About us
About Gemba
Team development tools built for humans, not HR departments.
Why we built Gemba
Most engineers get promoted to management and immediately realize nobody taught them how to actually manage. You are suddenly responsible for people's careers, and your toolkit is a calendar invite and good intentions.
Existing tools are built for HR teams running company-wide processes. We built Gemba for the engineering manager who just wants to run better 1:1s, give useful feedback, and not lose track of what their team needs.
Why "Gemba"?
Gemba (現場) is a Japanese term from lean manufacturing. It means "the actual place" — the factory floor where real work happens.
For engineering managers, the gemba is not a dashboard or a quarterly review. It is the 1:1 where someone tells you they are struggling. The standup where you notice the team is misaligned. The feedback conversation that changes how someone works.
What we believe
Management is a skill, not a promotion
Nobody is born knowing how to give feedback or run a 1:1. These are learnable skills that get better with practice and structure.
Structured beats spontaneous
Winging it works until it does not. A lightweight framework beats no framework every time.
Small conversations compound
One good 1:1 does not change much. Fifty consecutive good 1:1s transform a team.
Tools should feel human
Software for people conversations should not feel like enterprise software. It should be fast, simple, and stay out of your way.
Ready to try a different approach?
Gemba is free to start. No credit card, no sales call, no 47-slide onboarding deck.
Start free