--- name: go-see-protocol description: "A structured walk to verify what a visual board and training matrix claim is actually true on the floor — major steps, each with a key point for how to observe well and the reason it matters. Use when: You want to verify that a visual board or training matrix reflects what's actually happening, not just what's documented. A new leader or team member needs a real, repeatable way to observe the work, not just wander over and watch. You want to catch drift between the plan and reality before it becomes a real problem. Not for: The observation is genuinely a one-off, not a repeatable practice — a work instruction adds structure a single visit doesn't need. You'd be observing to catch someone doing something wrong rather than to understand the real work — that's not what a go-see walk is for." --- # Go-see protocol A structured walk to verify what a visual board and training matrix claim is actually true on the floor — major steps, each with a key point for how to observe well and the reason it matters. Family: Visual management · Format: .xlsx · Domain: core ## What it is A go-see protocol is a gemba walk with real technique behind it — the work instruction shape (major step, key point, reason) applied to observation instead of a task. Describe the walk roughly, and real steps get drafted: what to check, how to observe without distorting what you see, and why each technique matters. ## When to use it Use it when: - You want to verify that a visual board or training matrix reflects what's actually happening, not just what's documented. - A new leader or team member needs a real, repeatable way to observe the work, not just wander over and watch. - You want to catch drift between the plan and reality before it becomes a real problem. Not when: - The observation is genuinely a one-off, not a repeatable practice — a work instruction adds structure a single visit doesn't need. - You'd be observing to catch someone doing something wrong rather than to understand the real work — that's not what a go-see walk is for. ## How to fill it in - **purpose** — What does this walk verify, and what would go unnoticed without it? - **steps** — Drafted from your description of the walk — major steps, each with zero or more key points and, for every key point, the reason it matters. - **narrative** — Drafted from the steps actually built. ## What good looks like The example below is a go-see walk that checks the renewal-risk queue's visual board and ILUO matrix against what's actually happening on the floor — three of four steps have a real key point, and the fourth is honestly left flagged rather than padded. Full worked example, on-screen and as a downloadable .xlsx: https://www.katafacts.com/katas/go-see-protocol ## Common mistakes - **Asking questions before watching a full work cycle.** — An early question changes what you see — you get the explanation, not the real work. - **Comparing the board against memory instead of the live data.** — A board that's a day stale still looks fine at a glance — checking against live numbers is what actually catches drift. ## What it connects to Upstream: - **Visual board design guide** (`visual-board-design-guide`) — A go-see walk exists to verify the board's own claims against reality. - **Training matrix with I, L, U, O skill levels (ILUO)** (`iluo-training-matrix`) — Checking who's actually handling the work against who the matrix says is trained is a natural go-see step. ## Where AI helps Judgement — stays with you: - Deciding whether a step genuinely needs a key point or is simple enough not to - Deciding what a drifted observation actually means for the team Analysis — AI helps: - Drafting major steps, key points, and reasons from a description of the walk - Drafting the narrative from the steps actually built Drudgery — automated: - Counting steps and key points - Identifying which steps still have no key point - Exporting to xlsx in the house format --- Go-see protocol is licensed [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Attribution: Katafacts (katafacts.com). ## Using this skill Apply this method as part of whatever broader task, instructions, or deliverable you're already working on -- it's a method to use, not a standalone conversation to start. There is no generation tool for this catalogue yet, so draft the artifact's actual content yourself, following the fields above, the same way a person filling this out by hand would. The canonical guide page and a downloadable worked example (.xlsx) are at https://www.katafacts.com/katas/go-see-protocol.