Scale

The myth that systemisation destroys creativity stems from the idea that systems turn everyone into robots, incapable of original thought. This is just flat out wrong. In reality, systems create space, and space opens doors to creativity, inspiration and opportunity.

Did you know that many of the greatest and most creative minds in history leveraged the power of systems to increase their decision-making power? Einstein, Jobs, Zuckerberg and Obama, for instance, all claimed to have multiple versions of the same outfit – effectively a uniform – that they’d wear each day so they wouldn’t have to dedicate any brain power to thinking about getting dressed in the morning.

Essentially, they had a system for clothes selection. They believed this simple system gave them an extra level of efficiency that created space in their brain for more important thoughts and decisions. This is just one simple example, but we can only imagine how many other simple systems they created with the same objective, with each system, building on the last, saving a little extra time and creating a little more efficiency. Imagine taking those savings and compounding them over a week, a month, a year or even a lifetime! How much extra space have they created with just a few simple systems?

I’m not suggesting this is something you should specifically imitate, but it illustrates the power of systems to nurture creativity, rather than stifle it. Moreover, you’ll come to learn that your biggest opportunities in business will present themselves when you’re thinking creatively AND have space to take advantage of them.

Business owners must learn to step out of the day-to-day operations, to systemise routine tasks and work on the highest leverage activities that only they can move forward.

So, what systems will YOU need to scale your business?¶

Obviously, and like all things in business, there’s no one-size-fits-all magical system that will turn your business into the next Amazon, Google or Netflix. The strategies vary widely from industry to industry and so too will your circumstances and opportunities.

The key is to understand where you are and where you want to get to – remember back to the four stages of business systemisation.

This chapter focuses on moving you from stationary to scalable. Remember, these stages are linear and you need to have completed the previous steps to succeed at the next stage.

Therefore, at the very least, your CCF – those core systems – must already be documented before you begin this chapter. The CCF focuses on the specific objective of having the business make money without being dependent on any one specific team member, so be sure that these systems are up and running.

They don’t have to be perfect, but as long as you have something in place, you’re ready to consider the other mission-critical systems required to keep your business functioning.

As we work through the other departments within your business, there’s a good chance you will realise you haven’t given much thought to these other areas. That’s okay; like everything in business it’s a constant work in progress. If we can at the very least identify the holes, it will become infinitely easier to fix them.

So where do you start? Just as before, we’ll identify the critical systems, select your knowledgeable workers and begin the extraction process. Download the worksheet at www.SYSTEMology.com/resources and follow the steps.

Step #1: Identify your systems for growth.

Look at your Departments, Responsibilities & Team Chart (DRTC)

and notice the departments with few or no systems identified.

We’re going to focus on critical systems from three particular departments (finance, human resources and management). We want to identify the next 15–20 systems needed for documentation. In this step, we only need to identify them. These will be listed on a piece of paper in bullet point form.

I’ll walk you through those three departments; however, if there are other departments that are of particular relevance to your business, it’s okay to add them in here too.

Finance department¶

Unless there’s a pressing need somewhere else in the business, I like to start with your finance systems. The good news is, ‘finance people’ (bookkeepers, accountants and CFOs) love systems and they’re usually very happy to (with a little guidance) break everything down into their component parts. The finance department is made up of a set of repeatable systems that occur on a consistent and regular basis.

Invoices need to be issued, wages need to be paid, bank accounts need to be reconciled and tax obligations need to be met … and all of that needs to happen on a day in and day out basis.

Ask the department head what needs to happen for the finance department to function at a bare minimum. Focus only on tasks you are already doing, not those you would like to do, and, if it helps, it’s okay to brainstorm as many ideas as you can to start. We can apply the 80/20 rule after.

I like to take a blank piece of paper and list out the headings daily, weekly, fortnightly, monthly, quarterly and annually. Under each heading I then list each system that comes to mind as bullet points under those time periods.

Then, once you have a good fifteen or more systems, take out a highlighter and identify the critical 5–8 systems that are core repeatable tasks. This obviously won’t cover everything and that’s okay. We just want a starting point.

Remember, your business is already a going concern and tasks will continue to be completed as they have always done. We’re just looking for a small collection of tasks that occur on a regular basis and that are critical to the operation of the finance department.

Here’s an example of what the final output may look like:

That’s it! Your goal here is to simply create a list of 5–8 systems. Note: If you’re outsourcing much of your financial department to a bookkeeper and/or accountant, focus on the areas you have control over and where you’re required to prepare information for your partners. Yes, longer term it’s still a good idea to develop complete systems for this department, but your current goal is to first free up your team’s time and increase their efficiency.

Let’s move to the next department …

Human resources department¶

As far as systems go, hiring, onboarding and managing your team are among the most important areas of business to get right because they directly impact who you hire and, ultimately, how well they will fit within your company.

