A Chat with Lali Sichinava

In today’s fast-paced business landscape, effective team management is essential for sustained growth and success. We had the pleasure of speaking with Lali Sichinava, the owner of a thriving flower shop, about her experience of managing a team of 18 employees and the key skills and qualities vital for effective leadership.

The Mandatory Skills and Qualities for Effective Team Management

Lali Sichinava runs a Georgia-based flower shop and delivery business, Lovely Roses. With two offline locations, an online store, a delivery service, and a big team, Lali has her hands full with managing the operations and ensuring customer satisfaction.

Lali shared with us her insights on establishing a strong foundation for team success. In her experience, concentrating on the following features has created a well-functioning and productive team:

Adjusting the Hiring Process to Your Business

Investing time and effort into hiring the right people is essential. Lali emphasized the importance of identifying early when someone isn’t the right fit for the job or the team dynamics and making vital adjustments.

Here’s how Lali approaches the hiring process:

“Persons are our biggest asset. We place ads on different job sites and ask people to fill in the application form and answer three questions. Together with a CV, which is able to show us the ability to multitask, the form is enough to filter out 95% of candidates.

Since our industry is all about communication, we send the remaining candidates an email and see how they reply. That also filters out a certain percentage.

We conduct phone interviews with the remaining candidates, as it’s a crucial step — provided that our clients mainly communicate via calls or emails. Following this, we arrange an in-person meeting and invite them to work with us for a day so we can see if we are a good fit for one another. This fashion, we can even evaluate their technical computer skills.”

Implementing Trial Work Days for Good Candidates

While some business owners might initially perceive the worker trial day as overwhelming and costly, Lali firmly believes that this step is crucial for ensuring the right fit for the long-term success of the team. By dedicating time to assess an individual’s skills, work ethic, and cultural alignment, businesses can mitigate potential risks and make informed decisions that positively impact their overall productivity and company culture.

“Yes, you may easily check if the candidate speaks the languages at the interview stage, but how do you judge if someone is ‘smart, quick, a multitasker, technologically advanced, a problem solver, friendly, compassionate, diplomatic and has good taste’ all in the same interview?

That is why we typically provide candidates with a few working days to experience firsthand what it’s wish to work with us. This also allows us to assess if they’re a good fit for the role.”

Investing in Training Your Team

When it involves florists, Lali is not afraid to hire people without experience as long as they possess the right attitude and motivation for learning. She believes that investing in training and always improving the team’s skills is a must for staying ahead of the competition.

Developing Standard Operating Procedures

Lali believes that establishing standard operating procedures for as many situations as possible and getting involved only in non-standard problems is vital. This setup allows the team to operate easily and effectively while the leader can give attention to resolving unique challenges that arise.

Delegating Tasks In line with Worker’s Strengths

When it involves determining which tasks or responsibilities ought to be delegated to people on her team, Lali takes a methodical approach. She believes that delegation empowers individuals to take ownership of their work.

Constant Improvement

Perfectionism, ultimate professionalism, and a constant drive for improvement are key to Lali’s success. By taking note of details and using every mistake as an opportunity to learn, she has fostered a culture of growth and development inside her team.

Maintaining Motivation and Productivity

Flower businesses really pick up during holidays, but that also means the team has to work extra hard to meet the increased demand.

When asked about maintaining motivation and productivity during busy periods, Lali explained that the right team members will naturally be motivated by the company’s growth and success. A strong work ethic and a shared dedication to creating beautiful results be sure that the team stays engaged and focused.

Conflict Resolution: Communication is Key

While conflicts are rare in Lali’s team attributable to their high emotional intelligence and dependence on each other to achieve success, she shared that her flat organizational structure allows for smooth communication in case of disagreements. By involving relevant team members in necessary decisions before implementation, she minimizes misunderstandings and nurtures a sense of ownership amongst her employees.

“Being a small company, we have a flat organizational structure. No intermediaries — no lost in translation situations. I also attempt to run necessary decisions by the parties concerned before they’re implemented.

Also, we are a 100% female team with a high emotional quotient. We don’t have many conflicts as we depend upon one another to deliver beautiful bouquets. Having two groups, florists and managers, if one makes a mistake, one other one will often pick up on it.”

Embracing Technology for Communication and Collaboration

Lali’s team uses Ecwid, an ecommerce platform that permits for a wide selection of customizations related to product offerings and delivery options. In comparison with the previous platform they’ve used, Ecwid has eliminated a lot of manual elements and streamlined communication with their clients, making it a crucial tool for effective collaboration inside the team.

“Ecwid is a big step up from the previous platform. Ecwid allows a huge amount of customization for kinds of products and delivery. Before, we needed to go through developers for a latest feature or fix, while now it’s done inside a minute contained in the Ecwid platform.

For instance, we have several shifts through the day, and some days there might be three different people accepting orders. On Ecwid, all of the information related to the order is kept in one place, which makes it very easy for the staff to hand orders over to one another.

Custom checkout fields and custom checkout notes allow to receive full order-related information from the client as well as communicate the maximum needed information to them.

Manual work is minimized by having flexible and easily changeable delivery dates, slots, and destinations. And if there’s something else non-standard, you would at all times make use of the staff notes to pass it on to one another.”

To Sum Up

Lali Sichinava’s experiences offer helpful insights for business owners trying to improve their team management skills. By specializing in hiring the right people, establishing standard operating procedures, and embracing continuous improvement, business leaders can cultivate efficient, motivated teams that drive success.

Incorporating technology to enhance communication and collaboration can further streamline operations and contribute to a cohesive work environment.

By applying the lessons learned from Lali’s journey, you may push your teams towards greatness!