Build a Collaborative Circle of Excellence: Part 1

When starting any business transformation effort, you might think you need the right tools to guide your way. Artificial Intelligence will never replace what human knowledge can bring to a particular project. While you need tools to perform the tasks – your people are your biggest asset when it comes to making any transformation. Establishing a “Circle of Excellence” (CoE) is a way increasing numbers of companies are building a modern foundation for achieving operational excellence (OPEX). In the coming months we will cover tools, different methodologies, and other aspects of striving for excellence. Today, we start with the basics.

Why a Circle of Excellence?

A poll of the January 2025 OPEX Week: Business Transformation World Summit attendees revealed that 55% said their organizations consist of small, burdened OPEX teams doing everything. A Circle of Excellence is the framework for a highly transformative environment and puts an emphasis on communication to achieve success. It takes the responsibilities off the shoulders of a small team and instead extends to a variety of groups and teams - from the managers to the “doers”.

Circle of Excellence Meaning: In operational excellence, the "Circle of Excellence" refers to a continuous improvement framework that drives superior performance, quality enhancement, and effective collaboration.

If your organization wants to increase market share, improve quality and efficiency, enhance innovation, provide better customer service, and improve employee satisfaction (and who would say no to that?), starting with a Circle of Excellence will help.

How to Build the Right Circle of Excellence Team

You need the right people in the seat before you can drive the bus. The same goes for any improvement project – if you are thoughtful about choosing participants in a Circle of Excellence, your bus will be hitting the highway and moving forward in no time. Process successes and failures should be tracked and communicated within the Circle of Excellence, and results shared cross-functionally so the wider team can learn and adjust their own processes based on the findings.

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The key to building a Circle of Excellence is to engage people from all levels – from C-level to employees on the front lines. Often, management will say how they “think” it’s going, while doers will give a better picture of how it’s “really” going. As you set out on building a CoE, here are some key things to consider:

• Define the goals you want to achieve: Establish specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART) goals that align with your definition of operational excellence.
• Determine key processes: What specific processes have an impact on your operational goals? Map the processes to understand their current state and identify areas for improvement.
• Get buy-in from leadership: Leaders should be prepared to model the desired behaviors and provide the necessary resources and support.
• Build a culture of CI: Encourage employees at all levels to feel empowered to identify and implement improvements.
• Provide training: Provide ongoing training and development opportunities to give employees the skills and knowledge needed to achieve operational excellence.
• Leverage your data and analytics: Your data insights will help monitor performance, identify trends, and make informed decisions. Implement key performance indicators (KPIs) to track progress toward your goals.
• Encourage collaboration and communication: Promote open communication and collaboration across departments. This helps to break down silos and ensures that everyone is working towards the same objectives.
• Track and reward success: Acknowledge and celebrate achievements among employees. This helps to maintain motivation and reinforces the importance of OPEX.
• Review and adjust: Constantly review your processes and outcomes. Be willing to adjust as needed to stay on track and continuously improve.

Learn more in this Infographic:

A major part of establishing a Circle of Excellence is instilling the culture of improvement across your organization. When employees know they will be heard, they will be more engaged and productive. In Part 2 we will cover some tools that can be helpful with collaboration.