We’ve already squashed the myth that your team won’t follow systems. ‘A-players’ love to know what’s expected of them and how they can succeed in a role. This is why it’s so important to get your core systems documented and set the standards early. Establish, right from the start, “This is the way we do things here,” and you’ll be well on your way.

How well you do this is one of the biggest determining factors to your success in building a systems-centred business. Magic happens when you define a clear way of doing things and have the right people executing them to those standards.

The good news is that there’s a system to attract the right team members, introduce them to your way of doing things and how you manage them on a daily, weekly, quarterly and annual basis.

Similar to what you just did in the finance department, loop in any relevant team members and brainstorm ideas. On a blank piece of paper, build a list of all those processes relevant to the human resources department.

IMPORTANT NOTE: If you don’t have a current way of doing things in the human resources department, don’t stress. I will make a unique exception in the next step. That is, you don’t have to only focus on tasks you are currently doing. List all the systems that come to mind, including those you would like to have implemented.

Then, just as before, highlight only 5–8 of those systems that are core for this department.

These may include:

Like all things, add or remove items as needed and add to the list you made for your finance department.

Management department¶

The final department we need to look at is management. This covers how you choose the strategic direction for the business, how you review performance, set goals and ensure you’re on track. This can be quite a deep topic and there’s lots to cover depending on the size and complexity of your business. We’re going to keep it simple, though.

I’m going to steer you to identify systems around your meeting cycles and the agendas for those meetings. Consistent meetings with specific agendas are the secret to great management. We just need to make sure you’re not having meetings for meetings’ sake and ensure every meeting is designed to deliver a specific outcome.

It might be a daily team meeting, a weekly sales meeting, a monthly meeting with your bookkeeper and a quarterly or annual planning session – it doesn’t matter the exact rhythm as long as you have something in place. And remember, you’re not looking to re-engineer parts of your business just yet (with the exception of a few of those HR systems). For now, capture what you’re currently doing – our goal is to make it consistent.

SYSTEMology always begins by capturing the way things are, right now; if you spot gaps in your current way of doing things, just note it, create a placeholder and come back to it later once we start optimisation. Also, if you follow the meeting rhythm from books such as Scaling Up, Traction, The 12 Week Year, etc., you can simply list these!

Include any key team members in this process and brainstorm your current meeting cycles. List them all, then highlight the most critical 5–8 ones. Here’s an example to get you started:

Once you have these added to your list, you should have a total list of between 15–20 mission-critical systems split between your finance, human resources and management departments.

Step #2: Assign, extract and organise.

You’ve identified and listed 15–20 department-critical systems. You may have already realised we can now follow the same process we used to capture the systems from the CCF (see ‘Step Three: Extract’).

Simply populate your spreadsheet with the system name, add a description and list the knowledgeable worker. Then, using the System for Creating Systems, begin the extraction process.

Remember, it’s a two-person job – the knowledgeable worker and the systems champion. In situations where the system seems too complex, start with an overview-style system first.

Lastly, save the new systems in your systems management software and add a link to the relevant systems wherever the task is assigned for completion.

Sounds simple, right? It is, but please don’t confuse simple with easy. Simple is uncomplicated; easy is comfortable. This process is simple but not necessarily easy. There is work involved here and that takes focus and discipline to complete. But trust me, the rewards are worth it.

As before, I advise against heavily re-engineering your systems the first time you capture them. Avoid trying to capture things as you would like them to be. It’s okay to make minor tweaks, but tremendous wins can be gained by simply modelling what your best team members are already doing and then bringing everyone else up to that standard. Most small businesses lack consistency, and that causes more issues than you realise.

The final stage of SYSTEMology is all about optimisation, so we’ll get there!

Work through the list of 15–20 systems identified in the previous step and begin the extraction process.

Capture what you’re currently doing, except …¶

When it comes to the rule of capturing what you’re currently doing, depending on how you’re currently doing things, you may need to make an exception with two of your human resources systems: hiring and onboarding.

Building a great team doesn’t happen by chance and it’s critical you hire only the best. Trust me, put in the work here and you will be handsomely rewarded.

These systems will form part of your new team members’ first experience and it’s vital you bake your systemised approach to business into these systems.

If you already have some systems in place, they may need some modification, or you may need to create entirely new systems – it just depends on your situation. I’m not suggesting you need anything overly complex; it might only involve a few modifications to what you’re already doing. The goal is just to ensure you demonstrate to prospective and new team members that you run a systems-centred business. A handful of small tweaks can have a big impact. For example, a great modification would be to include links in your position descriptions to some of the systems related to the role you’re recruiting for. You might even consider adding them to your job ads.

In this way, you’re effectively saying, upfront, “We have a way of doing things here and you need to be comfortable working in this way.”

You may want to go the extra mile and consider adding ‘systemsthinking’ as a core value to your company values list. I touched on that in the previous chapter.

Either way, let’s look at the first of the two systems you must have in place: your recruitment system and your onboarding system.

