Being There...

In this growing WFH environment, we are going to miss a lot of opportunity. In the lean world, we know the value of ‘going to gemba’ (being IN the workplace). Only when you’re IN the workplace can you SEE challenges, which are all opportunities for improvement.

Case in point: I did some shopping online last night, and went to the store for pickup. To my surprise, there was a long line outside the store. No worries, I thought. I’m just here to pick up an order, one they had already confirmed by text was ready. 

I went to the ‘Queue-master’, who was restricting people from entering the store, and controlling the line. I said, “I have a pre-order...”. He said, “To protect the public, we’re limiting the number of people in the store, so you’ll have to get in the line.” 

I looked at the line, which was already reaching around the corner of the building. I thought, Are you kidding me? But like a good little citizen, I went to the back of the line. I got out my cell phone, and called the store.

“You know”, I said, “there are a number of pre-orders in this long line. You can serve everyone much better by creating a separate line for pre-orders.” The person said, “Sir, we’re doing all we can to get thru this.” Well, that’s the problem, isn’t it?

One-half hour later, I made it to the counter. They were controlling the number of people in the store, including the clerks, to 10 people. Talk about taking a suggestion out of context. But whatever, I was at the front of the line, and I needn't be bothered any more. But there were people that also had pre-orders, and they just walked. They went to a similar store, right across the street, which had no lines at all.

Lean-mode kicked in, and I asked for the manager. While I was waiting, I timed a couple of people shopping. They were in for 4 to 6 minutes. The pre-order counter served customers in about 30-45 seconds. Pre-orders didn't need to shop, or make decisions of any kind. What's a lean guy to do? The clerk came back and told me, "The manager is getting a lot of complaints about the line. He's out trying to solve it.". "Where is he?", I asked. "He's outside, the guy in the suit.". So I went to find him.

True to the clerks word, he was with the Queue-master, discussing what to do. No ideas, what-so-ever. So I introduced myself, and told him to look across the street. He was confused, so I asked him, "What do you see?". He said, "Nothing.". "Exactly!", I said. "No line, and there have been many customers leaving this line, including pre-orders, which have decided to go there.". "But what are they doing differently?". I told him, "It's not what they're doing differently, but what YOU can do differently."

I then coached him through a simple queue trick. Split the queue, into pre-order and shopping lanes. The pre-order line will move 5 times faster than the shopping line, and they'd be encouraging 'shoppers' to 'pre-order', to save themselves time. This increased flow can result in happier customers, and even more business. Win-win!

"But how do I do that?". I yelled out, "Who has a pre-order?". About 50% of the line raised their hands. I motioned for them to come to the other side of the door, and form a new, shorter, line. Then he asked, "But how do I know to let them in?". When the next person came out of the store, I asked them, "Were you shopping, or a pre-order?". "Pre-order!". So I told the Queue-master to let in one of the pre-order customers. Done, done quickly, a winner for all.

In these trying times, we can all pitch in. But you have to BE THERE!

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Bill Kluck is a Lean Master and Six Sigma Master Black Belt, and has been helping companies improve performance for over 20 years. He has worked with some of the biggest companies in the world, including Nestle, The Coca-Cola Company, Amazon, Starbucks, and most recently, US Foods.