So what does 'Going to the Gemba' mean to you?

Gemba is a Japanese term that means the real place. In healthcare, it would be in a ward, a clinic, a procedure room, or an operating theatre. It's where the work is occurring. The idea from a continuous improvement perspective is that by going to where the work occurs, team members can see opportunities for improvement, build relationships, understand processes and reduce waste and ask questions.

When you are a leader how do you walk the line between leadership visibility and hearing the staff voice, versus interfering and micro-management? So when the phrase Going to the Gemba came up it piqued my interest to see if there was something in this idea that could help you navigate that line.

I see this as the flip side of storytelling. I believe in the power of stories to motivate, inspire and engage. If I believe the stories I tell can do this - I then have to be able to listen and hear the stories of others.

How then can a Gemba walk allow the voices and the stories of your staff and patients to be heard?

This site is a great starting point with a number of resources to help you get started and integrate this thinking and practice into how you work.

Next, get out there, just start. Book it into your day. You aren't going to have the opportunity to hear the stories, feel the pain, or see the issues if you don't get out there.

Next up is curiosity - or maybe as Jim Collins would put it - doubling your question-to-statement ratio. But asking those questions in an open inviting manner, with an authentic interest to learn, not to judge or critic. You want to understand, not create defensiveness in those you see.

Only by being open to listening to these stories in the moment and in the real place will you know what is happening. How your staff feel and work through issues. What your patients experience and encounter.

This isn’t a tick box activity or a royal visit-style event. This is a genuine change to connect. It might take time to build trust and openness for staff to start talking honestly. This is more their agenda than yours. Go with an open mind and see what you see.

When you do this with respect, exemplifying and aligning with the values of your organisation then you allow that culture of trust and openness. When your staff and patients can tell the truth then we can work together to make tomorrow better than today.

Useful links to dig deeper

• No really - Go to the Gemba - with the same questions I had this gives yo the why it's worth it

• How to go the Gemba - all the points and steps laid out in an easy-to-follow style

• Yay - a TEDx talk - If you want to change the world - Go to the Gemba - full of healthcare examples and stories