Finding Your Systems & AI Champion

You may be a champion of systems, but the Systems Champion you hire (or promote from within) is going to be the person that drives your SYSTEMology project forward. The skills required to be effective in this role are specific, yet interestingly, prior experience in this kind of work isn’t necessarily needed. The Systems Champion role is one that can be learned and mastered. But like any dedicated task, some people are better suited to it than others.

Before we dig into the ideal qualities required for this challenge, let’s get specific for a moment. What exactly is a Systems Champion and what are their responsibilities? Since this is the core theme of this book, it’s important that we’re both on the same page.

First, let’s be crystal clear about what a Systems Champion is NOT. They’re not your chief operating officer (COO), second-in-command, operations manager, or Integrator. The Systems Champion reports TO these leadership roles (or the business owner in smaller teams) and they don’t replace them.

Think of it this way. They are like the department head of the “systems” department, if “systems” was a department like sales, marketing, HR or finance. Just as your sales manager owns the sales function and your marketing manager owns marketing, your Systems Champion owns the systems function. And just like those other department heads, they report up to senior leadership while having authority within their domain.

So what ARE they? In brief, the Systems Champion is the person who manages and drives the systemisation of your business forward. They will physically take responsibility for documenting processes, organising them into systems and ensuring those systems are implemented and followed. Alongside the practical activities, the role also calls for the development of a systems-driven culture within the business. They’ll be responsible for educating the rest of your team on what’s required of them and encouraging them to support the systemisation project.

Needless to say, your Systems Champion plays a vital role in transitioning the business toward a more systemised and scalable operation.

That’s the 30,000-foot view. But what do the responsibilities of your champion actually include? The following is just an overview. The section of this book written for your Systems Champion will cover all of this in much greater detail.

• Defining systemisation needs: In collaboration with the business owner and team leaders, your Systems Champion will decide which processes are suitable for systemisation (tasks that are essential, recurring, already working in your business and suitable for delegation).
• Assigning knowledgeable workers: Your Systems Champion will identify which personnel within the company have the most knowledge about specific tasks or processes (“knowledgeable workers”). They will determine who these individuals are through discussions with team members and department heads.
• Extracting systems: By conducting interviews with the knowledgeable workers, your Systems Champion will extract their wisdom and experience and document it in a manner that can be understood easily by others in the business.
• Documentation and formatting: Consistency of documentation is critical, which means the Systems Champion needs to define a unified style, layout and level of detail. This may include tasks such as transcribing recordings, formatting documents and incorporating visual aids.
• Managing system storage and accessibility: Setting up systems management software, such as systemHUB, as your single source of truth is a critical responsibility for your Systems Champion. Your documentation should live in one central location that is logical and easily searchable, not scattered across shared drives, email attachments or personal computers.
• Accountability and transparency: The Systems Champion will ensure systems are clearly visible and accessible, so that accountability comes naturally to your team. This includes helping to create an environment where doing the right thing is the easiest path forward and eliminating excuses even before they arise.
• Systems adoption and culture: Fulfilling the “champion” element of their job title, your Systems Champion will communicate the importance of systemisation, get buy-in from the team and encourage everyone to follow documented processes. This might include individual and group training sessions, as well as the creation of incentive initiatives.

Some of the above responsibilities may be obvious to you and others not so. Most business owners, when they first review the duties held by a Systems Champion, are surprised by how complex and wide-ranging the role truly is. It requires strong attention to detail, excellent communication skills, general problem-solving abilities, an organised mindset and a proactive drive.

Your Systems Champion, whoever they turn out to be, is going to be an intelligent, flexible and energetic individual.

The five key qualities¶

After talking to and observing countless successful Systems Champions, I’ve identified five key qualities that indicate their likely ability to manage this role. It isn’t necessary for them to embody all of these qualities to a high degree, but they should have at least some level of proficiency in all of these areas.

