At Applifting, we like working on things that make sense and help improve life around us. One such project is ”Zalej mě”, an initiative from Brno on which we started cooperating in the spring of 2020. Its core idea is community care for urban greenery, specifically watering trees.

Anyone who cares about their surroundings and wants to actively contribute to improving them can participate in the project. Here’s how it works:

Start by selecting one or more trees in your vicinity, on the interactive map on the Zalejme.cz website;

Check the watering and precipitation data and the coloured watering level indicator;

Go back to the map and add in the date of watering and the amount of water.

That's it! Nothing complicated yet very useful. This is exactly what we like about the project. In addition to Brno, the project is already up and running in České Budějovice, Litomyšl and Tišnov. The founders are now working to expand to other locations.

Read how our collaboration came about, from the project’s founder, Michal Polanský:

“The development of the Zalejme.cz initiative has received a huge boost recently thanks to the support we have received from Applifting and its programmers. This story actually began much earlier, with the HeroClan initiative. HeroClan connects volunteers with expertise in IT, marketing, graphics, etc. with non-profit organizations that need their help. I turned to HeroClan when it became clear that our existing application had reached its limits and needed to be developed to a higher level. 

I thought that volunteers would sign up to help in their free time, which is what had happened before. But what happened next significantly exceeded my expectations. Tomáš Landovský from the Prague-based IT company Applifting, which develops professional web and mobile applications, called me. Applifting has vast experience in this area and also a very supportive approach to its employees. When they are not busy working on a commercial project, they can choose from a variety of internal or public benefit projects to work on. 

Tomáš offered to make Zalejme.cz one of those projects. However, he first wanted to make sure that the idea of ​​watering trees really made sense to people. So he made the trip to Brno, and together we asked random people in Brno's parks how they perceived the state of the public greenery, and whether they would be willing to do their bit from time to time to water the trees. They were all very enthusiastic about the idea, so Tomáš joked that I must have had a secret agreement with them ;-)

After that, there was nothing to stop us from starting to work together, and before long a great team of three programmers from Applifting were working on the project - Lukáš Knápek, Jiří Hájek and Marina Jakčin. 

Within a short time, they had put together a new version of the map application, based on the latest technologies. The change is obvious at first glance. The map loads much faster, users have a new interface, the trees in the map are colored according to their watering and precipitation level, and some other new features have been added too. I am sure that we will be completely ready for full operation in the spring (2021). 

I am very grateful for the generous support we have received from the Applifting team, who have not only dedicated their working hours to the development of our application, but have also helped us in their free time. Many thanks indeed to them, and I am looking forward to our further collaboration.”

Zalej mě: A meaningful project that we really enjoy

How  do you test your apps before release? At Applifting, we try to have a  tester on every project who ensures that the software we supply is top  quality. Quality assurance (QA), and especially the testing it involves,  is a very important element in product development, as we know from our  experience here at Applifting. Unfortunately, it is also the most  frequently overlooked step in the process.

Many  companies don’t have a clear vision of how to deliver high quality  applications. We often come across companies where the quality of the  product rests on one “clicker”. He usually has his work cut out just  handling cards in JIRA in order to implement all the new features by the  end of the sprint. When releasing a new version of the application, he  doesn’t know where to start with making sure the application works  really well and is “bug-free”.

We  know from our experience that testing has a huge impact on development.  If we release an untested or poorly tested application, it can  negatively affect customer satisfaction, which can result in losing  users and thus money.

In  general, if the tester “clicker” has to do the same tasks repeatedly,  s/he will get “work blind”, and liable to make more errors. Luckily, a  lot of the tester’s work can be automated, making the results faster and  more accurate and enabling the tester to focus on a smaller number of  the most important tasks.

The  most common problem in this stage is that testing staff do not invest  enough in self-education. As a result, many testers either stagnate or  move into development roles instead. When the most experienced testers  shift their focus to development, this leads to a lack of experienced QA  experts in the labour market and slows down improvements to the testing  process.

