Nemawashi: Laying the Groundwork

Originally Nemawashi refers "Turning the Roots". Ne implies Root and Mawashu implies to turn something, to put something around something else (Wikipedia).

The whole idea of Nemawashi is that if someone wants to transplant a tree to a new location, then, before transplanting the tree, one has to dig the ground carefully sometime before transplanting the tree. This would help to establish the tree to its new location and the soil of the new location accept the tree with minimal resistance and give the opportunity to grow the roots of the tree. This all because of the groundwork is done prior to transplantation of the tree.

Nemawashi is Japanese term that refers to the process of "laying the groundwork" for a project or decision like transplanting a tree by gathering support and consensus among stakeholders before formal discussions or meetings take place. It involves informal consultations, discussions and relationship-building to ensure alignment and reduce resistance when the proposal is officially presented on the table.

This practice is tied closely to the Japanese business culture that emphasize collaboration, respect and harmony in decision-making. It helps to gauge the reaction of the high-ranking people and give the opportunity to win the heart of them before the proposal puts on the table.

The Japanese use Nemawashi to foster collaboration, efficiency, and consensus-driven decision-making.

• It builds consensus early by ensuring that all stakeholders are consulted and aligned before formal decisions are made to reduce conflicts, delays, and resistance during implementation, leading to smoother execution.
• It encourages inclusivity by involving employees at all levels in informal discussions, promotes a sense of ownership and engagement. This leads to better ideas, innovation, and commitment to the organization's goals. 
• It emphasizes open and respectful communication, which strengthens relationships and trust among team members. This creates a harmonious work environment and improves teamwork.
• It reduces risks by addressing concerns and gathering feedback beforehand, Nemawashi practice helps identify potential issues early, allowing for adjustments before formal decisions are made. This minimizes risks and costly mistakes.
• It promotes long-term thinking using thoughtful, deliberate decision-making rather than rushed or top-down directives. This aligns with the Japanese focus on long-term sustainability and quality.
• It facilitates change management through easy transitions by ensuring everyone is on board and understands the rationale behind the decisions. This reduces resistance and fosters adaptability. 
• It aligns with Kaizen (Continuous Improvement) by encouraging ongoing feedback and iterative improvement. It ensures that decisions are refined and optimized through collective input.

For Example:

Quality department wants to install automatic inspection machines, but HOD feels that this proposal will definitely be challenged by the production department, create fear of job loss among the quality personnel, and due to the heavy cost involved this will not be supported by the finance department.

Quality department starts doing the groundwork by continuously discussing the benefits of Automatic Inspection Machines with the production head, chief financial officer and quality personnel.

• Automatic inspection machines help to improve the quality of production by rejecting only those parts which can't be able to be detected through 100% inspection by quality personnel. 
• Many critical defects are passed during 100% inspection can't be traced on conveyer by the quality personnel.
• This leads reduced customer complaints, eliminate rework and resorting, and so extra manpower for rework and resorting.
• Automatic machines will be used to detect only for those defects which can't be able to see by naked eyes, but they are potentially dangerous for the customer.
• The cost of automatic inspection machines installation will be recovered within a year and at the same time they will make our organization more competitive in the market.

Quality department continuously organizes the meeting with production, finance along with quality personnel and discuss the pros and cons of installation of automatic inspection machines try to win the heart collaboratively, to build consensus and to reduce resistance before formally put the proposal on table in front of top management.

Finally, inconclusion, the department becomes more efficient, and the employee morale remains high because the changes were introduced collaboratively. The company achieves its goals without the disruptions that often accompany top-down decisions.

This example demonstrates how Nemawashi ensures smooth decision making, fosters trust, and drive business excellence by involving stakeholders early and valuing their input.