Although Mayo Clinic was born of the midwest it expanded to Arizona and Florida. Through its expansion it did not intend silo its contact centers and isolate them from one another. These silos created a lack cross-functional interactions, redundant work, and customers lacking seamless handoffs. Mayo Clinic is ranked the number 1, "Best Hospital" in the world by Newsweek and is renowned for its cutting-edge healthcare technology. Now is the time to remove the silos and plow the way for a seamless customer journey.
Each of our Contact Centers have their own governance, different workflow structures, diverse staffing levels, and varying service level adherence. We theorized that if we could get the offices to collaborate, they could pool resources and reduce duplication of efforts.
Although we share the Mayo Clinic name, we did not share the same tools to support our customers. If a customer wanted to know which location was best suited for them, they had to contact each location separately. The first big step in unifying was to take down the siloed systems.
In 2017, a massive project was kicked off to move to a single enterprise scheduling tool. In 2022, we converged our telephony platform across the enterprise. After the field was cleared to establish clear communication channels and unified platforms, we needed to encourage cross-functional leadership and project-based collaboration. An oversight committee was created to bring enterprise contact center leadership together around the same table. Despite having converged tools, leadership lacked confidence in the feasibility of creating an enterprise contact center. Leadership collectively agreed to launch a 2-year pilot project called the Innovation Contact Center to pilot an enterprise contact center.
The Innovation Contact Center would process 10% of the overall enterprise volume coming through our digital channel. This project would expose what it would take to fully unify. They would be leveraging processes from across the regions through decision support and tapping into knowledge management system.
The Innovation Contact Center proved highly successful. They were able to identify system barriers that will need to be addressed to facilitate convergence. They surfaced deficiencies in adhering to institutional policies and rampant tribal knowledge not captured in a knowledge base tool. Although we had converged telephony and other tools, we did not supplement those with supporting systems to help contact centers see the entire customer journey.
When you have a "farm" as big as Mayo Clinic, you can't take down the silos overnight. It takes careful planning and staged transitions. We are currently in the process of implementing solutions for seamless integration, we are adding the right technology to support the vision. The Contact Center as a Solution project will elevate our telephony system, add visibility to communications, maximize our ability to run multi-modal campaigns, and create a powerful knowledge base system. The goal is to have a unified voice and increase collaboration across the organization to eliminate problematic hand offs.
How do we prevent making the same mistakes and becoming siloed in our new tools? By unifying our contact center leaders under a subcommittee, they will collectively make decisions, align of goals, and set priorities across contact centers. In the spirit of enhanced collaboration and creativity the subcommittee will review the results of the Innovation Contact Center and make an informed decision on how to proceed.
How many times has your organization endorsed a process, but it was never fully adopted or implemented? We recognize that Contact Center Managers are responsible for a lot, not to mention keeping day to do operations afloat is a full-time job. It can be difficult to track implementation and adoption. For this reason, we have been creating an adoption dashboard to monitor if there are sites or offices that need additional support and encouragement in implementing the endorsed tools and processes. It will help keep the powerhouse moving forward.
Tearing down silos is a monumental effort. They do not come down on their own. It involves fostering collaboration, streamlining communication, and promoting cross-functional teamwork. Breaking down work silos to clear the way for new fields is like dismantling old, weathered farm structures. Once you've torn them down, the real work begins plowing the fields, planting new seeds, and ensuring that the crops flourish.

Takeaway

• Introducing new tools will not remove silos and create a powerhouse. To break down silos you need cross-functional
leadership and project-based collaboration.
• Large scale transitions require careful planning and a staged approach.
• Technology should support the vision, don't buy technology for the sake of having technology.
• Build a system of accountability and offer additional support and encouragement in implementing the endorsed tools
and processes.