If  you ever meet a senior QA engineer, s/he will probably be a consultant  for large companies. Consultants like this do not usually push for big  changes because it is difficult to convince managers of large  corporations to adopt new methods and approaches. Yet although it is  true that changes to the process initially require a slight increase in  investment in QA, they save time and money in the long term. Continuing  to work according to proven, established principles, remains slow,  inefficient, and more expensive in the long run.

How  can we escape this vicious circle? The best advice I can give from my  own experience is not to be afraid and to have an open mind to new  things and approaches. I can certainly recommend trying the BBD approach  to software development in your company — I will tell you more about  this shortly.

At  Applifting, we keep up with technology and strive to incorporate the  latest methodologies and tools that emerge in QA into our development  process. We look for the latest agile methods and hunt out new tools so  that we can move both ourselves and our clients forward.

Our  goal is to deliver consistently high-quality software. How do we  achieve that? Through continuous testing! Using the latest tools, we do  our best to ensure CI / CD / CT: continuous integration, delivery, and  testing. Why? By continuously testing the software we are developing, we  avoid unnecessary delays in releasing the application and ensure fast  feedback on the development in the current sprint.

What are the benefits of continuous testing?

Proper coverage of the tested product safeguards against most business risks.

Realistic evaluation of user experience and analysis of the impact on the end-user.

Preventing the occurrence of critical errors on the customer side, which could reduce trust in the product.

Less pressure on the tester before the application is released. Feedback at every stage of development.

How  acceptance conditions for the release of the application are set up (if  it does not pass the tests, the application must never be launched and  never reach the user).

Continuous testing is part of the pipeline and DevOps tools.

It is important to have the test data set up correctly and the test environment ready.

The testing process must be continually optimized and business risk coverage maintained.

Of  course, continuous testing will not save you on its own. But properly  safeguarding against business risks through automated testing gives  testers time to focus on more complex issues and think about in-depth  testing strategies.

BDD  (Behavior Driven Development) approach is one interesting modern  software testing methodology. It emphasises the importance of involving  development staff and the product manager in the process of ensuring  high quality software delivery. According to BDD, test scenarios should  be defined in cooperation with the product manager, the developer, and  the QA / tester.

faster understanding of the product manager’s requests,

faster and more accurate implementation (frequent fixes are not necessary because misunderstandings are eliminated),

the tester has a job to do at the beginning of the sprint.

An  undeniable advantage here is that BDD uses a DSL (Domain Specific  Language) in test definition. This language is called Gherkin and is  understood by all involved. Thanks to this, the product manager can be a  full member of the team, participating in meetings and contributing to  the discussion. This means the team as a whole is more involved in  determining the quality of the delivered software and thus a better end  product is created.

This  was just a small insight into what we do at Applifting to deliver top  quality software and keep up with the latest technology. If you are  interested in any of the methods and procedures we have mentioned or you  just want to have a chat about how to streamline your QA department,  please don’t hesitate to contact me.

Damian Gorný, damian.gorny@applifting.cz

Testing: An important part of the development process

In the previous articles,  we discussed how to turn an idea into a product. Let’s have a look now  at what the pitfalls could be once your product has got some traction.

If  we are lucky and our product succeeds, we next have to deal with  scaling problems. The company’s capacity, its supply chain, its  technical solutions and support mechanisms have to deal with increasing  demands from customers. If your solution involves too much technical  debt or your company operations are not ready, you can quickly end up  frustrating your customers and losing their interest. So even if it is  tempting to stimulate demand, organic growth is usually much safer as it  gives your company enough time to accommodate the changes required for  successful scaling.

There  is also a danger of what is known as premature scaling. When an  innovative product first hits the market, it is primarily purchased by  innovators and early adopters. According to the Diffusion of Innovations theory,  this group of customers represents approximately 16% of the market. The  product needs to move beyond this category and penetrate the early  majority before we can assume that it is suitable for massive scaling.  The early majority group, however, is quite different in character from  innovators and early adopters. Early majority users are less tolerant of  bugs and less excited about sacrificing anything (UX, integration,  polish, etc.) in return for early access. So it is important to validate  every product with the early majority group, otherwise you run the risk  of premature scaling.

