October, 2023

Setting up our Global Impact Framework

Our Insights Lead reflects on what she learnt when setting up our Global Impact Framework.
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Our Insights Lead, Tiphaine Valois, reflects on what she learnt when setting up our Global Impact Framework.

At ETP, all our global initiatives support our mission to catalyse long-term, systemic change to benefit everybody who works in tea – especially people in tea-producing regions.

Measuring our contribution to this change is no easy task. When I first joined the team, I committed to establishing ETP’s first ‘Global Impact Framework’ – bringing together the results and impact of our projects, private sector change, and policy initiatives worldwide.

Here’s my top five learnings on developing our framework.

1. Be clear on what your framework does and doesn’t do

When I joined ETP, categorising all the different data we hold helped me to understand what our Global Impact Framework would and – crucially – what it wouldn’t do.

It was soon clear that our framework will demonstrate the impact of our work against our Theory of Change. It won’t be a space to monitor our organisational success indicators, nor should it house any contextual data.

2. Build ownership

The most important thing for me was to ensure ownership of the framework across ETP.

From the start, I ensured that it was developed in consultation with my global colleagues. I created opportunities for relevant team members to feed into its conceptualisation – from technical working group meetings through to consultations with senior management.

Taking our team on this journey has been key to ensuring their buy-in and the framework’s long-term sustainability.

“From the start, I ensured that the framework was developed in consultation with my global colleagues”

3. Set realistic timeframes

I initially expected that establishing the framework would only take us three months. This soon proved unrealistic, given that the team were busy with their own priorities.

In the end, this process has taken us over a year.

4. Be flexible

As we built up our framework, I continuously adjusted it based on feedback and to my growing understanding of our impact.

A key debate for me was whether to combine our programmatic and our sector-change impact in one framework. Ultimately, having a twofold Global Impact Framework turned out to be most effective – given the distinct approaches and expected results.

Based on my previous experience, I wanted our Global Impact Framework to only focus on outcome level change, through a mix of quantitative and framing (basket) indicators. This will enable flexibility in its use, and allow us to cover ETP’s wide-ranging work.

“As we built up our framework, I continuously adjusted it based on feedback and to my growing understanding of our impact”

5. Don’t rush to set up systems

With a first draft of our framework approved, we sought external, expert feedback. The agency identified areas for improvement and proposed a database to operationalise our programmatic framework.

Looking back, it was too soon to design this database, given that further, meaningful changes in the framework were to come. It’s best to wait, rather than pre-emptively commit to set up systems early on – which may then need to be adapted.

“After months of consultations, I’m proud to have a robust Global Impact Framework at ETP”

After months of consultations, I’m proud to have a robust Global Impact Framework at ETP. And it’s now that the hard work really starts, as we operationalise it.

We’ll be showcasing how the framework demonstrates our impact in our Annual Report in March 2024, and we’ll continue to share our learnings as we operationalise our framework globally.

Click here to learn more about our global work and reach, as part of our Strategy2030.

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