Since 2005, Euvic has been implementing projects all over the world. We specialize in education, finance, energy, production, logistics, communication, commercial, telecommunications, tourism and the public sector. We have been providing technological peace of mind for many years, offering the highest quality services and implementing thousands of new projects. Often, however, meeting the project’s assumptions and achieving the set goal is a real challenge. For this, you need someone who will not only effectively distribute tasks but also set priorities, coordinate different people’s work and ensure that the entire process runs smoothly and without problems. The project manager is such a person.
International Project Management Day is a day that reminds us of the importance of the work of project managers. On this occasion, our technical director Grzegorz Mazur, with Agile Leader Bartosz Śliwa and Project Manager Tomasz Sobczak, told us about projects at Euvic and team management and introduced us to the challenges faced by project managers.
Grzegorz Mazur: My name is Grzegorz Mazur, and I work as a technical director in Euvic.
Bartosz Śliwa: I’m Bartek Sliwa. I am the leader of a team of almost 100 people with all the necessary competencies to provide a fully functional digital product.
Tomasz Sobczak: Tomasz Sobczak, head of a team of dozens of people, which consists not only of programmers but also a multitude of specialists, such as analysts, project managers, automated testers, manual testers, and turnkey product delivery.
Briefly about the projects:
Grzegorz Mazur: I represent the Software Development pillar, where we primarily engage in software development. We produce web, mobile, and desktop applications and cloud and hybrid integrations.
Tomasz Sobczak: At Euvic, we deal with projects in basically every industry.
Grzegorz Mazur: We do projects primarily in the manufacturing, multimedia, automotive, fintech industries. And also in the construction and building industry.
Waterfall vs Agile
Grzegorz Mazur: We distinguish between agile methodologies and classical methodologies. Classic methodologies include PRINCE2, PMI, PMBOK, and classic Waterfall. Agile methodologies primarily include Agile, Scrum and Kanban.
Bartosz Śliwa: I’m more into the so-called Agile approach using frameworks such as Scrum or Kanban, where the team is fully responsible for their delivery. It is responsible for communicating directly with the product owner, who is usually our client’s representative, natively working with the team to deliver business value for our client’s customers.
Grzegorz Mazur: Increasingly, Scrum is opting for classical methodologies like Waterfall or PRINCE2, since projects are implemented in an agile approach, clients expect us to be more flexible.
Tomasz Sobczak: We often still use traditional, so-called waterfall methods. This is mainly due to the characteristics of the projects, which are based on the fact that our solution is one of many, many elements delivered at one time. On the other hand, when it comes to producing either system specifications or subsequent functionalities, here we are often able to convince the client to work with us in an agile way.
Key competencies and team:
Tomasz Sobczak: I would divide core competencies into two areas. One is domain knowledge, which I have, but which I am always eager to develop. Hence, there are often visits to the client’s premises, where the software will be implemented. Thanks to this, first of all, I am able to establish a common language with the client, but I also deliver such peace of mind to the team thanks to my ability to translate these requirements from the client’s side into our solutions.
On the other hand, when it comes to such team competencies that build the team, I think the key is, and I’m always trying to improve in this because it’s always something to improve, this composure and determination are really the most important things. That is to support the team but let them largely solve the problems that get in the way.
Because I’m not advocating being a superhero, I’m a proponent of letting this team build itself, and I’m only supposed to remove certain obstacles from the way.
Grzegorz Mazur: I try to stay up to date with market trends. I am interested in modern technologies, especially the cloud. I also take part in the creation of company newsletters and participate in the standardization of company processes.
Bartosz Śliwa: In terms of core competencies, I can say more through my prism than through a purely position-based prism. It seems to me that one of the most important qualities is the ability to trust one’s team and give them decision-making power, not to get in the way, and to believe that they are just savvy people who will grasp the subject better than many times than I would do it myself.
Interesting projects – motivation and satisfaction
Bartosz Śliwa: It’s hard to pick one most interesting project. Yet probably the one that sounds more interesting is a set of applications we made for our Swedish client listed on the Swedish Stock Exchange, which was created to help detect pancreatic cancer based on blood samples.
Tomasz Sobczak: One of the interesting projects we have been working on, interesting both from the technical side and from the team-building side, is the implementation of a fully automated warehouse. Interesting technically because our system there is responsible for coordinating a lot of industrial automation equipment. The process has been fully automated from the moment a pallet of raw material is unloaded from the proverbial truck through to completely automating the placement, identifying that product, placing it in the warehouse, and then, according to the needs of the production lines, delivering it fully automatically to the production lines, to the appropriate stations.
Grzegorz Mazur: The most interesting project we did was for Empik, Empik Music. We were able to complete the project on time and within budget. How did we achieve this? First of all, we had extensive experience in the multimedia industry, knowledge of the data model, knowledge of formats, but also the ability to produce the backend of API applications quickly and mobile applications.
We also engaged the best designers to create the best user interface. We were also responsible for deliveries from the music catalogue, whose source files collectively weigh more than 2 petabytes of data. We then performed imports into the Empik Music system, where more than 5 million songs were scheduled for launch.
We were responsible for this project comprehensively, that is, we did not only the applications and backend but also all kinds of integrations.
Success
Bartosz Śliwa: In my opinion, the greatest achievement, whether mine or my team’s, is my team because there is no doubt that on the scale, we are slightly different.
Tomasz Sobczak: My greatest achievement is to build a team that is complete, and that is very independent, so I get great satisfaction when, without my interference, projects roll out to the satisfaction of customers. When people enjoy what they’ve produced, how it was launched, and how it functions and operates in such a way that it doesn’t bring them undue stress. I’m not saying zero. A little bit of stress, in my opinion, is advisable.
On the design side, if you were to look at it, it’s all automation, all robotization and collaboration of our software directly with hardware solutions. I consider that a success.
Cooperation with #theGoodPeople
Bartosz Śliwa: Euvic seems to be a good choice for many reasons.
Grzegorz Mazur: We approach the topic entirely, professionally, conscientiously, with high quality and diligence, and sometimes we even exceed the client’s expectations.
Bartosz Śliwa: Certainly, experience with many industries with which we have cooperated gives us an advantage in the market. Similarly, the variety of ways of acting, managing, and building a team allows us to choose a group of people with whom we want to work, which best suits us mentally and personally, or we like their work style.
Tomasz Sobczak: I think it is worth cooperating with us because of the domain knowledge we have. We share it with our clients, and together with clients we work out the best solutions. So, in summary, we are not a team that will only code the system, but that will design it together with the client and, what’s more, implement it in the entire client ecosystem. And if necessary, we have neighboring teams to help, which take care of the hardware layer and are really good at it.
