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| Criterion |  Operations Gemba Walk |  Facilitation Mind Mapping |  Operations Root Cause Analysis |  Operations Failure Mode and Effects Analysis |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | When there is uncertainty about the real course of a process, the method brings observation to the place where work happens. It combines perception, follow-up questions, and process knowledge so decisions rest on actual workflows instead of assumptions. | When a topic is still unclear and too many thoughts surface at once, Mind Mapping creates an open surface for ordering them. It makes connections, subtopics, and starting points visible without fixing them too early. | When a problem keeps recurring and the cause stays unclear, the method exposes the underlying mechanism. It separates symptom, guess, and robust explanation from one another. | For a process, product, or service with noticeable failure risks, the method assesses possible failure modes in advance. It directs attention to combinations of occurrence, effect, and detectability. |
Complexitydifferent | Low | Low | Medium | High |
Timedifferent | 30-120 min | 15-45 min | 1-4 h | 2-6 h |
Participantsdifferent | 2-6 | 1-10 | 3-8 | 3-10 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop |
Outputdifferent | Observation Notes, Improvement Ideas | Mind Map, Topic Clusters, Open Questions | Problem Statement, Cause Hypotheses, Confirmed Causes, Action Plan | FMEA Table, Risk Priority, Mitigation Actions |
Tagsno overlap | LeanObservationProcessOperations | BrainstormingIdeasMappingStructureFacilitation | Root causeProblem solvingQualityIncident | RiskQualityOperationsRoot cause |