When  a company sustains its growth and manages to scale up, there is another  trap. It is tempting to introduce more structure and controls in an  attempt to demonstrate to investors that the company is well-managed.  This usually kills the organisation’s agility, disconnects its employees  from real user problems, emphasizes productivity and management by  numbers over creativity and leads to employee dissatisfaction and  disengagement.

To  stay innovative and keep the startup spirit, the organization must be  agile. The spirit, trust, enthusiasm and values the company had when it  operated from a garage and had 15 employees must be retained as it  scales up. There is no golden rule for how to achieve that but at Applifting the principles of Teal organizations, described by Frederic Laloux in Reinventing Organizations, served as a great source of inspiration.

When  a company’s management staff become obsessed with numbers, stakeholder  value and short-term gains, they often lose track of their purpose and  vision.

Kodak,  the original leader in the photography and film industry, provides a  good example of this. A Kodak employee, Steven Sasson, actually invented  a digital camera in 1975. His boss didn’t see any potential in the  prototype, but allowed Sasson to continue his work on the project. In  1989, Sasson and his colleagues came up with a fully-fledged DSLR  camera, but Kodak’s management at the time decided to abandon their idea  out of fear that it could destroy their film camera market. When the  digital shift happened anyway, it hit Kodak so badly that the company  almost disappeared from the market. Had Kodak stuck to its original  vision: “You press the button, we do the rest”, they likely would have  remained dominant and certainly would have been the first on the market  with a digital camera.

The  organization has to live its vision, the vision must be more than just a  text written on the hallway walls or in presentations. This means the  company should use its vision in its day-to-day business as a bar  against which to judge the decisions it makes. At Applifting  we use our vision and mission to justify every project we get involved  in and anybody in the company can challenge our proposal and veto our  involvement, if they believe that the relationship is not strong enough.  If you trust your people and give them the chance to pursue the vision  on an everyday basis you can be sure it will not get forgotten and does  not fade out.

Scaling Problem: Why Kodak stayed analog and people went digital

In previous articles  we talked about the necessity of vision and product validation. In this  article we will look at how product discovery and product delivery  support the product validation process.

Product discovery helps us to answer the following questions:

Will users buy the product? Does the product solve a real problem?
(market research, competitive analysis, surveys, etc.)

Can users work out how to use the product? 
(prototyping, user testing, user experience, A/B testing)

What are the product’s limitations and obstacles? 
(time, money, technology, design, brand, supply chain, resources, knowledge)

Given those limitations, is it feasible to develop the product?

What are the risks and how we can mitigate them?

It  is important not to get product discovery and market research confused.  Market research can be a useful technique during the product discovery  phase but it is not a silver bullet. Nokia based their product portfolio  on detailed market analysis and a classification of mobile phone users  into four categories, each with has several subcategories. They tried to  address a specific product series to the needs of each subcategory’s  users, but this led to an overwhelming and fractured product portfolio.  Because Nokia stopped viewing mobile phone users as a holistic group, it  lost its focus. What a relief it was for everybody when the iPhone  arrived to point the way forward.

While  market research can provide us with useful information, it is not the  only available technique and it can sometimes be a bit misleading. Other  techniques we can use to expand our idea and understand the context of  our target audience include, for example, Jobs To Be Done.  I personally like this approach as it enables a company to look at its  idea from different perspectives. It also avoids asking the potential  users such obvious questions as: would you like this product?

Instead  it suggests looking at four different forces that will guide potential  clients towards or away from the product. Those forces are: push (a  current struggle), pull (a vision of a better life if the struggle is  gone), inertia (habits that prevent change), anxiety (fear of change and  its impacts).

As  an example, we might think about a cyclist who has reached a certain  age and can no longer afford to go on trips with his younger friends.  This is a clear struggle. If we remove this struggle, his life will be  better again. The right product in this case could be an e-bike.  However, some older cyclists may not feel they need an eBike yet. This  is their inertia. If you want to convince them to switch you should show  them how much less tired they would be after riding an e-bike and how  much they would enjoy it. Anxiety factors might be the price or the  limited capacity of the battery. Understanding how these forces interact  helps us to answer that original burning question indirectly.

