Meet Merix: Maciej - Project Manager

Maciek is one of those people that always await the spring season. As a true motorcyclist he enters the office in a suit and with a helmet in his hand. However, even long winters can’t make him stop smiling - Maciej definitely is one of the most frequently grinning employees of Merixstudio (and maybe even of the whole country!). Moreover, he is extremely helpful and nice. A real gentleman, who without batting an eye will throw his favorite jacket on a puddle to help a woman walk through it. Recently Maciek is also rarely seen without his phone, on which he takes care of some of his personal business. I hope that it’s related only to his new café, CafeMija (in the interview you will learn what this name means), which he runs together with his newly wedded wife.

• Tell us something about yourself.
  I am calm, composed and like to pay attention to details. I have a dark side: I love the adrenaline, competition, gambling and a good coffee :)
• What are your main responsibilities at Merxistudio?
  I’m a Project Manager, therefore I am responsible for implementation of projects. I work closely with developers and our clients.
• How do you work? What is important to you while working?
  I don’t have a script and try to adjust to the project I run at the time.
• Tell us something about your beginnings in the company.
  I work here for almost 1,5 year. My first days were dedicated to learning new procedures and tools. Then I got more and more involved in projects for both clients from Poland and the international ones.
  If I had any doubts, I could always discuss them with our Team Leader - Piotrek. Milosz wanted me to also mention him at this point- hello!
• What have you learned while working at Merixstudio?
  I learned almost everything here. I started with smaller projects, but now I’m involved with much bigger ones that can last few months. All are extremely different and with each one I learn something new.
• What do you like most about working at Merixstudio?
  Variety of projects. :)
• What was the biggest challenge you faced while working at the Merixstudio?
  The most interesting challenge was the implementation of new communication tool. After testing several applications we decided to use Slack.
• Which project you liked the most from the ones you worked on in Merixstudio?
  There were few. One of them is the U-Project, on which I’m still working. In short, it is an application used in schools, which allows, among other things: drawing, writing, creating different shapes, browsing websites and a communicating during lessons. The project started in September 2015 and currently we are finishing its second stage.
• What was your first contact with web technologies? When did you make a decision that you want to work in IT?
  My first contact with web technologies was in elementary school. At the university I studied Health and safety, but I was still interested in IT. Eventually I became a PM :)
• What do you think is most difficult (and most interesting) in your work as Project Manager?
  By far the most difficult in the profession of Project Manager is reconciling interests of all parties, which are often contradictory. Sometimes you really need to work hard to solve a problem. The most interesting are ideas of our customers. At first as Project Managers we try to fully understand them and often we add something to make them even better. Then we are involved in the development process, when we can make those concepts a reality.
• First thing you do when you arrive at the office.
  I check my inbox.
• iOS or Android?
  Android.
• What do you do in your free time after work?
  In the afternoons I take my wife for a motorcycle ride. Sometimes we ditch the motorcycle and ride bikes.
• Your favorite childhood hero is...
  Goku – I think that I don’t have to explain why!
• Favorite place in Poznań.
  Not strictly in Poznań, but my favorite place is Tor Poznań.
• Beer or vodka?
  Vodka.
• Favorite sport.
  I’m quite good at swimming (I’m constantly looking for people to race with me), snowboarding and riding a motorcycle. I also sail and play pool. I used to played a lot of football, but now I only watch it. My favorite team is FC Barcelona.
• Dog or cat?
  I like both dogs and cats. At the moment I have a cat named Mija :)
• Which website you visit the most?
  Gmail, Facebook.
• Dark or light side of the force?
  Dark.
• If you could only visit one website for the rest of your life, what site would that be?
  Gmail.
• If you could have your dream job, what would it be?
  MotoGP player!

As always, you can check out more interviews in the People&Events section on our blog!