This Book Is for You

Greetings, Systems Champion. Welcome to your new role. If you’re reading this, it’s because the owner of the business has identified you as someone who has the right skills and temperament for what is going to be the most exciting project you’ve ever worked on. You’re going to help champion a cultural shift toward business systemisation across the entire company.

This is a crucial job for helping the company to grow and prosper, and the business owner is putting a huge amount of faith in you to make a success of this. But remain calm. This book is going to walk you through everything you need to know, and no one is expecting you to make miracles happen in just a few days or weeks. This isn’t a project that can be rushed and there’s some planning to do before you can really start to affect big change.

But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Let’s zoom out and talk about the endgame. What is it that you’ve been hired, or assigned, to achieve in this role?¹

To answer that question, you need to understand where the business is currently at and what’s slowing its progress. In its current state the company relies heavily on key individuals who have the knowledge and skill to manage and take care of specific parts of the business. There are some amazing, talented people keeping the wheels turning, and you’re going to get to know all of them over the coming months.

But here’s the problem …

Relying on specific people to keep everything running smoothly has serious limitations. What if someone who is critical to the operation of the business gets sick, goes on vacation or even leaves the company? Additionally, because in many cases there is only one key individual (aside from the business owner) who knows how to care for their portion of the work, how do we figure out if there are more efficient ways of doing things?

This is a challenge the business owner has been wrestling with more or less since day one. And, to be fair, this is the challenge that all growing businesses run into. The difference is that most other companies just muddle through and make the best of it, whereas you’re going to tackle this obstacle head-on.

Here’s your overall goal. Read this over and over until it’s burned into your brain and becomes the driving force for everything you do in this project:

The business must transition from being a business dependent on individual knowledge to one driven by documented, scalable systems.

We’re going to break this goal down into a series of steps, but it’s really important that you understand what the ultimate destination is. Whenever you feel like you’re hitting a wall or you’re getting bogged down in the details, come back to this primary goal. It will help you find the best way forward.

If we really zoom out and take a 30,000-foot view of the project, your goal can be broken down into two elements:

1. Systemise each part of the business so that clients receive a consistent result that can be repeated endlessly and at scale.
2. Remove key person dependency so the business isn’t overly reliant on specific individuals and won’t fall into chaos if one of them becomes unavailable.

Think of it this way: you’re creating a comprehensive playbook for how your business operates, mapping out everything from attracting customers to delivering exceptional service and covering all the crucial steps in between. This playbook, made up of a collection of systems and processes, will allow the business to achieve the following:

• Consistency and quality: Systems ensure work is consistent, so that customers get the same quality of product or service every single time, no matter who’s handling the tasks. Showing customers that you can deliver – to a high standard, every time – is how you build trust and loyalty in the marketplace.
• An empowered team: With well-defined processes, team members know exactly what to do and what results are expected of them, which can lead to reduced training and supervision requirements. This gives them confidence to take ownership of what they do and deliver their best work.
• Efficiency and reduced errors: No business will ever be perfect, but when every process is proven and followed closely, mistakes are minimised and efforts are not wasted. Fewer errors and better efficiency ultimately save time, effort and resources.
• Easier and more enjoyable work: Well-designed systems make work easier, more pleasant and less frustrating. They help prevent the business from stalling when a key team member is unavailable. No more late nights and weekends putting out fires because someone gets sick or leaves unexpectedly!
• Scalability: The business has big ambitions to grow, but it will always be limited if it has to constantly reinvent the wheel or rely on a few key individuals. Once it has a clear roadmap that others can follow, it will be able to expand smoothly and efficiently.

You’re going to work closely with the teams within the business, across all departments, capturing the knowledge that’s currently in their heads and translating it into documented systems that anyone, to a reasonable degree, can follow. Not necessarily with the same smoothness and expertise as the person that does the job day in and day out, but well enough to keep the machine running.

Again, you can take a deep breath if this feels like an impossibly ambitious goal. Your goal isn’t to turn your business into a perfect machine. All you’re required to do is put the pieces in place so that, at the end of the project, you have a solid “Version 1.0” of a systemised business. It will be far from perfect, and that is to be expected. This version is then going to be revised and improved, repeatedly, over a period of years, each time getting a little smoother, a little more efficient. You may or may not be involved in this iteration process; your job is simply to create the first pass.

And you won’t be doing this alone. The business owner is going to be backing you all the way and will assist you with some of the more difficult decisions. Or, at least, they should.

Some business owners who employ a Systems Champion fall into one of two extremes. They either try to micromanage and look over your shoulder every step of the way, or they drop everything into your lap and forget about it. Most will happily sit where they should – in the middle ground. They’ll trust you to get the job done but take an active interest in your progress and be ready to help out when challenges arise.

If they’re a micromanager, you need to ask for the resources and authority to get on with the job without having to “bother” them all the time. Remind them that one of the subgoals of this project is to help them step back from the day-to-day running of the business, and that this will never happen if they don’t authorise you to push forward.

For the opposite, an owner who doesn’t make time to support you, remind them of the same and that it’s important they have some input and keep an eye on your progress. Push for a daily meeting (these can be short, maybe 10–15 minutes) over the first couple of weeks, moving to weekly or bi-weekly meetings thereafter. Use these meetings to update the business owner on your progress and to solicit opinions on key decisions.

This isn’t a straightforward project. You’ve been chosen because you’ve demonstrated that you’re a resilient problem-solver who enjoys a challenge. But don’t make the mistake of thinking that the business owner is expecting you to create something with the precision of a Swiss watch. For now, a Casio or a Timex is absolutely fine.

You’re going to find this to be challenging but incredibly rewarding work that will have a lasting impact on how the business operates. You’re going to play a key role in driving the company to the next level of success!

You probably have a million questions, and that’s good. But don’t worry about the details for now. My recommendation is to start by reading this book in its entirety, making as many notes as you can, so you have a clear overview of how this is going to work in practice. Once you’ve done that, you can return to the start and begin working through the steps, one at a time.

Just remember to enjoy the process! You’re playing a crucial role in shaping the future success of the business. Your work is incredibly important, not just to the business owner, but to everyone at the company who is depending on the business to keep flourishing. The satisfaction you’re going to experience over the coming weeks and months will be unlike anything you’ve previously experienced, and this is your opportunity to show everyone what you’re capable of.

You’re going to do great!

Footnotes¶

1. If you’ve read the preceding chapters aimed at the business owner, you’ll already have a fair idea. If not, don’t worry, it isn’t necessary. The remainder of the book is going to give you everything you need to succeed. ↩