There  is something innately intuitive and seductive about the idea of  developing the perfect product on the first attempt. It might seem like  an obviously cheaper and faster option. In reality this approach is only  cheaper if you know exactly what your clients will use and pay for.  Speed is only your friend if you are on the right track. The most  expensive way of finding that out is to develop the product and show it  to your clients.

The  safer, cheaper way is to humbly acknowledge that knowledge comes  through experimentation. This is the principle behind Agile development,  e.g. Scrum.  In every iteration, the most promising ideas are addressed and  validated quickly and cheaply. The whole agile development team  understands the goal and works creatively to find, within a short time  frame (a week or two), a way of implementing a minimal version of the  product, which can be used by real users. In later iterations, ideas  that prove successful during this validation can then be advanced and  improved.

Delivery  and discovery go hand in hand. Discovery generates input for delivery,  which makes use of it in implementation and validation.

In  2001, the Segway entered the market, hoping to transform transportation  as the iPhone had transformed telecommunication. Its founder, Dean  Kamen, and its investors had high expectations. But it didn’t succeed.  One reason for this, identified in the failure analysis, is that the  Segway was designed and developed in isolation, without feedback from  its potential users.

In the next article we will look at success traps. Stay tuned.

Product Discovery: Why Nokia drowned trying to please everybody

In the previous article I talked about the importance of having a vision for product development. Today I will look at why we need to validate our ideas.

Once  we have a vision we can start brainstorming products or features which  we could use as vehicles to advance it. The only goal at this stage is  to generate a lot of ideas. Once we have those we then face the  difficult task of deciding which ideas have real potential and which do  not.

In  2009, the Avatar movie revealed the power of 3D technology in  cinematography. 3D TV looked like a logical step forward and TV  manufacturers jumped on that as the next big innovation in the TV  industry. Yet by 2017, it was quite clear that 3D TV was dead. The  fanciest feature is not always the right feature. Any innovation needs  to address its users’ needs, fix their problems and bring them added  value.

Some  people say, “Give the customers what they want.” But that’s not my  approach. Our job is to figure out what they’re going to want before  they do. I think Henry Ford once said, “If I’d asked customers what they  wanted, they would have told me, ‘A faster horse!’” People don’t know  what they want until you show it to them. That’s why I never rely on  market research. Our task is to read things that are not yet on the  page.

- Steve Jobs

3D  TV died due to a lack of relevant content, the need to wear special  glasses, the high price, and the nausea the 3D experience induced in a  fairly large minority of users. What worked in cinemas as an occasional  experience was not suited to daily use. Apparently, people were happy  enough with standard TV and were not willing to tolerate those  disadvantages in exchange for a 3D experience.

So  how can you make sure users will like a new product? There is no easy  answer. You have to be prepared for the sad fact that more than 50 % of  the new ideas you come up with will lead to a dead end. To avoid  spending big money on something which lacks potential we need to  validate our idea and hypothesis. Effective validation relies on  obtaining relevant feedback from the user audience while spending  affordable money.

In  the next article we will talk about agility and how to utilize Product  Discovery and Product Delivery to validate hypotheses and build the  product iteratively.

Validating Ideas: Why TV makers wanted 3D but customers didn’t

Any venture must be based on a clear, sound and inspiring vision. Simon Sinek, author of bestselling books such as Start with why and Leaders eat last,  calls this vision a “Just Cause”. Without knowing why we are making the  product and whom it stands to benefit we set ourselves up to fail  regardless of the product’s features.

A  Just Cause is a specific vision of a future state that does not yet  exist; a future state so appealing that people are willing to make  sacrifices in order to help advance toward that vision.

For something — affirmative and optimistic

Service-oriented — for the benefit of others

I like Simon’s definition, especially where he says: “people are willing to make sacrifices”.  People do not always expect a perfect product or service from the very  beginning. Those who identify with the Just Cause are willing to  tolerate some level of discomfort.

