How to grow your Interior Design Firm by Building the Best Team
When I started my company over 21 years ago, I did not even consider that I was building a team from day one. In my mind it was me, myself, and I. In some weird way that could have been a team. Nevertheless, as time went on, I immediately realized I could not do all that needed to be done in my business all by myself. Maybe you remember the truth bomb I dropped in a previous podcast that alone, you are not enough (click here to listen). As my business has progressed, my idea of team has expanded dramatically to merge in with every aspect of my business. In my AIM with Intent™ methodology, we look at team in three ways: internal, external and support. Broken down very simplistically, this means that anytime we are working with ANYONE else, we are a team. This could be a vendor, a client, a contractor, or an employee. Anyone. See, no one is ever in business alone. Because by the very term of business we are creating a transaction with someone – somewhere.
When we are looking at the idea of a team, we are only as strong as our weakest link. My clients hear me say all the time that I care less about their top end vendors and more about the lowest level of vendor support or offering that they choose to work with. Why? Because this is the weakest link or lowest common denominator, or lowest brand point. We can always go up – but we don’t want to go lower. The same goes for the team. One wrong client and our confidence is rocked. One bad vendor experience and it costs us more than money. One bad hire and we are shaken to have to repeat the hiring process. Many of you are shaking your head with me right now or feeling that punch in the gut, because memories of these experiences seem to haunt us.
Conversely, when we get it right – we want to keep it right.
Here are the 5 areas to focus on to build a strong team for your interior design firm.
#1. Identify the characteristics that are needed for your ideal team
This works no matter the team. We speak often of the ideal client. Who is your ideal client in terms of budget, project, and characteristics? But what if I told you that we needed to have an idea of the ideal vendors that we worked with. What characteristics do they need to have to fully support us and our clients? How about what we need from the ideal bookkeeper or ideal accountant or ideal coach or other support advisor? If we don’t know what we need, how will we know when we find it? Choosing an ideal contractor or vendor matters. Take time to recognize the individual needs of your firm. What are the hard and soft needs for each area? When you are working with someone who no longer aligns with what your firm needs, make a change. Don’t keep trying to fit the round peg into the square hole. It will only cause frustration and will lead to a loss in income….and sleep.
#2. Identify the roles of each person on the team
It is so important to know which role each person on a team is playing. Who is responsible for what activities or decisions? Who is leading the team? Who is being supported or doing the supporting? Who is documenting? Clearly identify the reporting structure on each team.
I have seen more issues arise from not clearly identifying what each person on a team is responsible for. And you can guess where this leads, balls dropped or duplication of effort. Again, both cause trouble. Here is an example: You are searching for the perfect sofa for your client’s project, and they are out on Wayfair searching and sending you pictures. “Uh, excuse me” you think to yourself, you are paying me to do that. Each person’s role is not clear in this situation.
#3. Identify clear expectations of each role
Not only do the roles need to be defined for a team, but the expectations for the work to be produced needs to be clearly defined. What is expected, what format should it be delivered in, to what level should the work be completed and what are the due dates? All these answers make the difference in each person getting what they need out of the team.
Surely you all remember being in school and being put on a team project. (WOO HOO! Yippee! Said no one ever.) Instead, we all dreaded it. Why? Because we were not well versed in making sure that we knew who was going to do what. Questions rang through our minds such as “when they would do it”, “would be as good as I could do alone”, or “can I trust them”. See – you all have the heart palpitations from those group projects where you were all graded together, not on your individual performance. And we hated it when the teachers said that one day we would have to work with others. Well, today is that day.
Let’s set up our teams to win so that we don’t repeat the same thing that happened on our 3rd grade Science project where Timmy forgot to double space the typed report and Janice didn’t know she was supposed to create the visual aids. We can do better.
#4. Identify Communication Preferences and Timing
For me, the hardest part of a team is not knowing where we are at all times. Communication is the key to solving this issue. Creating set times to talk about the project or to do an email check are both tools that can help you as you manage your team’s communication. Maybe it is having confirmation from a vendor that a placed order was received. Even an email response that is autogenerated relieves stress and gives us a communication chain.
When working with someone else, in any capacity, be clear on communication. Define how, when, why, and where you will communicate going forward. When we know what is coming or what is expected in terms of information shared, we can relax and let the team work at its best.
#5. Identify feedback loops
Maybe you are asking yourself, “what is a feedback loop”. This is a fancy term for “get all the info and close the conversation”. If you ask a question, then the feedback loop is closed when you get the answer. This goes along with the communication in number 4. Another important need for closing the feedback loop is being aware of when the “team” ends. What is the end of the project or transaction? For a client, it may be the feedback loop is closed when you receive the last payment and your work as stated in the contract is completed. With an employee it may be when they leave and receive the last paycheck or when a team is dissolved because the work is done. No matter what it is, define how you will close the loop on any open items or needs so that the team functions thoroughly and collectively for the greater outcome.
Having and managing teams are parts of growing and scaling business to the place you desire.. We must do this from day one but as we all know, larger firms demand more and more teams. As stated in the opening, we are as strong as our weakest link. These are the little things from your team that ensures you are providing a luxury client experience with every job, every time.
To properly scale your interior design firm, review your teams – and remember, more than one person is a team. What is working and what is not working? Where can you improve and where do you need to form a new team? Your answers will have a direct impact on your interior design client experience, so answer honestly to yourself so that you can leverage those changes in a positive way for your business.
I help businesses every day grow, scale, build and dissolve teams. It can be a lot to do this work alone. Reach out and let me assist you. Sign up for a discovery call so we chat. Working with the right people and for the right people is part of the magic that happens when we get it right. My AIM with Intent™ teaches aligning your team in my People system. Great teams build profit and profit doesn’t happen by accident.