CX professionals agree that building consensus is critical – especially when you are starting up a new CX program. Figuring out how to work within the natural organizational silos that exist in every team or agency is important to get buy-in, collaborate effectively, and give your customers a true voice in your product or service.
The GovCX Collective recently invited a panel of four government leaders to discuss how CX professionals can break down silos to improve citizen experiences. They shared individual success stories, challenges they faced, and tips to follow to make HCD and CX work for federal agencies.
Here are four lessons what we learned from this incredible session!
Lesson 1: Intentionally Market to Executives
Legislation and policy changes have gone a long way to draw executive attention to the importance of CX in government. But how can practitioners ensure their efforts on the ground are staying up to date and getting the attention they deserve from leadership? Sharing information consistently across multiple channels is critical as the value of CX continues to gain traction.
Sometimes CX pros need to act as their own marketing and PR team to get stakeholders to take notice, especially busy executives. Here are a few tips that our panelists shared:
- Create a community of practice or an internal board to learn about CX best practices and champion new programs.
- Document your work via digital channels such as blogs or a podcast! (Great examples here and here.)
- Share your insights with any leader who wants to listen, even if they aren’t directly linked to your work right now.
“Our leadership started recognizing how this type of knowledge sharing is beneficial to our learning as an agency and also that CX is becoming increasingly more important in the federal space.”
— Alexandra McNally, Office of Natural Resources Revenue
Lesson 2: Don’t Wait to Plan Until Someone Asks You for Something
Getting your leaders to understand CX is only the first step. At some point, you’re going to need budget to support your efforts, expand your pilot programs, and bring on new team members. Sometimes those opportunities fall during regular planning cycles, and sometimes, as our panelists shared, they fall into your lap when you least expect it.
The key to success? Always be ready with your plans and ideas. Our panelists said to:
- Make sure you’re planning as you go, don’t wait for someone to ask you to put something on paper.
- Document your road map and always have your talking points on hand. You should be able to name a project you want to start off the top of your head.
- Measure something – even if it’s small – and keep gathering metrics. This will signal that you are informed and ready for what’s next.
“Make sure you have some ideas that are fully baked and waiting for that right moment. Be ready.”
– Crystal Philcox, GSA
Lesson 3: Don’t Forget Grassroots Buy-In
Our panelists encouraged CX pros looking to break out of silos to be as intentional about gaining buy-in at the delivery level as they are at the executive level. Cross-training and building skills are important to building and sustaining a design mindset in your team. This can include bringing in new team members, training colleagues in different workstreams, and shadowing different programs to learn what works and what doesn’t.
A few things our panelist suggested include:
- Embedding CX professionals on teams with IT or program/business
- Leveraging those who are new to government to ask tough questions
- Participating in details or specialty programs like U.S. Digital Corps
“I think having that fresh perspective of folks who are fairly junior, new to government, new to the workforce, but have a lot of subject matter knowledge has been really invaluable because they’re often able to ask like hard questions in a way that it can be better received by the folks who have been in government for a long time.”
– Norah Maki, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency
Lesson 4: Lean into Governance
Process – when done correctly – can help with breaking down silos. Adding familiar elements of governance to your CX program can make it seem thoughtful and understandable to others who are new to the discipline. It also helps to keep the focus on the customer through frequent and repeatable tactics.
Our panelist found success when adding processes that communicate goals and engage stakeholders at all levels such as:
- Creating a project charter
- Forming a CX Leadership Board or other governing body
- Mapping the customer process and explaining in real terms to everyone – IT, programs, contracts etc.
“I do think that journey mapping is really important, but you need to tie that journey mapping into really explaining how that kind of approach ties into the end product.”
– Matt Stevens, U.S. Small Business Administration