In  2016, a startup called Juceiro released a fancy product called the  Juceiro Press. Juceiro’s concept was to repeat the success of Nespresso  (see also: Keurig) capsules and to provide healthy, organic juice  without the need for manual preparation from whole produce. Juceiro  Press was a WiFi-connected juicer that used single-serving packets of  chopped organic fruits and vegetables. The machine’s only function was  to check whether the packet was an original Juceiro product, and that it  had not exceeded its expiration date, and if so, squeeze it into a  glass. The machine did not work without an internet connection and it  cost $400. The startup received $120 million in venture capital funding  from investors, including Google.

We  do not know what Juceiro’s original Just Cause was, or whether they had  one. It is certainly no bad idea to ease access to healthy organic  juices and thereby help people to live healthier lives. However, if that  was their Just Cause it is quite strange that they decided to advance  towards it by developing a product whose only function was to squeeze a  bag of raw ingredients that could be pressed manually to similar effect.  This Bloomberg News article includes a video demonstrating the difference between the machine’s product and hand squeezing.

Stay tuned for the next article, in which we will focus on Product Validation.

Previous article: Product Development: Why Google Glass failed and other products succeeded

Missing the Vision: Why capsuled juice was a flop while coffee succeeded

Do  you ever wonder why some companies skyrocket while others fail? Even  companies like Apple, Microsoft, Google, and Amazon started small,  fuelled by their founders’ enthusiasm. Everyone knows the companies that  have succeeded, but for each of these blue-chip stocks there were  another 100 or 1000 promising companies with interesting products  championed by clever enthusiasts that ended up bankrupt.

Even  the most successful companies regularly develop products which have no  real success or traction. In 2006, Microsoft introduced the Zune MP3  player, which was designed to compete with the wildly-popular iPod. That  product was discontinued in 2011, shortly after the release of its  third generation. In 2014, Amazon attempted to enter the smartphone  market with the Amazon Fire Phone. Despite significant investment in its  development, the Fire Phone did not prove competitive and was withdrawn  at a loss of $170 million — a mere drop in the bucket for Amazon. In  2013, Google released Google Glass, a fancy gadget with limited use  cases and an even more limiting price tag. This project was suspended  less than two years later.

Products  may fail for a variety of reasons, even if they are excellent, unique  and innovative. It’s easy to be fooled into thinking a product will make  it, and ignore otherwise obvious signs. Under pressure from investors,  it can be tempting to escalate prior commitments, hope for the best and  keep flogging a horse that has been dead for months.

If  big, successful companies experience failures despite having access to  the best engineers, marketers and designers and sufficient capital, what  is the recipe for true success? The answer is that product development  is inherently risky and the only way to achieve success is to minimise  the impact of any failures that do arise.

Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm. 
Winston Churchill

At Applifting  we believe that failure is an inevitable part of what we do. If our  hypotheses were always correct we wouldn’t learn anything new. However,  there are certain failures we can avoid, as others have made them for us  and we wouldn’t stand to learn anything from repeating them ourselves.

In  this series of articles I will walk you through the various stages of  product development and their common traps. I begin in the next article  by talking about the importance of the product vision. The following  article will be devoted to product validation, the fourth to product  discovery and delivery, and I will close the series by discussing  scaling and vision fading.

For  each of these product development phases, I will refer to famous  examples of failures. I do this with no intention of judging the people  behind those products, but solely for the sake of learning from their  mistakes — without knowledge of these cases it would be all too easy to  walk the same path.

Product Development: Why Google Glass failed and other products succeeded

Which  tribe do you belong to? In time, asking this question will not seem odd  at all in Applifting. No, we haven’t lost our minds; we are simply  beginning to divide into smaller teams, the so-called tribes. How does  it work and why are we doing it?

Applifting begins to be divided into individual tribes. But the strong bond remains.

