In mid-March 2023, I was subcontracted by an independent consultant to coordinate a feasibility study that would establish the economic viability and sustainability of the Dar es Salaam Tea Auction (DTA) in the United Republic of Tanzania.
Our client was a consortium of organisations instrumental in the establishment of DTA - Tanzania Mercantile Exchange (TMX), Tanzania Tea Board (TTB), Tea Association of Tanzania (TAT), Warehouse Registration and Regulatory Board (WRRB), Tanzania Smallholders Tea Development Agency (TSHTDA), and other Tanzanian Government agencies.
My role started at the point of responding to the Expression of Interest (EOI) clearly outlining the Lead Consultant and his team’s technical capacity to conduct the study, detailing the scope of work in reference to the Terms of Reference (TOR) given, assurance of achieving the deliverables, and presenting the financial proposal for our client’s consideration.
The tea industry was a new field in my area of work, but this did not deter me from taking this assignment. My father once told me when I was starting my entrepreneurship journey that “you don’t have to get it right, you just have to get it going, because once you get it going, you can always get it right.”
As a professional writer, I am lucky to interrogate varied subjects, sectors and industries, in the process, accumulating knowledge and becoming a citadel. I am not yet at a level of being called a tea expert, but digging into secondary data, scrutinising primary data, synthesising discourse from Focus Group Discussions (FGD), and learning new things from Key Informants (KI) enabled me to deeply understand the tea value chain system! Courageously diving into the deep-end resonates well with Eric Hoffer’s sentiments ~ “In times of change the learners will inherit the earth, while the learned find themselves beautifully equipped to deal with a world that no longer exists. There is no such thing as a learned person. We are either learning or we are not.”
Once the contract was signed. We embarked on the one-month assignment to conduct the feasibility study with the overall goal “to carry out a Value Chain Analysis and Market Assessment of the DTA performance and shed light on the status and viability of existing and potential markets for the Tanzania tea.” My first assignment was to recruit, in consultation with the Lead Consultant, a competent, time-conscience and result-oriented research team.
Despite the fact that the study team members, consisting of the Lead Consultant (Iran), the Technical Advisor (Dubai), the Data Analyst (Nairobi Kenya), the Research Assistants (Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, Malawi), and myself, the Study Coordinator (Kisumu Kenya) never met in-person during the entire exercise, we still delivered a comprehensive Market Assessment and Value Chain Analysis Report that was impetus to the successful launch of DTA in June 2023.
Coordinating this study, I had more autonomy working remotely while focusing on results. Remote work encourages accountability and empowers one to manage their time effectively. These are some key strategies that helped me manage the remote team successfully:
√ Communication is the foundation of remote team management. In consultation with the team, we agreed to use Zoom, WhatsApp, and Email to ensure constant and transparent communication. After Covid-19 pandemic, I became adept at using these remote communication tools. Most people did too. Therefore, I did not encounter any challenges initiating the day-to-day interactions with the study team, including convening regular meetings during the study duration.
√ At the onset of the contract, I came up with a blueprint that clearly defined roles, responsibilities, and goals for each team member. The blueprint also outlined the assignment timeline, deliverables, and performance metrics. This clarity helped study team members understand their tasks as well as enabled me to measure their progress effectively.
√ As the study coordinator, I organised team meetings to keep everyone aligned, share updates, and encourage team bonding. It was imperative that I also schedule regular one-on-one meetings for discussing individual progress, challenges, and emerging insights from the study.
√ Acknowledging the different time zones and individual preferences of my remote team, I was flexible to schedule team meetings, WhatsApp chat interactions, and Email responses. For example, we unanimously agreed on Wednesday 2030hrs EAT and Sunday 1030hrs EAT for our weekly Zoom meetings.
√ I trusted my team members to manage their work independently and gave them the autonomy to make decisions and take ownership of their tasks. This bred intrinsic motivation towards achieving the study's ultimate goal.
√ As the study coordinator, I exhibit the behavior and work ethic I expected from my team. As a result, we all became responsive, punctual, and demonstrated a strong commitment to our work.
Let me tell you why I found remote team management easy-peasy. My entrepreneurship journey has been dominated by remote working where at www.techinvakeny.org, I serve clients virtually from any part of the world especially on training, coaching, mentorship, virtual assistant services, and professional ghost-writing. I'm also part of several agencies, clubs, associations and organisations that are purely coordinated remotely/virtually. Besides, I regularly work remotely with freelance writers, web & graphic designers, and virtual assistants to meet my clients' deliverables.
The outcome of using these key strategies to manage the remote team effectively was the successful completion and presentation of a feasibility study report that identified a potential demand for a Tea Auction Centre in Dar es Salaam, given the city's strategic location, existing infrastructure, and growing demand for tea in the region.
#feasibilitystudies #daressalaam #dta #remotework #teammanagement
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