Home | Working in Japan | Nemawashi - Most important activity to get things signed off
Nemawashi is used for any decision making process, for example, signing off on a proposal. This is in general terms a consensus building that take place informally and some times F2F meetings will happen (informally).
Basically we get support for why to sign off.
This is called Nemawashi.
Once this is done, during official sign off meeting, everybody will “officially” agree.
All decisions are made in group consensus.
It is almost impossible to get a decision, if all stakeholders are not consulted informally ahead of time for getting consensus.
In english, we may call this, consensus-building or getting a buy-in.
But these terminology does not capture the true meaning of “nemawashi” as it is in the roots of Japanese culture and is used in all walks of life.
During Nemawashi, all stakeholders and their part of organizations inputs are gathered and their needs are addressed through small meetings or one-to-one discussions.
Thus all frank opinions are received and necessary actions are taken to ensure all stakeholders are satisfied in order to decide as a group.
This is Nemawashi.
Nemawashi, literally means, “going around the roots”.
The Japanese Kanji representation for Nemawashi is 根回し
根 means Root
and 回し means to go around.
The meaning for the original 根回し, Nemawashi, word:
During transplantation, the roots of the tree are dug around
and dirt from new location is introduced to these areas in order to get the tree ready for transplantation.