From SOP to Playbook: Standardizing Service Work

Why do leaders move from SOPs to service playbooks? Leaders move from static Standard Operating Procedures to living service playbooks because service work changes faster than documents do. Playbooks translate intent into coordinated actions across teams, channels, and systems. Playbooks embed customer journeys, decision rules, and guardrails in one place that people can actually use.…

Control Charts & Defect Reduction in CX Ops

Why do control charts matter in customer experience operations? CX leaders face rising interaction volumes, complex omnichannel journeys, and pressure to cut repeat contacts without harming satisfaction. Control charts give CX operations a disciplined way to separate normal process variation from true defects that customers feel. A control chart is a time series of a…

Value Stream Mapping for Services

Why value stream mapping belongs in service transformation Executives confront a paradox in services: customer expectations rise while process complexity multiplies. Value Stream Mapping helps leaders see the end-to-end flow of work, information, and decisions that create or degrade customer value. The method visualizes how requests move from demand to delivery, exposes delays and handoffs,…

Service Waste and Variation: A Lean Primer

Why does service waste undermine growth in CX and operations? Leaders face rising demand, rising complexity, and rising cost. Service organisations carry hidden waste in the form of delays, rework, handoffs, and avoidable customer contacts. Lean defines waste as any activity that consumes resources but does not add value as defined by the customer. When…

Measuring Blueprint Impact: Lead vs Lag KPIs

Why do service blueprints demand both lead and lag KPIs? Executives design service blueprints to orchestrate how customers and teams move through an experience. Leaders then ask a fair question: how do we prove the blueprint works. The answer pairs leading indicators, which signal what is likely to happen, with lagging indicators, which confirm what…

Service Recovery Redesign Using Blueprints

What is service blueprinting, really? Service blueprinting is a visual mapping method that shows how a service works end to end, including people, policies, technology, and handoffs. In a blueprint, customer actions sit at the top. Frontstage actions, which customers can see, sit beneath. Backstage actions, which customers never see, sit below a line of…

Prioritizing Fixes from a Blueprint

What is service blueprinting, and why does prioritization matter now? Executives use service blueprinting to visualize how customers, employees, and systems interact across a journey. A blueprint maps frontstage actions, backstage processes, support systems, and evidence, which turns vague pain points into observable failure modes and improvement opportunities.¹ When organizations stand up a blueprint, they…