Traditional hierarchies and silo-based managerial processes can manage steady state very well. What they do not do well is identify the most important hazards or opportunities early enough, formulate innovative strategic initiatives nimbly enough, and execute those initiatives fast enough. They are to orchestration what kryptonite is to Superman, energy sapping and destructive.
Consequently, companies are looking to eliminate silos and move away from the isolated, single point, functional solutions that are holding back their customer experience (CX) strategy.
During 2022, as this process progresses, you can observe the unification of customer-facing functions and the increasing adoption of unified technology solutions enabling engagement with customers across multiple channels at each stage of the lifecycle. This is more than just brand presence; other factors such as brand purpose, personality and voice, tone, consistent messaging, and how customers move across platforms has become much more important as companies see how this contributes to building stronger long-term customer relationships.
Towards an orchestrated future
A customer’s experience with a business spans multiple channels such as social media, email, live chat, and surveys, and the number of channels is only going to grow, increasing the challenges in developing a seamless and connected omnichannel experience. Being available on different channels is one thing. Delivering frictionless and continuous experiences across those channels is quite another. Teams should be able to switch between channels swiftly and pick up conversations where a different channel left off with complete context to deliver a cohesive experience.
The problem is that businesses are often not structured or organized to act flexibly and be able to adapt to rapidly changing circumstances. They struggle to prioritize and sequence transformational activities.
But everything that happens in a business is part of a process. Being clear on how these processes span functions, the contribution each function makes to a process, and how processes support customer journeys is a fundamental point of connection in creating a flexible enterprise.
Orchestration is the mechanism by which organizations manage the development of capabilities and processes across the front, middle, and back office to deliver customer and cost outcomes. It requires new or refined target operating models, technology blueprints, and an ongoing view of connectivity across initiatives, their dependencies, and their interactions to create fully flexible capabilities and optimize resources.