ABSTRACT
Gemba means precious place of work; it’s the place of action where work gets done. Gemba walks are a very powerful avenue for leaders to showcase humble and appreciative leadership behaviors. A Gemba walk is a method to engage the workforce in their native environment. It could even be called leadership anthropology. At its simplest, a Gemba walk is like a plant tour but with a specific learning purpose and consistent frequency. In the medical profession, a Gemba walk is essentially rounding, where a caregiver (physician, nurse, clergy, or technician) walks to the patients (customers) and finds out firsthand what is going on. This is the key difference-a Gemba walk requires the presence of a leader(s) to observe directly. At a hospital, rounding is done at defined intervals depending on the care needed.
