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📋 Toolbox Talk  ·  Continuous Improvement

Process Observation:
Go and See, Fairly

How to watch and time a process properly — going to the gemba, timing cycles and recording what you see — while respecting the people doing the work. It is about the process, not the person.

✅ Updated October 2026📚 Lean & continuous improvement🏭 Warehouse · logistics · manufacturingukworkrights.co.uk

Talk 7 of 7 in the Continuous Improvement series  ·  a working method, not legal guidance

What it is

Going to see, and measuring fairly

  • Gemba is a Japanese word meaning 'the real place' — where the work actually happens
  • A gemba walk means going to see the process for yourself rather than relying on reports
  • A time study measures how long each step of a task takes, over several cycles
  • A motion study looks at how the work is done — reaching, walking, bending, searching
  • Time and motion study goes back to Frederick Taylor and Frank and Lillian Gilbreth in the early 1900s
  • Lean uses it to improve the process with the team, not to set targets over their heads

About the process, not the person

You are studying the job, the layout and the method. Say so clearly before you start — and mean it.
Why it matters

Why go and see?

  • Facts beat assumptions — what really happens is often different from the procedure
  • Hidden waste shows up: walking, searching, waiting, awkward reaches
  • Real cycle times to compare with takt time and to balance the work
  • Variation becomes visible — why the same task takes very different times
  • Awkward postures such as repeated bending, twisting or overreaching can be spotted and designed out
  • Done well, it builds trust, because people see their problems being fixed

⚠ Done badly, it destroys trust

A stopwatch with no explanation feels like surveillance. People speed up, slow down or work around the study, and the data is useless.
Respect for people

Respecting the people you observe

  • Explain first: what you are studying, why, and what will happen with the results
  • Ask, don't ambush — agree a time with the person and their supervisor, and involve reps where there is a recognised union
  • Observe the process, not performance — no names on the sheet unless there is a reason and the person knows
  • Ask the expert: the person doing the job knows why each step happens — ask, and listen
  • Share what you found with the people you watched before anyone else sees it
  • Want to film or photograph? Ask first and follow your company's policy on recording people

Say thank you

And show what changed because of their help. That is what makes the next study easy.
How to do it

Running a time study

1
Prepare

Choose the task, agree it with the team, and split it into elements with clear start and end points.

2
Watch first, time second

Observe a few cycles without timing, to understand the job.

3
Time several cycles

Ten or more if you can. Note anything unusual — a jam, a missing part, an interruption.

4
Record the motions too

Walking, reaching and searching. Sketch the walking route.

5
Analyse

Typical time per element, the spread, and what caused the slow cycles.

6
Improve with the team

Share the findings, agree changes, then re-time after the change.

The spaghetti diagram

Draw the layout and trace every walk the person makes during the task. The tangle shows wasted movement at a glance.
Worked example  ·  Warehouse

Timing a replenishment task

  • Task: replenishing pick faces from reserve racking with a reach truck, timed with the drivers' agreement
  • Elements: task on scanner → travel to reserve → retrieve pallet → travel to pick face → put away → confirm
  • Timings (example figures): most cycles took 5 to 6 minutes, but some took over 12
  • The slow cycles had one cause: waiting for pickers to clear the aisle before the truck could enter
  • Fix agreed with the team: replenish busy aisles before the pick wave starts

What changed

Fewer long cycles, and fewer people on foot in the same aisle as a reach truck — a safety gain as well as a time saving. The drivers already knew; the study gave them the evidence.
Worked example  ·  Manufacturing

A hand assembly bench

  • Task: assembling a small unit at a bench, observed with the operator's agreement over 15 cycles
  • Timings (example figures): typically about 70 seconds, with some cycles over 100
  • Motion notes: a long reach to the back of the bench for fixings every cycle, and a walk to fetch parts when a bin ran out
  • The operator's idea: fixings in angled bins at the front, and two bins per part so the empty one goes for refill while the full one is used
  • Re-timed after the change: more even cycles, and no more stretching across the bench

