The Curse of the Center of Excellence (COE) and How to Fix It

Center of Excellence. The name implies some form of greatness. But more often than not, when we step into a company, we find some variation of the same thing: someone has set up a Center of Excellence (COE)—or at least, that’s what they’ve intended to do. In reality, what they have is a tangled mess of governance meetings (often too many), duplicated work, and unclear objectives wrapped in a fancy name.

And speaking of names, we’ve seen COEs called just about everything:

• Innovation Hub
• Governance Board
• Best Practices Council
• The Office of No

Any of these sound familiar? These names are just fine—the issue isn’t the name—it’s the lack of clarity around what the COE is (or isn’t) and what it should do (or shouldn’t) that’s the problem. In fact, after working with some of the world’s biggest brands —S&P Global, Salesforce, Coca-Cola, Amazon, Citibank, Wells Fargo—on this very topic, we found ourselves solving the same problem over and over again:

Companies want COEs that drive efficiency, align teams, and accelerate execution—but more often than not, they end up with something that doesn’t quite work.

So what can be done? First things, first: clearly define what the purpose of your COE is and what outcomes you’re looking to achieve. To this end, here are a few questions to ask yourself as you embark on building or refining a COE: 

What is the purpose of a COE?
A Center of Excellence (COE) is a structured team or function within an organization that provides expertise, governance, and best practices to drive efficiency, alignment, and innovation in a specific area. It serves as a hub for knowledge sharing, process optimization, and execution, ensuring that critical capabilities are developed, scaled, and sustained across teams.

What type of COE are you trying to build?
There are four distinct types of COEs, each solving different business challenges:

1. Build COE

A hub for technical expertise and execution.

A Build COE designs, develops, deploys, and supports specific technologies, customer experiences, or operational processes. It ensures solutions are delivered with consistency and efficiency.

Example: A large telecommunications company used a Build COE to implement cross-functional experience teams resulting in partner onboarding reduction from 20 days → 1 day, proposal generation from 3 weeks → 1 day, and internal NPS improvement of 70 points.

2. Share COE

A platform for best practices and knowledge-sharing.

A Share COE collects and distributes expertise across the organization. It prevents teams from reinventing the wheel and ensures valuable insights are leveraged company-wide.

Example: A large real estate investment trust created a Share COE to distribute best practices across their web, in-store, and call center groups for omnichannel customer experiences, increasing online-to-store conversions by 25%.

3. Guide COE

A strategic advisory function that ensures alignment and improvement.

A Guide COE provides expert coaching and frameworks to improve processes and decision-making across teams, driving adaptability and speed.

Example: An insurance company launched a Guide COE to focus on continuous delivery and agile, and is deploying to production once a day to thousands of users on a single platform.

4. Create COE

An innovation engine for experimentation and new ideas.

A Create COE exists to test and validate new ideas, products, and business models before full-scale implementation.

Example: A large bank used a Create COE to run experiments every 20 days, testing out new features, process, and business models in very short cycles like delivering micro loans to small businesses.
Establishing the purpose and type of your COE upfront brings clarity that makes it easier to design, stand-up, and provide immediate value with your COE. 

Dive Deeper
We’ve obviously got a lot to say on the topic. If you’re interested in diving deeper, you’re in luck! We’ve just published a COE course which will provide you with the following: 

• Clear Understanding of COEs – Learn what a COE is, why it matters, and how it drives efficiency, alignment, and innovation.
• The Four COE Models – Understand the Build, Share, Guide, and Create models and how to choose the right one for your organization.
• Step-by-Step Implementation – Follow a structured approach to designing, launching, and scaling a COE that delivers measurable business impact.
• Real-World Best Practices – Explore successful case studies from companies that have leveraged COEs to improve operations, customer experience, and agility.
• COE Metrics & Continuous Improvement – Learn how to measure COE effectiveness and continuously refine it for sustained value.
• The COE Canvas Framework – Get access to a structured tool for defining COE goals, services, stakeholders, and success metrics.
• Certificate of Completion – Earn official recognition for your expertise in COE design and implementation.

By the end of the course (90 minutes to 2 hours), you’ll have all the tools and knowledge needed to successfully create, refine, or scale a COE that enhances organizational performance and accelerates results.  Learn More Here: https://treeline-transformation.mykajabi.com/COE-course

Wrapping Up
Building a COE shouldn’t be a guessing game. With the right structure, focus, and execution, a COE can be a powerful driver of efficiency, innovation, and business success.