Applifting  is growing at a rocket speed; the number of Applifters has increased by  almost 50 % in the last year. This is a positive trend, but, on the  other hand, it brings new challenges that we need to face, one of which  is the potential inconvenience of knowing 120 other Applifters. That’s  why we came up with the idea of ​​splitting into smaller teams. We know  from experience that the ideal group size is around 30 people. All  members still know each other on a personal level and everybody is aware  of other people’s tasks and responsibilities.

Applifting  should therefore eventually begin to split into separate, independent  units. These have a few things in common, namely Applifting; its values;  shared teams such as marketing or back office; but also the Council of  Elders, the only governing body so far.

Applifters  who would like to start a new tribe only need to have some business  potential and a capable team. Then they get the thumbs up. A tribe  should be set up and run within Applifting and will only split off after  about a year of showing its viability. It must be profitable, as must  the mother from whom it separates. At the same time, two different  tribes should not be in competition.

The  ideal number of tribe members is about 10–15 at the beginning,  eventually growing to about 30 but no more than 60. Applifting will  gradually become a tribe incubator while, at the same time, continuing  its business.

Reduction  of cognitive load (no need to know a hundred colleagues or to read  dozens of announcements daily that do not concern you)

Founders of a new unit will get some of its shares and the opportunity to develop their entrepreneurial spirit

We  have actually already begun with tribalization. DX Heroes, a project  which helps improve developer experience, is our first tribe. And now another unit is being set up in London, our new expansion target.

What  comes to your mind when you hear the term “free company”? No rules,  chaos, a place where everyone does what they want? Nothing could be  further from the truth; at least in Applifting. Wondering how we work?

You  may know it too; sometimes it’s easy to work, at other times it’s a bit  of a hassle. But if you could take a break for an hour, go for a walk,  get coffee in a corner café or go home to work, it would help you a lot.  Is this possible in your company? In Applifting, it is!

We  know that different people prefer different workplaces or times beyond  the traditional 9–5 schedule. We therefore allow Applifters to work  whenever and wherever they want, unless they have some appointments. The  condition is, of course, the ability to meet obligations towards  clients, self-discipline and a high degree of responsibility.

People  are just one part of a free company. A flat structure without managers  and a corporate culture everyone is in line with represent other parts.  That is something we pay attention to when choosing new colleagues. To  be able to work this way, we cannot do without mutual tolerance,  listening and solving problems together.

The  fact that we profess the principles of a free company does not mean  that we are dawdling. On the contrary; this freedom requires a higher  level of organization and self-discipline, and therefore may not suit  everyone. As a result, it brings benefits to everyone — to employees,  the company and to its clients. When people are satisfied and have the  opportunity for work-life balance, they enjoy going to work. This is  reflected in their results. Freedom in Applifting is thus an added value  for our partners.

What  is the standard practice in your company, are you the master of your  own time? Would you like to get something similar going? Connect with us  by phone, via Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn or Twitter. We will be happy to share our experience with you, discuss everything and advise you on how to get started.

At  the end of September, elections were held in Applifting to the Council  of Elders, the only governing body we have. We interviewed the two  latest additions — Veronika Zvěřinová and Martin Hanzík. Why did they  decide to stand for the election and what are their plans for their  term? Find out in the interview.

The  Council of Elders deals with essential matters related to day-to-day  operations, the company’s mission and investments, and it decides on  other important things that affect the entire company operation. Council  members are elected periodically by Applifters from among themselves.  As the last elections showed, any of us can become members.

Are  you interested in how the Council of Elders works and what the election  process looks like? You can read the details in one of the previous  articles here.

Can you introduce yourselves? What do you do in Applifting?
V: I  work in the back office. I mainly focus on finance — hard data. I  really enjoy our whole culture. I would devote myself to it, even if I  were not a member of the Council. It’s nice to be able to share it.

M: I  am primarily a developer and a DevOps engineer. I take care of a lot of  things “behind the scenes” of infrastructure, applications, internal  networks, etc.

How long have you worked here?
V: A year and a month.

