
    understand the data in your reports. “Going to your genba” is a means to reconcile
    what is written on paper to what is happening in the real world. The process of
    immersing in your genba is called a genba walk.

    A genba walk is walking around within your genba with the purpose of
    understanding how work is being done. A genba walk is also a way for leaders to
    connect with their teams and build relationships. Taiichi Ohno started this lean
    technique and is part of the core practices of the Toyota Production System.

    This technique similar to genchi genbutsu which means “to go and see.” Both
    genchi genbutsu and the genba walk highlight the importance of experiencing first
    hand how work is being done to will allow for better business decisions.

    When doing your genba walk:

     Define your purpose – Why are you holding a genba walk? What is problem
    would you like to solve? What business process do you want to understand
    better?
     Prepare your team – Inform the team members of the observation activity.
    Explain that the goal is to understand the process and get their buy-in so
    that they are collaborative during the process.
     Focus on the process, not the people – Remember that the genba walk is a
    time to observe how the work is being done, regardless of who is doing it.
    This is not the time to critique the team’s work.
     Take note of your observations – Record your observations and findings,
    include photos and videos when applicable. Do not attempt to derive any
    conclusions or make analyses while conducting the walk, that will have to
    happen later.
     Share your findings and recommendations – Following the analysis, circle
    back with the team regarding your findings. Make sure to involve and inform
    the team of changes or next steps.

    Genba Walks in Knowledge Work


    How can you do a genba walk when the work that you do is intangible?

    Using software development as an example, programmers work at their desks, that


    is not your genba. The value they create starts in the mind and is manifested
    through the applications that they build. That is something that we cannot “walk”
    on.

    But knowing that the main goal of a genba walk is to understand how work is being
    done, we then need something to help visualize how that is happening in
    knowledge work.

    Physical kanban boards can help us achieve this. Kanban boards show the value
    stream and the progress of the work that is being done by the team. Through a
    visual management tool such as this, we gain a better understanding of the
    problems and issues that we experience in our work. It can facilitate further
    discussions to understand why things happen the way they do. Teams can then
    create improvements and refine their process based on their findings and
    observations. Then, the effects of their changes will reflect on the kanban board.

    The true meaning of conducting a genba walk is to be one with your process and
    the team that performs in it. Through this, refining processes will take your
    business on a journey towards success.

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