How do you do Gemba in an office environment when your work is "hidden" in the computer?

This is actually when walking the process is the MOST important. Transactional processes are INVISIBLE and the only way to SEE them is to walk the process and map it. Even if you go to where the work occurs for a few minutes to ask some questions, look around, it gives you more insight to see what is really happening. If you bring folks into a conference room, you may miss some key insights about that step of the process.

Tracy O'Rourke

Tracy is a Managing Partner at GoLeanSixSigma.com. She is also a Lean Six Sigma Green Belt Instructor at UC San Diego and teaches in San Diego State University’s Lean Enterprise Program. For almost 20 years, she has helped leading organizations like Washington State, Charles Schwab and GE build problem-solving muscles.

Tracy O'Rourke

How long does the entire DMAIC process usually take?

When I ask “why?” I sometimes get a dismissive reaction as if I asked why because I simply do not know or I am ignorant of the process. How do I phrase the “Why?” so that we can get to a root cause analysis?

Do you feel Swimlane flowcharts are effective when completing a Walk-Through event?