Meet Merix: Sławek - Project Manager

Sławek, apart from being a real specialist in his field, is also known for his great sense of humor. On the other hand, he is really calm and nice (someone ever saw Sławek angry?!), so mixing it with funny retorts and pranks gives quite an interesting effect. Sławek is a perfect example of a “still water run deep” - he’s quiet, but can summarize anyone with only two words in such a way that it knocks their socks off (luckily in the office we are also wearing our slippers). But don’t think that he is mean - there is no greater gentleman than Sławek!

• Tell us something about yourself.
  Hello, my name is Sławek and I’m working in Merixstudio for almost 3 years… wow, how the time flies.

• What are your main responsibilities at Merxistudio?
  I am a Project Manager.

• How do you work? What is important to you while working?
  The way I work is… unique.My style is imposible to describe or forge. :-) But seriously, in a nutshell, the first I do is define a list of tasks for a given day. Then I start working on them. Most of my time is dedicated to responding to emails/talking with customers or to consultations with developers. It is important for me to be sure that my work helps the team in their tasks and that customer and my superiors are going to be pleased with the final results of our efforts.

• Tell us something about your beginnings in the company.
  I started working here almost 3 years ago. I remember the beginnings rather well because at the same time I also moved to Poznań. Since I’m not a huge fan of changes an acclimatization took me quite a long time. Thankfully nice atmosphere and great colleagues were really helpfull. I have to particularly thank Marcin, whom I visited quite frequently at that time and bombarded with consultations on usually rather minor issues.
  At the beginning of my work here I was assigned to smaller projects, so I could have a better understanding of how our software house works and what are our methods of project implementation. One of the first major tasks that I received was taking care of design and UI for Bizlook.pl. It was also challenging to quickly learn how create mock-ups in Axure. The second thing that took me quite a while to get used to was having two large monitors on my desk :-)

• You are working in our company for quite some time. How much has Merixstudio and your work changed since the beginnings?
  First of all, the company has really grown. With every proverbial second we are hiring new employers, so we have to quickly memorize names! We also created a PR department and formally distinguished the New Business team. It is also worth noting that we have implemented a number of new tools and procedures. For example, we started to use on a full-scale such tools as Redmine or InVision. Both of these solutions are very helpful at work (Redmine helps in organization and job control, InVision in gathering feedback on our designs). Besides, some time ago we reorganized the internal structure and appointed Team Leaders for all departments.

• What have you learned while working at Merixstudio?
  Although I already have had an experience of working in the IT industry, I really learned a lot while working at MerixStudio. And I'm still learning! The most important "hard" skill that I have acquired is using Axure and Redmine. In addition to that I also got to know such new solutions as Django, Drupal or Wordpress. I’m also able to learn a lot of interesting things on our internal trainings and presentations.
  Oh, and I realized that due to the ever-expanding team it doesn’t make sense to get very attached to your desk because … its placement will definitely change more than once;-)

• What do you like most about working at Merixstudio?
  Ability to expand my knowledge and implementation of modern projects. Web technologies are changing rapidly and we can work with a lot of completely new solutions. MerixStudio is open to new challenges, so our customers are responding positively to entrusting us with many innovative ideal.

• What was the biggest challenge you faced while working at the Merixstudio?
  At the beginning it definitely was the realization of a system that handles service calls for companies from the automation industry. A large number of mock-ups, working with new technology and personnel changes in our team made it a bit stressful, but fortunately everything ended well. Right now a big challenge for me is to work on several larger projects at the same time while making sure that their quality and communication won’t deteriorate.

• Which project you liked the most from the ones you worked on in Merixstudio?
  I worked on many interesting projects, I can’t pick just one...

• What was your first contact with web technologies? When did you make a decision that you want to work in IT?
  When I was a student I started internship in an interactive agency that is quite well-known. I liked working there and, since getting a job in the industry is not easy, I decided to not give it up. My first contact with HTML projects was at uni, when I was writing simple websites for myself or my friends.

• What do you think is most difficult (and most interesting) in your work as Project Manager?
  It is very difficult to satisfy all parties involved in the project :-) Project Managers are responsible for it but are not directly involved in its development (they are not programing/designing anything). Projects are also becoming more complex and sophisticated, because of what PM gain a lot of additional responsibilities and must always be up to date with current trends. The most interesting, however, is that each project is different and that you can still learn something new.

• First thing you do when you arrive at the office.
  I sing the attendance list, say hello to Marcin and put my food in the fridge. Then I open my inbox and Redmine.

• iOS or Android?
  I don’t have a comparison, but up until now I used Android and found it all right.

• What do you do in your free time after work?
  I relax by reading interesting books (action / thriller / documentary), or watching a movie. I like the mountains and sport (though the latter only in a passive mode ...)

• Your favorite childhood hero is...
  Indiana Jones and USS Enterprise team.

• Favorite place in Poznań.
  Apart from my own apartment it has to be Malta.

• Beer or vodka?
  Beer.

• Favorite sport.
  Football (Widzew Łódź!:-)), snooker and Moto GP.

• Dog or cat?
  A dog, but small kittens are so cute :-)

• Which website you visit the most?
  Corporate inbox :-)

• Favorite app
  Gmail and Chrome.

• Dark or light side of the Force?
  Han Solo :-)

• If you could only visit one website for the rest of your life, what site would that be?
  Pragmatist on the left shoulder suggests Google.pl, but the romantic one on the right says it’s Picasa with private photos.

• If you could have your dream job, what would it be?
  Fighter pilot.

Want to read more interviews with our coworkers? Check out our blog and #MeetMerix!