Service work runs on people, not production lines.
The Service Excellence Network brings together leaders in service and knowledge-work organisations across Ireland and New England to share what actually improves performance, and what doesn’t.
23
founding members
22
organisations
12
industries, public and private
Why service organisations need their own playbook
Most improvement methods were built for factories. They assume the work is visible, repeatable and stays in the building. In service and knowledge work, none of that holds, which is why borrowed methods so often stall.
The work is social
Service and knowledge-work organisations run on educated, independent-minded people who have to align their expertise with the organisation’s goals while pursuing their own. Performance depends on how well that alignment is managed.
The system is complex
Complicated systems follow cause and effect and can be engineered. Complex ones are networks of people and organisations that keep adapting to the world around them. They can’t be re-engineered, but they can be nudged, with structures that encourage more of what works and less of what doesn’t.
The scaffolding is thin
When people leave the building, the production process leaves with them. Each morning they reassemble into a slightly different network. That weak scaffolding is the biggest obstacle to turning mission and strategy into consistent results.
What members do together
Many people have solved part of a problem inside their own organisation. Comparing notes with peers in other sectors is often how the rest of the solution turns up.
- Compare practice. Share and benchmark approaches to end-to-end process management, standard work, flexible and remote work, and staff retention.
- Bring a live problem. Post a challenge in the forum and get responses from people who have faced it.
- Learn on site. Join webinars, site visits and meetings in Ireland and New England.
- Contribute. Host a webinar, lead a special interest group, or write for Insights.
Two shores, one conversation
The network began in Ireland, where services make up most of the economy and a group of leading service organisations wanted a forum built around their challenges rather than manufacturing’s. It works closely with the Irish Centre for Business Excellence.
New England has the same mix of financial services, healthcare, insurance and professional services, and the same problems. Opening the network to members there gives both sides a wider pool of practice to learn from.
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