This article was originally published on ICMI.com in February 2019.
Within many organizations, barriers to both resources and information exist. Unfortunately, in contact centers, these walls impede the progress of team members and limit the customer experience. Sometimes there is vital information hidden behind a curtain that only a select few can access. Some departments, unknowingly, operate within their own silos, withholding critical information and resources from others who may benefit from it. Collaboration is non-existent, or at it’s perceived that way. If these walls came down, there would be a positive effect on the organization and the customer. This would increase customer satisfaction, employee engagement, and productivity.
This article will explore proven ways that those in the contact center can help break down these walls and silos in their organization to improve collaboration.
But First, Why Do Silos And Walls Between Departments Exist Within An Organization?
Silos and walls exist when there is a lack of information and resources shared between teams within an organization. Goals, priorities, and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) may not be widely known amongst all groups. In many organizations, teams operate independently of each other. There may be walls, sometimes both literally and figuratively, put up to keep others out, negatively impacting collaboration. As such, employee engagement suffers as many people are not as effective or successful as they could or want to be. Interactions between members of the different departments can also be strained if efforts are not made to improve work culture and flow. In the end, walls and silos primarily exist because of communication problems within an organization.
How can you help to break down walls across the business to improve communication and collaboration in the contact center?
1. Align Your Team Around a Theme
As contact center leaders, you are succeeding when your team is successful. To equip those in the contact center to succeed, provide them with access to more information to support customers better.
Aim to align your team around the theme of “breaking down the walls.” Ensure everyone throughout the team is on the lookout to gain more influence and insights from across the business.
You can’t, nor should you, do it alone. Having everyone on your team working to build bridges across other groups will serve everyone well. Having support from your Executive or Senior Leaders goes a long way too.
2. Data: Create a Need to Share Culture to Drive Continuous Improvement
The contact center is oozing with data. Insights on customers, products, and services are everywhere but often underutilized. Most people throughout the business don’t even realize that some great intel sources are easily within their grasp. Aim to create a culture where you and those on your team feel the need to share with others.
Taking interactions for the sake of taking interactions is useless. The contact center must produce a funnel for continuous improvement insights to share with the rest of the business. Use customer data and trends to help improve products, services, and processes. Contact center professionals should leverage customer data, sharing insights into partner departments like Marketing, Sales, and Product. Your goal should be to offer data to help them be even more successful.
Share contact center data regularly and change your team’s perception in terms of the value they provide. Soon enough, other leaders will be coming asking for feedback on making the customer experience better. Watch the floodgates open with access to new tools, information, and processes for your team. You’ve created a win/win environment for everyone.
3. Syncs: Eliminate the Disconnect
To eliminate silos, sometimes, you need to confront them head-on. Don’t be afraid to schedule meetings with leaders in other teams, calling out the need for greater transparency and communication. Unlock the power of these Sync Sessions to improve communication and alignment around the customer experience.
This must be a slow build approach to creating collaboration, though. You can’t go into these meetings initially asking for the world or be angry about the lack of alignment you might be seeing. While there might be opportunities for improvement, trust me, it does no good to whine or aggressively try to force others to collaborate. Like dating, these initial meetings should be about getting to know one another first. You are working on improving your relationship with each other. Ask questions and get to know what’s going on in their world as your number one priority:
- Find out what’s on their plate? Share what’s on yours too.
- What are their challenges or pain points?
- How can you help each other?
Use these sessions to build a win/win culture between your teams. It takes time to build trust and rapport. There needs to be a regular cadence to holding sync sessions. It is best to keep these sessions small too. Don’t group a variety of departments together for a combined sync session. It will go off the rails and lose focus, meandering into a giant waste of time. Focus on having targeted sessions with the teams that connect best to the contact center on a semi-regular basis. The more you can connect, the more that the contact center will be on their radar. You can involve members of the team in these sessions, creating a development opportunity for others too.
4. Recognition: Applies to Everyone
All people want to be recognized for good work, including teams. While you are working through sync sessions and sharing data, you will start to see other members of the business, helping the contact center be more productive. Recognize them for it.
To reward the correct behaviors, first, thank them. You want to be a leader and team known for catching people doing things right. Publicly or privately recognize individuals who help support the contact center’s efforts with lunches, or email a quick thank you, or even provide them with a trophy. It doesn’t have to cost a lot either.
Reward to reinforce by having your team involved in the process. If people are doing your job and that of your team’s easier, recognize these supporting stars for their contributions to the contact center. Build a formal recognition program where you recognize those that make the customer experience better throughout the organization.
5. Use Talent Wisely: Have Allies Everywhere
In many organizations, the contact center serves as a feeder pool for talent to be promoted into other business parts. While it can be frustrating losing these high-potentials, it’s a tremendous source of strength that few realize.
Leverage team members who used to be part of the contact center as allies, who can help further the customer experience and your team’s interests. Ensure that those who leave your team “don’t forget where they have come from” and lean on them if need improves communication. Suppose you successfully maintain a stronger connection to those no longer part of your team. In that case, you can further build your network internally, accomplishing much more through access to new information, tools, and processes.
Just because someone isn’t officially part of the contact center doesn’t mean they still don’t support customers either. All people in an organization have two jobs: (1) the one they were hired for and (2) supporting customers. Keep reminding people whom you worked with about the importance of the second job that they have.
Measuring Success
As you start breaking down walls and silos across your organization, collaborating more with other teams, how will you know if you are successful? In my experience as part of the contact center, there are two key numbers that I closely monitor to gauge success with breaking down walls and silos: Volume & Customer Satisfaction.
Volume
Your year-over-year volume may tell you if you successfully improve communication across the business, depending on overall business growth.
If overall interaction volume dips year-over-year despite the company posting higher revenues and increases, then you were successful. Suppose your contact center interactions are trending down. In that case, it’s a good sign that you are effectively working well across department lines, with key groups like IT, Product, and Marketing on deflection efforts. A reduction in interaction volume can also be attributed to product quality or information improvements that were highlighted and shared through customer data.
Suppose interaction volumes continue to rise with repeat situations not addressed. In that case, it shows that a culture of continuous improvement and sharing data cross-functionally isn’t happening enough.
Customer Satisfaction (CSAT)
Setting and hitting a Big Hairy Audacious Goal (BHAG), such as 90%+ CSAT per quarter, can mean cross-functionally getting the support you need to improve the overall experience.
Those providing support may be the only people that customers contact at an organization. As such, they represent customer satisfaction for the organization. If the organization aligns around the customer experience better, CSAT will go up.
The goal should always be to provide a simple, efficient, and effective customer experience. Suppose your organization has a consistently high CSAT score or one that’s improving year-over-year. In that case, it shows that progress is being made across the entire business.
Final Thoughts
Breaking down walls and silos won’t be easy. It takes hard work and patience to make a breakthrough sometimes. More than likely, you will encounter some pockets of resistance. Still, the more you can persevere, the better positioned for success you will be. In my experience, building a culture of alignment and collaboration throughout the entire organization could take months or even years. Still, the long wait and effort are worth it. As you become more successful in building bridges across teams, momentum will kick in, unlocking tons of potential for you and the rest of the contact center.
Remember, breaking down walls and silos takes a coordinated effort and approach. Start with aligning the contact center around the theme of breaking down barriers. Create a culture of needing to share information to drive ongoing continuous improvement. Eliminate the disconnect with other leaders throughout the business unlocking the power of sync sessions. Everyone who helps you and the contact center should be recognized and feel appreciated. Leverage allies, including former team members across the business, gain access to relationships, information, and more resources. The more effective communication is throughout the business, the more likely walls and silos across the organization can come down.
