t Strix, there is no room for empty platitudes - we genuinely care about the development of our employees and are keen to support their initiatives to share knowledge.
Our greatest value is our people. The Strix crew is made up of exceptionally talented people who have shown time and again that they can do the impossible. Despite our high work intensity, we find time to organise activities so that we can learn from each other's experiences. Sharing knowledge among colleagues is a key tool to strengthen not only skills but also bonds within the organisation. Joint activities, meetings, discussions, undoubtedly support team integration, which is particularly important in the age of remote working.
Meetups
Our tradition for years has been Friday meetups - once every few weeks we meet online or in our Krakow office to listen to presentations on a chosen topic. Thanks to our specialists, we can learn about many topics that are new to us, but also improve our existing competences. Among the topics we have discussed so far have been unit testing, Cypress testing, advanced features of the Jira system or building long-term customer relationships. The range of topics is therefore wide, and we are open to suggestions from our employees! We want them to be able to share their expertise with the rest of the team, which is why we have made the tradition of Friday meetups a permanent feature.
"Sharing knowledge with people who have interests similar to our own is a great feeling. It not only broadens the horizons of the audience, but is often a source of much inspiration for the presenter himself. Completing the materials, analysing them and preparing the presentation often makes us realise that there is something we did not know. Or we knew an issue, but not well enough to communicate it to others." - Damian Glazer. Project Manager at Strix.
In addition to technology, business or management issues, more than once we had the opportunity to hear the stories of our employees, who told us about their passions. Because Strix is us - people of many talents indeed! Baking pizzas or keeping bees? We have our experts in these professions too.
PM Academy
In 2023, we launched the PM Academy - a series of meetings and workshops for our Project Managers. In projects, they face many challenges, such as organising their time, the changing work environment or managing a team. Therefore, exchanging experiences with other PMs is particularly valuable for them. The first event within the Academy was the PAM Summit 2023 conference, organised by PMI Poland. During the event, our team took part in interesting workshops and broadened their knowledge of project management. We believe that such an exchange of ideas and experiences is invaluable in order to work effectively on a daily basis.
"The PAM Summit conference is a good opportunity for networking and a quick injection of knowledge, which you then one eagerly wants to explore further. I particularly remembered a lecture on Lean management with Marta Pisera-Tomaszewska, whose manner of storytelling instilled in me the desire to explore the topic in more depth. It's also good to listen to wise women in the industry who, with what they have achieved, motivate you to go further and develop." - Weronika Radlińska, Project Manager at Strix.
Shopware Training
Our employees can participate not only in external conferences, but also in training courses that we organise internally. Last year, we organised the first edition of Shopware Training - a month-long training course for developers, led by Jisse Reitsma - a well-known trainer in the e-commerce environment for Shopware and Magento, among others. The series of meetings consisted not only of lectures, but also of practical exercises. Each participant took part in a feedback session with the trainer, so they could verify their knowledge and prepare a plan for further development. Further editions are certainly ahead of us!
3 hours for development
For those who want to gain knowledge on their own, we also have a suggestion. We provide the opportunity to use 3 hours per week for your development. Webinars, online courses, workshops? Why not! As part of this benefit, every employee can use this time at work for development initiatives.
As a company specialising in Magento and Shopware, we also go out of our way to support our employees in gaining professional certifications. In order to exchange knowledge and prepare for certification examinations, a group coordinated by one of our employees, Senior Magento Backend Developer, Michal Bednarz, has been established. Participants in the meetings rework particular subject areas, analyse issues, give presentations and even take mock tests to best prepare for the actual exam. It seems that sharing knowledge is in our blood!
Architects' Guild meetings
We have also recently established an architects' guild, where participants in regular meetings discuss not only current developments in projects, but also design challenges and successes. This is an ideal opportunity to brainstorm and find solutions together. In addition to topics strictly related to the exchange of knowledge, the meetings also serve to discuss strategic issues, set working standards or development paths for developers. In addition to architects technical leaders sometimes take part in the discussion and can share their ideas in the forum. Such a series of meetings is a great opportunity for high-level technical debate.
"From my perspective as CTO, the meetings of the Architects' Guild have improved the process of knowledge exchange and thus also the quality of work. Because the knowledge is spread and propagated further through the cooperation between Architects and Leaders. Thanks to the architects passing on the information they have gained to the Leaders, we catch similarities between projects more quickly.This allows us to reuse solutions that were prepared on another project." - Magdalena Limanówka, CTO at Strix.
English language
Language development is now one of our priorities - in line with our English Fridays policy, we try to use only English at work - in meetings or in chat - every Friday. It is also impossible not to mention the Let's English initiative! As part of our weekly meetings, our employees take part in conversations to improve their language in practice.
We are not slowing down!
We have planned further development activities for our employees for the coming months. We know how important it is to have substantive support and cooperation between teams, so such meetings are a 'must-have' in our calendars. What are our plans? Stay tuned, it's going to happen!
If you are considering taking on new professional challenges and are looking for a place to spread your wings, keep an eye on our careers page to keep up to date with open roles.