1. Organisational skills and detail orientation: Order and structure are the foundation of SYSTEMology; therefore, a Systems Champion needs to be naturally organised with a sharp eye for detail. There isn’t room for shortcutting in this role, so a meticulous nature is key.
2. Exceptional communication and interpersonal skills: Your Systems Champion will be liaising with everyone in your business at all levels. They must be as comfortable and confident in discussions with senior management as they are with the entry-level workers. Self-confidence and assertiveness must be part of this mix because there may be times when they need to exert some gentle authority.
3. Curiosity and creative problem-solving abilities: Roadblocks and obstacles are common to every SYSTEMology implementation. While some of them are common and are discussed in these pages, every company will have its own unique challenges that will require your Systems Champion to problem-solve creatively. Curiosity is also important because, when they are “extracting” information from the knowledgeable worker, they must seek to understand the processes involved and ask the right questions to draw out the details.
4. Adaptability and tech-savviness: Technology (including AI) is going to be used through the SYSTEMology process. Your Systems Champion needs to be comfortable learning and using new software, even connecting systems together. And while consistency is the goal, as your business and the technology that drives it changes, your champion needs to be comfortable adjusting with it.
5. Leadership potential and assertiveness: Your Systems Champion does not need to be an existing leader, or even to become one as part of this role, but they do need some of the qualities inherent to leaders. In fact, leadership team members often make poor Systems Champions as they’re typically time-poor and pulled in many directions. Instead, look for someone who has capacity and can manage their own schedule and output while bringing others along with them. They need the confidence to convince those who might be reluctant to engage with the program (yes, this can happen, and we’ll cover this in detail) but without necessarily holding a formal leadership position.

To echo Angelica in the musical Hamilton, you’re “looking for a mind at work”. This isn’t a role for someone who is passive or most comfortable following instructions. There’s an almost entrepreneurial quality to a good Systems Champion and a keen level of intelligence is a minimum requirement.

Does this mean you’re looking for a unicorn? No. Finding someone who excels in all these areas would be fantastic, but it’s not necessary. Look for a person who shows potential in these qualities – they can develop and strengthen their skills over time with the right training. What’s most important is finding someone with genuine enthusiasm and willingness to take ownership of this project.

Do you have someone in mind?

How much time does it take?¶

The time commitment for a Systems Champion can vary significantly based on your business size, goals and available resources. At minimum, you should allocate half a day per week to get started. A part-time commitment will help you make steady progress, while a full-time Systems Champion can drive faster transformation.

For a small business under 10 team members, starting with a few dedicated hours each week might be sufficient, especially if you’re assigning this responsibility to an existing team member with some bandwidth. As your business grows or if you want to accelerate your systems implementation, you may need to increase these hours. The key is to begin with a realistic time commitment that matches your business’s current needs and resources, then adjust as needed.

Internal or external?¶

Perhaps you can already think of someone within your business who is a perfect, or at least a strong, fit for this job. And it’s great if you can find someone internally. They’ll already have a head start because they will have an existing familiarity with your company and how it operates.

An apprentice, for example, who is keen to learn and develop can be a great option because, presuming they have the right qualities, this is a great role for gaining a deeper understanding of how your business functions.

A returning-to-work mum or dad can also be a good option. Perhaps you have someone who used to work for you many years ago and is seeking a return to employment. This could be a great project to get them back into the workplace, with the added advantage that they likely already know many of your team and your departments.

But don’t force it. If you can’t find someone within your existing team who is a strong match for the above qualities, that’s okay. You shouldn’t settle for someone who isn’t a good fit, just because you know them. In fact, bringing someone in externally, while they will need some time to get to grips with how your business operates, can have its own advantages. A fresh pair of eyes can be a valuable asset.

Hiring someone externally is going to require the same process for finding any new team members, but with the added wrinkle that most of the people who are going to be the right fit will probably have never heard of the role. This will hopefully change in the future, but at the time of writing, it’s unlikely that many people are going to be putting “Systems Champion” into a job search engine.

No problem. I’ve already tackled the challenge of creating a suitable position description and job advert. You can find those in the appendix, or download them at SystemsChampion.com/resources.

Have a few people already in mind? Compare them using the following evaluation matrix.