A GEMBA Walk with Santa and The Elves

  Communications Management   Requirements Management   Strategy  

One of the reasons Santa Claus is so productive in toy making is because he spends a lot of time in the workshop with the elves listening to their challenges and success.  This concept of “going out to the field” is rooted in LEAN and Six Sigma philosophy and captures the value of a leader’s presence in the field, observation of the work where it is being done, and the teaming of people and process in the spirit of Kaizen.

This presentation will use Santa Claus and his workshop as a backdrop to better understand GEMBA walks and how it is a useful process for driving overall quality in an organization.  When the project team understands how the workplace functions, they are better able to produce quality outcomes and capabilities while providing a better transition to operations.  

Santa and his helpers will look at five aspects of the Gemba Walk and discuss how it’s a vital component of a project manager’s success:

1. What is a Gemba Walk?
2. How is a Gemba Walk Conducted?
3. What are KPI’s?
4. Why is having the elves lead the KPI review so critical to its success?
5. Gemba and Agile; How does the Gemba Walk reduce waste and improve quality?

One of the reasons Santa Claus is so productive in toy making is because he spends a lot of time in the workshop with the elves listening to their challenges and success. This concept of “going out to the field” is rooted in LEAN and Six Sigma philosophy and captures the value of a leader’s presence in the field, observation of the work where it is being done, and the teaming of people and process in the spirit of Kaizen.