Hello Boss, today I’m joined by special guest Lisa Alward. Lisa is an interior designer and published author with years of experience working on residential properties throughout Australia. Lisa heads up Bella Vie Interiors, a design studio with headquarters in Brisbane, and is committed to creating beautiful homes for her clients. Lisa has built an incredible A-team of in-house employees and in this episode shares her experience of doing this.

In our conversation, Lisa shares how she knew that she needed to grow her team, and the phased approach she took moving from contractors through to part-time and full-time employees.

Transitioning to having part and full-time employees is a big commitment and Lisa details the ways she prepared and set her business up to accommodate her new team members. She runs through office space, hardware, file management systems, software and most importantly - standard operating procedures. Lisa shares that every part of her business is documented from administration, business development, onboarding, design and offboarding which ensures consistency and continuity.

When it comes to hiring, Lisa shares what she looks for in new team members, highlighting that the most important thing is that they align with her values system - loyal, hardworking, diligent, open and honest, and have a high level of attention to detail. She also shares that flexibility and a great skillset, as well as a willingness to learn, are also incredibly important.

Lisa also details the important tools and culture that she cultivates in her team around communication. She shares her vision, is constantly updating her team and is open and transparent regarding client fees. We also discuss how having a listening culture is so important.

Lisa shares her top three lessons that she has learned as a people leader which are:

1. It takes time and patience to train people properly.
2. Trust is vital - everyone needs to know that they have each other’s backs.
3. Systems are key.

Boss, I know you are going to get so much value from what Lisa shares in this episode and her own experience of growing the most fabulous team.

Previous episodes mentioned:

Ep 07 - 3 ways to build your online team

Ep 48 - Growth Strategy: Why Business Transformation is necessary for small businesses

Ep 44 - What to focus on when preparing for next level business growth

Connect with Lisa Alward:

• Website: Bella Vie Interiors
• Book: Beautiful Life
• Instagram: @my_bellavie
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BellaVieInteriors
• LinkedIn: https://au.linkedin.com/in/alwardlisa

Connect With Me:

• Free Download: Ideal Client Avatar Workbook
• Work with me: Business Strategy Workshop | 1:1 Business Accelerator Program
• Join the waitlist:  The Run Your Business Like a Boss Academy
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