Meet Merix: Piotr - Project Manager

If you want to eat something tasty, but don’t know where you can eat a great food, contact Piotr. He is one of our main gourmets and restaurant connoisseurs. He is so passionate about food that he can spend a few hours to prepare a meal, even when he is dying of hunger - tastiness of the dish is the most important for him (he won’t eat garbage ;)). Piotrek is the person you can always count on, because he has no problem with bringing anyone down or finding negative aspects or weaknesses of literally everything (thanks to what we avoided implementing few of our "stupid" ideas;)). Similar to Krzysiek he tends to be quite grumpy (or rather constantly is!), but we still really like him and don’t have a problem with picking up millions of packages he orders online.

• Tell us something about yourself.
  My name is Piotr, I’m from Toruń. I would like to say hello to my family and class II A.
• What are your main responsibilities at Merxistudio?
  I’m a Project Manager - I coordinate implementation of websites, applications, and e-shops. My work is often related to interpreting what our customers want so it’s understood by developers.
• How do you work? What is important to you while working?
  Although it often is difficult, I always try to prioritize my to-do list and set a queue of tasks for "today" "tomorrow" and "the end of the week." Reviewing this list is one of the first things I do every day.
• Tell us something about your beginnings in the company.
  I work in Merixstudio for nearly three years. In previous companies I dealt with the implementation of campaigns and contests on social media, hence the process of creating a website was a novelty for me. One of the first tasks that I got to work at was the creation of specifications and mock-ups for advanced web application with elements of gamification. I admit that at that time I felt like I was thrown in at the deep end, but thanks to that I was able to learn a lot.
• You are working in our company for quite some time. How much has Merixstudio and your work changed since the beginnings?
  The first thing that comes to mind is a big change in the number of employees - when I started working here there was about twenty of us and we worked on two floors. Today there are almost fifty people in the office and we barely have enough room on three floors. Another important change is the significant impact that mobile devices made on our projects. Not a long time ago most websites were only prepared to be used on desktops, but right now responsive design is a standard.
• What have you learned while working at Merixstudio?
  I’m constantly learning, and not only from my mistakes. One of the most interesting forms of acquiring new knowledge and skills are weekly PM Team meetings. We have time to discuss and get to know a variety of issues related to technologies, methodologies, project management or UX.
• What do you like most about working at Merixstudio?
  I like the moment after weeks or even months of hard work, when we can publish finished products on the customer's servers. I also find it very gratifying when I realize that my efforts brings tangible benefits to users.
• Which project you liked the most from the ones you worked on in Merixstudio?
  FOX Screening Room – it’s a website designed for internal use of a famous corporation that aggregates the latest episodes of popular television series. Although for legal and royalty reasons we couldn’t watch them, the availability of productions before their official launches was extremely exciting.
• What do you think is most difficult (and most interesting) in your work as Project Manager?
  The hardest part is that sometimes I have to predict the future of projects at their early stages, even though I’m not aware of every dependency and problem we may encounter during the implementation. However, I still have to at least estimate a preliminary time frame of our work. In contrast, the most interesting is interdisciplinary - the fact that my job combines all areas related to development of websites (UX / UI design, front-end and back-end development).
• First thing you do when you arrive at the office.
  I check my inbox and make sure that I’m prepared for our Project Management meeting.
• OS or Android?
  Android
• What do you do in your free time after work?
  Lately I watch Scandinavian crime series and drink wine.
• Your favorite childhood hero is...
  George Jetson.
• Favorite place in Poznań.
  Cafe La Ruina.
• Beer or vodka?
  I prefer Carmenere wines.
• Favorite sport.
  If visiting restaurants counts, then it’s my sport of choice.
• Dog or cat?
  Dog, because cats are more difficult to get along with.
• Which website you visit the most?
  Facebook.
• Favorite app
  Evernote.
• If you could only visit one website for the rest of your life, what site would that be?
  It doesn’t exist - maybe it’s a job for our software house to change that?
• If you could have your dream job, what would it be?
  I won’t be original: I would like to travel, but I don’t think that it counts as a job? Maybe as a travel guide writer.

Check out previous interviews with Merixstudio's folks!