Why did you choose Applifting?
M: Probably  almost by accident. It was the first opportunity after leaving my  previous job. I’m happy that it worked out because it’s a great  environment for living and working.

V: It  was a coincidence for me too. I wanted to do something beneficial and  meaningful after five years spent in a corporate environment. I was  looking for companies with focus on eco and bio, for example. Then I saw  an Applifting advertisement on the Startupjobs server and Monča (a team  colleague) and Vráťa (Applifting co-founder) convinced me that even the  IT sphere can be meaningful.

You have been elected to the Council of Elders; what does this mean for you?
V: For  me, it shows that the Council has set on a new course. I assume based  on my election program that people are inclined to changes. So far,  mainly programmers have been elected, and I am the first non-programmer  on the board, anda woman, too. This is a big change in thinking.

M: For  me, it mainly means responsibility. And that Applifters believe that I  do my job well. And that I can help the company and push it forward.

What does it mean for you to be a member of the Council of Elders?
V: I  see the Council as a very valued body and it is an honor to be part of  it. It has a very deep personal meaning for me. I also see it as a  responsibility, as Martin mentioned. People give you a vote and expect  you to speak for them.

M: For  me, it’s a lot about the Council acting as an advisory body, not  necessarily just in business matters, but in the functioning of the  company in general. I think it is important to deepen a council member’s  relationship with those around — they should listen more to the needs  of others and then mainly act and change something.

What are your goals? What do you want to achieve during your term in office?
V: Broadly  speaking, I would like to bring more hard data to our meetings, because  it will allow us to make qualified decisions.Improving the Christmas  reward system is yet another point. And I would like to focus on an area  that is not so pressing yet, but one should address it right from the  beginning, and that is “minorities” — women, for example. I also think  that the role of a non-programmer in the Council is very important.

M: I  want to focus mainly on cleaning up and organizing information in  Notion (company’s intranet) so that everything is where it should be,  understandable and clear. Another area is data security and access,  having a clear concept in this regard. I would like to start integrating  DevOps into the rest of the company and other teams. In short, it is  about them understanding each other and cooperating.

Why did you decide to run for the Council?
V: I  originally didn’t even mean to, because I think — and now I’m actually  going against myself — that the candidates should run for office upon  being nominated by other Applifters. People should propose them based on  how they know them. But in the end, my teammates convinced me to enroll  on my own. That a lot of people wouldn’t even have to think of my name,  but when I’m there, I can get a vote. And they were right.

M: I accepted the challenge from Applifters who nominated me.

What would you say to those who are only considering candidacy?
V: I  would like to encourage them to do so, especially when they earn the  trust of others and get nominated. You can always resign. So my advice  is to try it when there is a chance.

M: The  first two weeks in office have definitely been an interesting  experience, but I would like to wait a little longer before I can  recommend candidacy or discourage others from it..

V: I wanted to show that anyone can try, not just the few nominees. I would like to encourage those who would not even think of it.

Having now some experience with it, is there anything about the election system you would change?
V: The election system suits me. However, the Council should consider why so many nominees refuse to take part in the elections.

M: Not  everyone is sure how the electoral system works, how it is calculated  and why, for example, the order of candidates is given. It would  definitely be helpful to shed more light on that.

V: Up  until this election, it was not very clear to me how it works. That one  can actually enroll on their own. I felt that candidates coming from  Applifters’ nominations had priority and that it was audacious to  nominate myself.

What do you enjoy in your free time?
V: I  have about a trillion things, reading, movies, nature, flowers,  photography — I mainly enjoy hobbies for introverts. And I like to  combine them.

M: Work is often my hobby, but I like to play computer games. And to spend time with my fiancée, of course :-)

Veronika a Martin: New blood in the Council of Elders

Starting  as a developer and then a member of the Council of Elders, he  eventually became the head of our new branch in the United Kingdom. Meet Jan Hauser. We talked to him about whether he looks forward to his new  life, what awaits him and what his goals are.

Can you introduce yourself a little?
I’m  Jan and I started working for Applifting about 6 years ago. I met Filip  (one of the founders) at university. He approached me once, saying that  guys from Applifting were looking for someone who knows Android and  asking me if I wanted to try it. I thought I would give it a shot and I  went for an interview.

