By Karen Thoreson

My husband, Augy Thoreson August, had hip replacement surgery this past summer. Since we are basically healthy people, this experience put the two of us face to face with the increasingly complex health care system, and I was surprised to see how specialized it has become.

I reflected on that as we left the surgery center. It seems that the specialization of services has two key aspects: Better medical outcomes with highly trained professionals in discrete positions, and those outcomes coming at a cost of inferior individual patient service.

Here are my real-life examples:

• Me to doctor: He is having stomach issues from the pain pills.

• Doctor to me: I am a surgeon. Talk to your personal physician.

• Me to nurse: When can he begin to exercise again?

• Nurse to me: Ask your physical therapist.

• Me to nursing assistant: When do we need to see you again?

• Nursing assistant to me: Ask the scheduler.

You get the picture.

I tell this story because no one in this health care environment intended to be rude or off-putting. At least I would hope not. Each has been trained to stay within the boundaries of their roles, and they were intent on not stepping outside those lines.

These specializations likely have their purpose, and may even come out of necessity or requirement; however, its impact on the customer experience was evident.

Focus on the Customer Experience

This observation led me to think that often when regular people encounter a professional environment in local government departments, perhaps the experience can feel just like my health-care example.

In city and county departments around the world, we have developed highly specialized positions, and the people who hold them are trained to undertake a specific task and that task only.

Licensing, permitting, or taking a complaint or work order are examples of places where a process exists and specializations may be present with the intent of making the organization more efficient. We should not, however, lose the focus on the customer experience.

Local government staff members know the rhythm of the process, but for the first-time customer or resident, it may feel like being placed in a maze of unfamiliar rules, which then can make them feel marginalized.

So, what is the intersection of management innovation and efficiency programs like Lean or Six Sigma, both of which are seen in increasing numbers across local government organizations?

There is a connection between innovation and Lean/SS, with similar fundamental principles that allow each to flourish. It is also critical that we remember that both teach us to always start from the customer experience.

A risk we face is to place too much focus on the efficiency side of things: How can we make the process faster or cheaper? The better place to start is to look at the entire process the customer goes through and think through how to make the total experience better.

Ask how the service can be more efficient and still emphasize that these efficiencies are defined by value from the resident's or stakeholder's perspective. The efficiencies from the business perspective still come, with the added "win/win" perspective from customer value.

Improving Personal Service

In the Alliance's Innovation Academy training program, there are principles that stand out as cornerstones to focusing on value from the customer's perspective. One is engaging cross-functional teams to come together to innovate or solve a problem.

Related to the example above, this could involve bringing together people from these specialized disciplines to understand how their work flow impacts the overall customer experience—and then collaborating to improve it.

The other is helping teams get more expansive in defining a problem. Asking: "What can we do, in this case, to experience what the customer sees and hears? Are we seeking solutions which will improve the process and the experience as well?

Here is an example, which is related to the recent hip surgery. I went to the Department of Motor Vehicles division for a handicapped parking placard. I expected to be given a number and wait on hard plastic chairs for a long time. Instead the front-desk clerk said she would fill out the form for me right then—and she did. It totally exceeded all my expectations and I told her so.

This example reflects providing personal service and going beyond the boundaries of the job.

Exceeding Expectations

An individual's expectations for a good customer experience are rapidly increasing. There is a whole new body of knowledge being developed around what is important to customers and how to provide it.

In a blog post this year by Steven McDowell of www.superoffice.com, he identifies steps toward creating a customer experience strategy. The point here is to provide good customer service that not only creates a satisfied customer but that also exceeds expectations through a quality customer experience that develops loyalty and affiliation.

Some of the steps that are relevant to local governments are:

• Have a clear vision for your customer experience.
• Understand who your customers are and what they want.
• Develop an authentic emotional connection with them.
• Capture feedback so you can improve the experience.
• Develop your team and act on their feedback.
• Measure your results.

In local government, our drive, passion, and purpose is centered around serving people who live in a community. Keeping the customer's experience at the forefront of our innovation and improvement efforts will undoubtedly put us on the path to success.

Karen Thoreson is president, Alliance for Innovation, Phoenix, Arizona (kthoreson@transformgov.org). Kim Bradford, strategic initiatives director, Alliance for Innovation (kbradford@transformgov.org) contributed to this article.