The board shows where you stand.
The Navigator makes sure something happens with it.
The Navigator keeps the team's rhythm, guards the quality of the conversation and makes sure agreements are turned into work. That is more than chairing a meeting.
Why we say Navigator
The word chair mainly says that someone leads a gathering. The Navigator looks wider: before, during and after the meeting. What deserves attention? What belongs together? Where is a decision left hanging? The Navigator helps the team to navigate through all the information. Hence the name.
Before, during and after the meeting
Looking at what has changed since last week and turning the points raised into an agenda about what the team needs now.
Watching whether a problem is really examined or only named. Whether it is clear who picks something up, and why.
Making sure decisions can be found again and actions are followed up, so the next meeting builds on the last one.
The corridor conversation belongs at the table
The Navigator's most important work is seeing the difference between what you see happening and what is really going on. The conversation that normally happens at the coffee machine afterwards belongs in the Obeya. The Navigator learns to recognise that and to do something with it.
A working environment of their own
In the software the Navigator has a working environment of their own, arranged by the phases of the role: preparing, the meeting and closing. Agenda, points raised, signals and the report are all in one place. The software remembers, so the Navigator keeps room to look, to listen and to ask further.
Becoming a Navigator
Navigators are trained within Basic Obeya. If new or extra Navigators join later, they take the Navigator course: the same e-learning and the same practice day. Navigators who have been running for a while can join peer sessions with other Navigators.
Who will be the Navigators in your team?
In the preliminary talk we look together at who can carry the role well.