We are with guarantor Ted, talking about why the web team is growing and why he would pay for the team to take a cooking class

Tadeáš Musil is our guarantor of the web platform. He specialises in all technologies, and in addition to front-end development, he is interested in GraphQL, back-end development and Docker. He is usually the first at work, he likes beer, Linux and he also likes to criticize all other operating systems. We asked him about his team and working at Synetech.

Tadeáš, you've been in Synetech for 3 years, how did you start here?

I joined Synetech right after leaving my master's degree. I left the company where I worked and started working as a Back-end Developer. First, my colleague Tom and I developed some internal software on the back-end, and gradually we began to focus on the front-end. I'm doing both now. I help with whatever is needed, when starting new projects.

So you went from being the very first Web Developer to the guarantor of the whole platform, wow! :) How big is your team and what are you working on?

If I count only developers, there are three and a half of us 🙂 One colleague also manages to program both native and web applications. But if I was to mention all the people we work with on a daily basis, then there are also project managers and testers. So a total of about 6 people.

As for projects, we have about three main ones. The first is our long-term client Oriflame, where we make a CMS that is used by people all over the world. Then we have internal projects - our own website and the websites of our ASWA and AppParade projects. And half a year ago we started making an internal application for Jablotron, which will also be international.

Can you tell us what your team work looks like?

Overall, we try to work as agile as possible. We have set certain visions and goals within the team, which we try to achieve. We have them divided amongst ourselves and each of us moves their part forward. Once a month, we evaluate where we have been successful and where we haven't. In terms of projects we meet more often, where we usually have stand-ups every morning.

Now you're looking for more developers, what's the reason why?

Well, we want to make more money for Synetech 🙂 Maybe the better question to ask is why hasn't our team been enlarged already? And that's for historical reasons. Synetech is primarily focused on the development of native applications, but after founding the web team, we found that we are in great demand for web projects as well. And we want to check them out. There are not enough of us for how much work we have. We are already a little bit behind 🙂

So have any new projects emerged?

Yes. but I can't talk about them yet, but one of them will definitely be about working with 3D technology.

That sounds interesting mainly technologically … have you done anything like this before?

We already have some experience on the 3D scene, but not to such an extent. It's very interesting for us. We will work in Three.js technology, which is a javascript library that can render 3D objects on a web page and at the same time allows users to interact. It is used, for example, for programming games in a browser. We also plan to use a real-time database with offline mode on the project, but this is just an idea for now.

How do you actually train in your team?

We try to educate continuously within projects. Usually a problem arises on which we can learn something. We will find out how to solve it and then share the acquired know-how with others. We do this mainly in code review. We will write down the problem, what was the motivation to solve it, how we solved it and let others think about the merge request and understand it. In the case of a more complex problem, we set up a session, for example within a meeting or thread on Slack, where we learn more about it. At the same time, we demand the use of that new knowledge so that it does not go to waste.

Do you also try to grow your individuality?

For sure. at Synetech, everyone can use part of their working hours for training. We look for the most information in library documentation, issues on GitHub and often dip into StackOverflow. And we do not limit it in any way. Rather, we expect people to take the initiative to tell us what they want to learn. If we find that it adds to a person's productivity, then we agree with it. If it makes someone happy learning how to cook a special dish and it charges them with energy, making them more productive at work, I would be happy to pay for a cooking class.

Is there a specific trait or skill that your team members should have? Except culinary skills of course… 🙂

What I require is critical thinking. I need the people on my team to think about what is required of them, rather than going head first into everything. This then has to be reworked quite often. I really appreciate it when someone can express their opinion, they are not afraid to oppose the client's suggestions and come up with a better solution.

Regarding the knowledge of technology, all the development in React takes place on the front-end, we switched to writing cascading styles in CSSinJS and also migrated our know-how to the React context. In the back-end we use Node.js and Serverless technology. But it's crucial for me to see that someone is keen to learn. In that case, I don't even care that they have been coding in another language for ten years 🙂

Speaking of those clients, who is the ideal client for you?

They are someone who does not expect us to just dump the code, but wants the whole analysis of the business analysis case from us. They expect advice from us, they want to know what is good or bad about their proposal and they trust us. This leads to the fact that we are not afraid to challenge their ideas and propose other solutions.

And now to Synetech… now that it is transforming into a company built on the principles of holacracy, how do you perceive this rebirth?

I feel like it's going to be a long process. Flattening the pyramid hierarchy is not something that happens in a month or a year. I think we can expect outcomes in 2-3 years. I still can't say what it will look like in the end, but I assume it will be a positive change. In my opinion, the basis of good business is smaller autonomous units that are equal to each other, respect each other and have the same rights.

What do you enjoy about working at Synetech?

I enjoy the diversity. One week I work the front-end, the next, I work the back-end, then I do proposals of the architecture, educate the people around me, other times I do hiring, etc. I think that if anyone in Synetech says they want to try something new, it’s always possible.

And the last question: How would you describe Synetech in one sentence?

I will say what I value the most: A big bunch of good friends.

Are you interested in web application development and would you like to join Tadeáš's team? Contact us.