Norfolk Naval Shipyard leadership Gembas help resolve issues through workforce engagement

ByMichaelDBrayshaw

Norfolk Naval Shipyard

You may have recently heard the word “Gemba in shipyard communications So what the heck is a Gemba? Gemba simply means observing work in action, often to provideseniorleadersabetterunderstanding of how things get accomplished and provide any help that may be needed.

Norfolk Naval Shipyard (NNSY) senior leaders have been increasing Gembas throughouttheshipyardaspartofanongoing commitment to the workforce, ensuring standards are upheld and barriers are removed.Departmentheads,groupsuperintendents, and project superintendents are all taking part in this significant effort across all work sites to include shipyard detachments “Gembas are important to understand how work is performed, any associated working conditions and to understand if we can incorporate improvements right at the source,” said Shipyard Commander CaptainDiannaWolfson.“Gembascanalso include observing working level meetings and sometimes even having one-on-one conversations Our Gembas are not just about finding problems; they can also be about recognizing excellence in action. That’salsoamajorpartofwhyweGemba.”

In taking Gemba engagements to the next level, participating leaders provide a follow-upwrittenreportonwhatwasseen, what was learned, and what action was taken.ThiseffortwillhelpNNSYcontinue to self-identify, self-assess and self-correct as ONE TEAM, leveraging the Navy’s Get Real, Get Better behaviors “Direct observation and engagement matters,” said Wolfson. “Ultimately there is no substitute for eyes on target. I have always enjoyed my own Gembas—that’s oftenthebestpartofmyweek,tomeetand engage with those who do the heavy liftingandaredrivingresultsforourNavyand Nation every day.

Gembas may lead to something that a division head or project leader can go immediately resolve, such as a quick-fix in safety or cleanliness Other Gembas may support morale and quality of work life, helping to identify facility issues with HVAC and restrooms

In one specific example, NNSY’s Naval Sustainment System—Shipyards (NSSSY) Champion Brittney Wright shared how Gembas have helped with the transformation of Building 1505 as a “sub hub” to improve work flow of the established work-execution cells for each tenant production shop “Having senior leaders walk the space has not only brought attention to the need to improve our work space standards, the needed space and tooling to work efficiently, but has also driven accountability to the line organization owners to continue the progression of their transformation with urgency,” said Wright. “We also identified the work-execution cells could not be optimized with-