Since beginning 2017 I am an OBEYA facilitator in my working environment. At its core, “obeya” (Japanese for “big room” or “great room”) is a lean manufacturing tool, in which a dedicated room is set aside for employees to meet and make decisions about a specific topic or problem. It sounds like a small change—what workplace doesn’t have some kind of meeting room, after all?—but a dedicated obeya can have far-reaching impacts in the workplace that enhance productivity, save money, increase efficiency, and improve communication.

It is a very nice observation how this concept increases collaboration and ownership.

You typically need two days to set up an initial OBEYA, but then the real work starts. LEAN lives Continuous improvement, and so does OBEYA. Rhythm and routine are helping to adapt new habits to focus on the decisions, that have to be made right at the moment.

If you wanna know, how an OBEYA can help your organization, let me know.