What goes on a gemba board
- Measures: the team's few key numbers against target, usually grouped as safety, quality, delivery, cost and people, with a trend so a bad day is visible against the pattern.
- Problems: issues raised during the shift, each with an owner and a status.
- Actions: what is being done, by whom, by when, and whether it is overdue.
- Standards: the current standard work, audit results or kamishibai cards for the area.
- Handover: notes for the next shift.
- Recognition and ideas: improvements suggested and implemented by the team.
How a gemba board is used
The team gathers at the board at the start of each shift for a short huddle, reviews the measures and actions, assigns owners to new problems and escalates what it cannot resolve. Through the day people update the board as things happen, so it reflects the shift rather than yesterday's report. Leaders visit it on their gemba walks and ask about the reds.
Gemba board, tier board, SQDC board
The names overlap. A gemba board stresses where it is: at the work. A tier board stresses its place in a tiered meeting structure. An SQDC board describes its layout by measure category. Most frontline boards are all three.
Designing a good board
- Keep it to the measures the team can influence on a shift.
- Make red and green visible from across the area.
- Leave space for problems and actions; boards that are only charts become wallpaper.
- Agree who updates each section and when.
- Review the layout every few months as the team's problems change.
Physical or digital
A whiteboard is quick to start and keeps the team's hands on it. A digital board on a screen at the gemba keeps the measures live, carries actions to the next tier without re-writing, and holds the history, which matters once there are many boards or several shifts.