"Copying and Thinking for Myself"- These are my keywords of growth--Joram Mialla 【Baridi Baridi employee interview vol.5】

This time, we invited Joram Mialla who is in charge of IT Coordinator in Baridi Baridi Tanzania.

Baridi Baridi members appearing in this interview

Joram Mialla
Born in Ruvuma region. Learned computer science at The Institute of Finance Management. After graduating, worked at IT company as an internship. Joined Baridi Baridi in March 2021.

Shuto Sakai (Interviewer/Editor)
Currently a graduate student at Kobe University. Joined Baridi Baridi as an intern in October 2020. Experienced working as an intern at Baridi Baridi Tanzania from August to October 2021.

"No matter what kind of work, it is important to give it my all as long as I have the right to work on it. "

Joram: My name is Joram Robart Mialla. I'm in Baridi Baridi as an IT coordinator. I started working here in March of this year 2021.

--Thank you for having time today! This time, I'd like to ask you about your job. 

Joram: No problem. Let's start!

--Firstly, what kind of jobs did you do before coming to Baridi Baridi?

Joram: I worked at Tanzania Telecommunication company limited, known as TTCL as an internship. I joined that company when I was in university. 

--I see. You used to work related in the IT sector. How did you come to Baridi Baridi? 

Joram: First of all, it was an honor to get a chance to work with Baridi Baridi. When I saw the posts for the IT position, I knew I had an opportunity to make a difference.

If you work in a new company, people will easily acknowledge you, and you can achieve a lot with the company. So regardless of my little experience, but I thought giving my 100% effort towards the task would be an excellent chance for me to show what I have and what I can do.

So, I didn't think negatively about joining and didn't take the time to decide it. When I got the call, I responded right away when I got the call and started working the following week. I was very excited to get the chance and also opportunity to prove. 

--What is the difference between the former IT company and Baridi Baridi?

Joram: I can say the field is the same. But in terms of responsibility, these are different. So, since I started working at Baridi Baridi, I have felt that I can tackle a variety of issues that enhance my career.

--Do you feel that the difficulty of your works has increased along with your increased responsibility?

Joram: I never thought about the difficulty of it. I don't worry too much about the difficulty. It is important that you do your best to do whatever work you have the right to work on.

-- Please tell me about your IT team.

Joram: As you know, IT team is a broad term. Anything concerning technology belongs to the IT team. Baridi Baridi members can say anything about technology then we can try to address it immediately.  For example, if we have introduced a new software, we support the employees on how to use it, And of course, we will troubleshoot the customer's problems. So there is a wide range of work.

The important thing is "Speed matters", which is the one of the shared values of this company. This value is a common understanding among our IT team.

--I see. I asked Nelson how the teamwork of Baridi Baridi IT team is in his interview. He said it is excellent, but how do you see it from your side?

Joram: It's amazing! Because we must collaborate in each other and everything even just a simple work. Sharing is crucial because I cannot teach and everyone or I cannot manage every single person. But if we share the knowledges, it's easy to solve. So even if it's a minor problem, we discuss how to increase efficiency.  

"Copying and Thinking for Myself"- These are my keywords of growth

--Nice. I know you are a leader in the IT team. So next, I'd like to ask about yourself.  You joined Baridi Baridi as a member, but now you are a leader. What makes you to be a leader?.

Joram: The significiant difference is just mindset. Leadership is not in my blood. When the IT team was established, there were many challenges. As you know that my role is called as an IT coordinator and I just have to coordinate many things. For example, I need to coordinate with the Marketing team and IT team resource. So, I needed to practice every day to be a better person--nothing special but just practicing every day. 

--I see. What specifically have you done? I heard from many members that  you have grown since you joined Baridi Baridi. 

Joram: Hahaha. It is a secret actually. But I can share it with you. Okay.  When I joined there, the first thing that I tried was to understand my organization. 

So, the first thing was to understand the company's operations and rules or business models and what do they need? And what they need me to do and what I should not do.

That was my first thing. It took me time to understand each, but I appreciated support from Japanese colleagues because actually I couldn't learn by myself. They sharpened me to be because actually I could know what should I do, what the deliverables are and when have I to deliver the task.

So, I was at one table with Mika san and Ayaka san(Japanese members) and  I learned what they were doing. Like this, I had to know what others were doing then I can do it on my own the first time. 

I believe that copying their way of doing tasks is an excellent first step if you are trying to do it the right way. So, I copied with what I thought was a good way of doing my work and trying to putting it into practice. 

Then I also take precautions on asking before doing anything. 

 --What do you ask?

Joram: I ask them how exactly I can make sure that the work does not go in the wrong direction.

--I think your attitude makes speed matters.

Joram: Yes.

--From your point of view, what do you find interesting about the Japanese members?

Joram: They are hard-working despite the environment andthe task. They can make it their way of thinking and make up with 2 or 3 options anytime. I said copying their way of doing tasks is an excellent first step, but the next step is thinking for myself. One day, Mika san said, “You need to think about the tasks for yourself because people don't have time to teach all, and to think for yourself makes you grow. If you bring proposal, we can provide feedback.”

--I see. Thank you. 

--Then what do you think is the most important thing as a leader? 

Joram: I think the biggest thing is to assure understanding what my colleagues are working on. That's the most important thing for me because if I understand wrongly means the work will go wrongly. 

-- Does that mean you need to understand the whole situation of the IT team?

Joram: Yes, I need to understand and see the actions according to their understanding.

For example, if there is a problem that customer cannot access AC, then I ask them, "What do you think?" or "What should we do?" I mean that I listen to them what they have first. Because if I provide the solution, nobody knows the solution next time. The important thing is that they need to think before giving the solution. I give a small advice when necessary, depending on the person’s way of thinking.

--What is your goal as IT team leader along with the growth of Baridi Baridi?

Joram: The first indicator is speed that we perform. From now, the number of customers is increasing. That means we encounter many troubles. So our team has to prepare our mind addressing them with speed. That's the customer's profit.

The favorite Japanese phrase is "Onaka-ippai"

--By the way, you are good at speaking Japanese. 

Joram: No, I don't have a teacher, but there are 100% self-effort and Japanese members assistance. Now, I can speak little Japanese.

--Nice! What is your favorite Japanese phrase? Do you have any?

Joram: Oh, one phrase is "Onaka-ippai"  ("I am full" in Japanese)

--Hahaha, nice! Why do you like it?

Joram:I can use the phrase every day, after lunch. 

--You indeed. 

Do you have anything in the last?

Joram: I remember the conversation with Mika san when he was just from Japan. He said Baridi Baridi now is now on the ground floor. And I said, "Yes, in the future, we will be big and use the whole building if we provide many, many smiles."  It means we will achieve the goal of having a better society.

--Arigatou-gozaimasu. ("Thank you" in Japanese)

Joram: Douitashimashite. ("You're welcome" in Japanese)

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