Capabilities

• A creative approach to problem-solving that begins by learning from people with first-hand knowledge of a challenge and their desired result.
• A practice of co-designing and iteratively improving solutions that considers connected systems, processes, and technologies.
• A partnership to improve both digital and non-digital services, with an emphasis on creating exceptional customer and employee experiences.

A service design-thinking approach is most beneficial when many different processes overlap, impeding someone's ability to achieve a result. Indicators that there is a need for service design may include low use of services, poor satisfaction, and customer abandonment or churn.

• A systematic approach to streamline existing workflows so teams can focus their energy on what matters most.
• A way to optimize a team's productivity, enabling them to scale while lowering marginal delivery costs.
• Techniques to seek modernization opportunities while preserving customer and employee safety and security.

Business process improvements have a big impact when agencies need to scale quickly to meet new needs or when there is a lot of variability in how people do the work. Indicators that there is a need for business process improvement may include customer complaints, long wait times, and issues with compliance or quality.

• A specialized field where data-driven research informs evidence-based decision-making.
• The exploration of data to understand patterns, forecast future events, and diagnose root causes.
• A disciplined practice of extracting meaningful insights from raw data using statistical analysis, machine learning, and advanced computational techniques.

Data analysis and visualization enable agencies to see trends and patterns, enabling leaders to move forward with confidence. Some indicators of the need for data science may include needing to monitor the performance of existing solutions, sorting volumes of data to inform policy, or distilling qualitative and quantitative data for insights that propel transformation change.

• An assessment of the effectiveness of laws, regulations, and funding priorities that are intended to achieve an agency objective.
• The evaluation of the potential impact of change and explore potential course of actions and risks.
• The translation of policy guidance  into actionable services that can be operationalized and scaled.

Clear policy guidance can be a catalyst to support long-term change in government. Leaders use policy analysis and design to align their operational services with current policy and funding priorities, assess the effectiveness of existing policy, and diagnose misalignments among the mandate, the operational priorities, and people’s needs.

• A comprehensive approach to equipping agencies for organizational change that integrates planning, communication, and implementation of strategies to mitigate resistance and ensure smooth adoption of changes.
• The assessment of gaps between the current and future state and helping to move all affected parties forward.
• Equipping agencies for organizational change by focusing on the people responsible for implementing and adopting it.

Change happens any time a new solution is implemented in a human system and has the potential to impact how people do their work. To maximize the probability of a successful implementation and minimize disruption, change management should be a consideration from the early phases of solution development.

• The systematic and intentional use of communication channels to keep all stakeholders and affected members of the public in the loop and convey messages that support the mission, vision, values, and strategic initiatives of an organization.
• The shaping of clear, upfront, and reliable messages that relay important information,  influence perceptions, foster relationships, and build trust.

Strategic communication is most useful at points when a  team needs individuals to take an action. This action could be participating in research, giving feedback on a prototype, understanding key information, reacting positively to a change, or simply feeling informed and included in an effort that is underway. Strategic communication is especially useful in building a coalition of champions who can garner executive support for new initiatives.

• The leveraging of a proven framework to identify the tools, technologies, and talent needed to deliver exceptional customer experiences.
• The assessment of gaps between the current and future state to and the development an actionable roadmap to reach the desired future state.
• Investment guidance and prioritization for integrating tools, technology, and talent into effective service offerings.

After the successful introduction of CX capability in an organization, it’s important to keep that momentum going. Organizational capability building provides a proven framework to take the CX capability into the next phase of maturity, roll it out at a larger scale, and justify longer-term investments.