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Originally posted on LinkedIn.

OMB Circular A-11 is one of those unsexy book-sized government documents that is updated every year that nobody, really, ever reads for fun. It’s designed by the U.S. Federal Government's Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to guide agencies on the what, when, and how of conducting the business of their respective organizations in a manner that is transparent to the public for budgetary and performance reporting purposes. If you're on the leadership team of a federal government agency, you pretty much have to keep up-to-date on A-11's requirements because it steers your agency's administrative world.

For years, CX advocates working in the federal government have been waiting for CX approaches and practices to take their place in A-11 because that's what would help to build the case inside their respective agencies for more attention to CX. Now, with the recently updated A-11, they have it.

If you're a CX pro working in federal government, or if you're a CX service provider that sells into the federal space, you need to read it, specifically Section 280. There are some things to be excited about, and some things that are just so-so.

First, a high-five for these five positives.

1. It’s an evolutionary step forward, plain and simple. Like many other innovations in business, CX is, has been, and always will be, iterative in nature. OMB Circular A-11 gets an update once every year or so. We can anticipate iterations to Section 280 in the coming years.

2. It acknowledges CX as a business discipline, comprised of multiple practices and principles such as measurement, governance, and culture. We have finally transcended the debate over the customer service vs. customer experience vernacular.

3. It suggests which customer feedback questions agencies should ask customers. I appreciate that the language says, “at a minimum.” That means agencies can, if they wish, choose additional, better questions that map to customers’ outcomes, instead of the same old questions businesses have been asking for way too long that may not be fair to ask in some government agency settings (like the standard customer satisfaction question), or may not tell you much, if anything about customers, anyway.

4. Section 280 clearly guides CX measures into agency performance planning and reporting. This is important because almost all agencies are required to create and publish performance plans and reports on their performance to plan. It’s typically part of agencies’ strategic planning processes. That transparency can hold feet to the fire, so to speak, where organizational alignment around customers is concerned. 

5. Agency personnel have access to shared tools and templates to guide the work that is required. The CX Max Community Homepage referred to in Section 280 is a password protected, government-only community where templates, tools, information, and discussions are posted. Agency staff don’t have to go it alone in their trek for doing this CX work.

Now, two things that are just so-so.

1. All executive branch agencies can use the guidance in Section 280, but they don’t have to unless they’re one of a number of agencies known as a “HISPs” or high-impact service providers (see the list below). Here’s the problem with that. If the guidance doesn’t apply to all agencies, then you’re venturing into territory where experiences can be inconsistent for customers as they seek services across multiple agencies throughout their lifetime—which is typically the length of time a citizen has a relationship with government. The language of the guidance indicates its very purpose is to establish a more consistent and deliberate approach to CX across government. But when the guidance doesn’t apply to every agency, what’s the most reasonable expectation of consistency citizens could have?

2. Even HISP agencies aren’t really required to do anything. At least not for a few years, anyway. The guidance acknowledges the maturity levels of agencies where CX is concerned and says agencies should, “strive to come into compliance as soon as practicable.” Vague language makes it easy to disregard or put off the CX priorities. To make a true difference, you need hard timelines and deadlines. To be fair, the language directs HISPs to set target dates for coming into compliance, but that’s not a “must” until 2021, and by then, agencies will have fallen even more behind.

OMB Circular A-11 has been around for many years, guiding the operational and administrative budgeting and performance work of the federal government. The recent version, with a new section on CX, is an interesting evolution in the field and practice of CX in government. It will still be up to government agencies to bring the people, technical, and nontechnical skills necessary to build this work within agencies. It will be up to agency leaders, and everyone around the leadership table, to acknowledge the CX work and fold it into the fabric of their respective agency cultures.

For the agencies ready for, and ready to comply with Section 280 of OMB Circular A-11, we could see the first public reports of customer experience data within as early as spring of 2019. Until then, it’s worth watching the CX cross-agency priority goal updates on performance.gov.

All views are mine. Follow me on Twitter: @stephaniethum.