What changed

Less reaching and a steadier rhythm. The best idea came from the person being observed — which is often where it comes from.
Common mistakes

What goes wrong

  • Turning up with a stopwatch unannounced
  • Timing too few cycles, or only the 'good' ones
  • Using the results to rank or discipline people — it is a process study, not a performance review
  • Ignoring the operator's explanation of why a step is done
  • Setting targets from the fastest cycle instead of a typical, sustainable time
  • Never going back to share the results or the changes

⚠ Watch for this

If people change how they work as soon as you arrive, you are not seeing the real process. Build trust first; the data will follow.
Try it this week

A 15-minute gemba walk

1
Pick one process

Tell the team you are coming, and why.

2
Stand and watch

Fifteen minutes. No fixing, no timing — just notice.

3
Ask three questions

'What gets in your way?', 'What do you wait for?' and 'What would make this easier?'

4
Write down what you saw

Share it with the team before you act on it.

Bring it back

What did you see that the reports don't show? What did the team tell you that surprised you?
Over to you

Discussion questions

  • When were you last observed at work, and how did it feel?
  • What would make a time study feel fair to you?
  • Which tasks vary most in how long they take — and why?
  • What do managers miss because they don't see the job first-hand?
  • How should the results of a study be shared?

For the presenter

Let people say what worries them about being observed. Their concerns are the checklist for doing it well.
Quick check

Check your understanding

1
What does gemba mean?

A) The real place where work happens    B) A stopwatch    C) A target

2
What is a time study really about?

A) Ranking workers    B) Understanding and improving the process    C) Catching mistakes

3
What should you do before you start timing?

A) Explain why you are there and watch a few cycles    B) Hide so people act normally    C) Set a target

4
A spaghetti diagram shows:

A) Lunch orders    B) The walking route during a task    C) The organisation chart

Answers

1 A  ·  2 B  ·  3 A  ·  4 B
Common questions

Frequently asked questions

Isn't a time study just a way to make people work faster?
It shouldn't be. Used properly, it finds waste in the method and the layout — walking, searching, waiting — so the job gets easier. Any targets should come from a typical, sustainable pace, never the fastest cycle.
Who should do the observing?
Ideally someone who knows the method and works with the team rather than on them. The people who do the job should help analyse the results.
How many cycles should we time?
Enough to see the normal variation — ten or more is a common starting point for short, repeated tasks. Note every unusual cycle and its cause rather than throwing it away.
For whoever runs this talk

Delivery notes & attendance record

Suggested length: 10–15 minutes. A toolbox talk is a short briefing on one topic, given by a supervisor or team leader to the people doing the work.

Before you start

Bring a stopwatch or phone timer and a simple sheet with columns for each element. Agree beforehand which task you will use as a demonstration, and with whom.

How to run it

Start with the respect slide (slide 4) before anything else, then the method. Finish with the discussion questions about how being observed feels.

Where this fits

Talk 7 of the Continuous Improvement series. The timings feed Standard Work (talk 5) and Value Stream Mapping (talk 6).

The worked examples are illustrations to start a discussion, not real case studies or measured results.

Attendance record
TopicProcess Observation: Go and See, Fairly
Date
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Use the Print handout button to print this record. General guidance on a working method — not legal, health and safety or HR advice. Before changing how a job is done, check the risk assessment and safe system of work for that job, and involve the people who do it.

Continuous Improvement series

Keep
improving

Seven short talks that build on each other. Run them in order, or pick the one your team needs next.

Next talk
Lean Basics
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5S
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The full series
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Process Observation
ukworkrights.co.uk/toolbox-timestudies.html

General guidance on a working method — not legal advice · Updated October 2026 · © UK Work Rights Ltd · Company No. 17228507 · ICO Registration No. ZC239465 · Registered office: 71–75 Shelton Street, Covent Garden, London, WC2H 9JQ  ·  hello@ukworkrights.co.uk
Directed and published by Matt Thompson, founder
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