Why organizations need a center of excellence
Organizations are facing shaking days and most of them are running against the changes, trying to adapt and stay afloat. Many of them are transiting digital transformation programs to reach a maturity level, to be prepared to react fast, and, in most cases, be able to anticipate events.
Enterprises have their focus on giving more value and doing innovative things, and thinking in a proper way to add value to daily business.
In this journey one golden rule is the adoption of a Center of Excellence, also know as COE.
What is a COE?
But before continuing ¿What is a COE?
Well, a COE (Center of Excellence) is a multidisciplinary specialists team dedicated toguarantee fast task executions and enhance organizations capabilities across the business.
This group has members with rich expertise in a particular subject area. They standardize best practices and contribute thought leadership focused on their area of knowledge. These people centers merge the learning in a specific area and drive the organization to move beyond multiple disciplines.
A COE would focus on providing best practices to the different business areas, give training, and providing resources for all of these different teams. On the other hand, COE will be responsible for data gathering and learnings from all of the teams to create a continuous improvement framework using the collected feedback.
We can assort COE activities in three big main objectives: Run the Business, Grow the Business, and Transform the Business.
Center Of Excellence Value Proposition
Run the Business
COE will help enterprises to be more efficient. For example, will help to reduce organizational costs or reducing time by leading the decision process. COE support relieves everyday pains and gives agility and fast reaction.
Grow the Business
COE can enhance enterprise effectiveness helping the organization to make more productivity doing selected improvements. COE team will rise enterprise competitiveness and reduce cost optimization. COE decisions can modify the way of how the enterprise does his regular business and how to sell his services or products.
Transform the Business
COE helps organizations at digital transformation through strategic contribution and alignment. COE team will help to bring innovation to the business as well as revealing new strategic capabilities, reaching new markets, developing new products, and improving his business models. These types of COEs are typically known as innovation centers or laboratory teams.
COE as value providers inside organizations
Cost Saving
COE team brings a reduction in operating costs by dropping inefficient practices and cutting implementation time in the adoption of new technologies.
New Technologies
COE helps in the adoption of new technologies taking into account the budget and how will impact the business in the mid-long term.
Work Performance
COE specialists can help workers to improve how they work, giving effective techniques and providing continuous learning.
Aligning Business Objectives
A COE team is responsible for aligning daily work with business objectives. This business alignment brings business visibility across the organization and contributes to getting an effective work prioritization.
ROI Improvement
COE can boost company investments finding and developing reusable assets
COE Members
A COE team will be set by different profiles depending on the business needs.
There is no specific or recommended list of required members. This list will be related to the business nature and will be accorded to the organization’s maturity level. As well as it will change depending on the size of the company.
Those members must have enough skills (subject matter expert knowledge) and also they must have the capacity to act as a mentor for other members, for example training people. They must be able to teach and spread the best practices along the company.
Business Transformation
Technology itself cannot transform a business, people do the change. People and culture have a real impact on business transformations. Adopting a Center of Excellence will put the focus on define and reach the best way for every task in the company.
Companies that have adopted a COE have a great advantage over those that have not yet, and those companies will have great difficulties in generating value and being competitive in their businesses.
Companies that are thinking about how to be more efficient, and are concerned about the future of their businesses should seriously consider adopting a center of excellence.