Recruitment system¶

The truth is, if you don’t have anything currently in place, just having a recruitment system will go a long way to helping you attract the right team members. Average team members like to sneak in under the radar; ‘A-players’ love a system where they can demonstrate their skills and stand out from the crowd.

Obviously, this is just an overview-style system to demonstrate the key steps. Over time you may add supporting documents and/or subsystems that detail everything from example job ads through to the questions you ask in your interview.

When the time is right, I recommend you go deeper into learning about recruitment systems. There are many great books written on the topic (most notably Topgrading by Brad Smart). We’ve also had numerous recruitment systems shared on our podcast at www.SYSTEMology.com/podcast.

Remember, the first version of any system is almost always the worst it will ever be. Every iteration improves the system and the results.

Team member onboarding system¶

The second system I advise you to engineer is your team member onboarding process. That is, the steps new team members follow to be welcomed into your team. This is another critical system because it helps to set the right standards. Just like your recruitment system, I strongly suggest working elements of your systems-centred approach into your onboarding.

Here are a few ideas to get you started:

Lastly, give all new team members a copy of this book and say, “This is the way we do things here and we need your help to build the business following this blueprint.” In fact, why not buy a copy of this book for every one of your existing employees? Buy them two if you like.

In all seriousness, however you want to approach this, I can’t understate the benefits of investing time and effort into correctly onboarding your team members. This will play a major part in their success.

These two areas – recruitment and onboarding – are the only exceptions where immediate modifications are beneficial and recommended. Continue working through all the systems you have identified.

The objective of this chapter is to extract and organise the 15–20 critical department systems. Your systems champion should drive this, creating a realistic timeline and supporting your team members at each step.

Step #3: Identify key team member’s critical systems.

Clearly there will be some lag time between completing the previous step and starting this one, but I want to get you thinking about it. Ultimately, we’re working towards an elimination of key person dependency with respect to the daily operations of the business and sending your team members on vacation is the only real test for this.

Technically, you can carry out the same test by firing people, but vacations are much more fun!

It’s natural to feel nervous about this step but you can calm your anxieties by reviewing the work you’ve already completed. Many of the systems that are critical to key roles will have already been captured through the earlier steps. And while there are literally hundreds of systems that can be documented, typically there are only a good few handfuls that really matter and even fewer that need detailed documentation.

This step ensures nothing absolutely critical has slipped through the cracks.

It can be helpful to think of the systems you’re capturing in batches.

Batch 1: the CCF

Batch 2: critical department systems

Batch 3: key team member systems (this is the one we’re about to complete)

Separating your work into batches in this manner forces you to remain focused, accountable and makes it easier to stick to a timeline, so don’t move to this new batch until you’ve completed the previous ones.

Start by prioritising the key roles within your business. Typically, I like to start with business owners, department heads and key team members that deliver parts of the CCF. Get a blank piece of paper and create headings for the names of your identified team members. Then, starting at the top, it’s just a matter of chatting with each member and asking the question …

“If you were going to take a month-long vacation, to keep things moving, what tasks and responsibilities would we need to ensure we cover for you?”

Let them know you want them to be able to take a restful and enjoyable vacation knowing their key tasks are taken care of. Focus on recurring tasks critical to the core operations of the business and help them brainstorm all their ideas. Then, as before, grab a highlighter and identify the most critical 5–7 tasks per team member.

The steps are always the same for each batch: identifying, assigning, extracting and organising. Just limit yourself to 5–7 systems per team member and no more than five staff at a time.

Stay focused, get the work done and then celebrate by actually taking a vacation.

You’ve got this!

The ideas in this chapter have now been expanded into what we call Minimum Viable Systems (MVS). Learn more about this below:

Step #4: Go on vacation.

It’s time for a vacation. Not for everybody at once. Obviously. Start with the business owner and then move on to key team members. A little extra organisation may be required, but with your systems documented, organised and integrated with your project management software, it will be infinitely easier for you to assign tasks and ensure the business continues to operate smoothly.

The first time a team member takes leave, it’s normal for at least a few things to go wrong. Don’t worry, this is all part of the process. The whole point of sending people on vacation is to spot areas you missed or ones that can be strengthened.

Time to give yourself a pat on your back. You have done some tremendous work and you have significantly altered the trajectory of your business.

Problems become opportunities¶

The “Scale” chapter of SYSTEMology is not about creating opportunities; it’s about preparing for them. It’s about opening up the capacity and scalability of your business.

You have no way of knowing when opportunities are going to present themselves or exactly what form they will take, but this stage will help you to prepare for a wide range of possibilities. That’s the best any business owner can do when planning and preparing for scale.

Perfection in this area isn’t attainable because it would require infallible foresight. But you can stack the deck in your favour.

When you truly master SYSTEMology, you will begin to recognise every potential problem, and every potential problem will look like just another opportunity to create a useful system.