It  worked out and we started working together on the first projects. I led  both larger and smaller projects and focused mainly on communication  with corporate clients. Christmas party 2019 was a turning point,  though. Vráta (the other founder) started talking about expanding to  London, and 
I proposed that I be the one to do it.

You gained the CEO position of the UK branch thanks to your proactivity, then?
Exactly.  It worked the same way as everything else in Applifting. Everyone here  can get as much responsibility as they want, but they have to ask for it  and have others agree that they are able to handle it.

Do you have any similar work experience from abroad, or is it your premiere?
I don’t but I like to travel a lot. 
I spent quite a long time, about half a year, in Japan. I’ve been to London a few times already. 
I  studied in Glasgow for a year, so I have some experience living abroad.  It’s hard to compare, the Scottish nature is different, but it’s still  the United Kingdom. So I’m looking forward to it. I’m not afraid, I know  I can take care of myself.

Why London?
The main reason for entering 
a  foreign market was the search for ways to improve the wellbeing of  Applifters and to increase salaries. Sure, you can scale a business to  increase profits, but that doesn’t affect everyone. Expansion abroad  where hourly rates are higher, on the other hand, will allow you to  increase salaries in the Czech Republic. And we chose this option. In  the beginning, New York was also in the game. In the end, however,  London won, mainly due to time lag and easier availability. Even though  the hourly rate there is lower than in the USA, we are still 2–3 times  higher than in the Czech Republic. When it comes out, 
it will have a positive impact on everyone in Applifting.

Are you looking forward to your new life and work chapters?
I  am nervous, more so than I am looking forward to it at the moment. I  want for it to work out because it’s actually the first tribe to be  formed. It is a huge responsibility to make everything work and to be a  good example for our future tribes.

I  am experiencing a classic evolution of a person getting excited about  something at first and making a quick decision. Then, as it’s getting  closer, you think it might not have been such a good idea. And then,  when it really comes and is there, it’s great.

Is there anything you’re specifically not looking forward to?
This  is new, so I’m looking forward to it. Sometimes it happens that you  wake up in the morning and you are not really in the mood to talk to  people, which is not ideal in this position. But I have my methods of  fighting that feeling. I can’t really say there is something I’m not  looking forward to.

What awaits you after you move?
I  will have to go through the necessary paperwork at the beginning. We  must first establish a company. To do so, we need to have an address.  Unfortunately, the address of the coworking centre our office will be  located at cannot be used. We therefore need to find an accounting and  law firm to set up our branch and provide us with an address. Only after  the company has been established is it possible to open a bank account.  For large banks, it is a very demanding and lengthy process, so we will  probably choose Revolut. Once this is all done, we can join the  coworking centre and get started.

What are your goals for the first 6 months?
An  optimistic prognosis says it might take half a year to get the two to  three contracts we need to cover the business costs. Worst case  scenario, this situation will have occurred within a year. According to  some local people in the industry, a year is a good time to validate the  success of the operation.

What do you see as the biggest challenge in this position?
The hardest part will be finding the first clients and projects. We are starting from scratch; we don’t have any contacts or 
a  network, which is something we have already started working on. But the  biggest challenge is sales. We’ve never done sales in Applifting, so we  have to learn that. Plus this is a market we do not know. So far our  business has been recommendation- and word-of-mouth based, but in London  we must be proactive. And we must not be discouraged by initial  setbacks.

The  current COVID situation doesn’t help at all either. Some people don’t  want to meet in person, only online. This could be a potential threat to  our development. But I hope it gets better. Personal contact is very  important and it would be a pity to lose it.

Where will the office be located and how do you like the place?
We  chose a place in the Level 39 coworking centre, which is the largest  incubator for fintech startups. It is located in the modern office  district of Canary Wharf. Fortunately, we know that “normal” people work  there, too, not just white collars :-). During our visit at the  beginning of August, Vráťa and I visited our future office and we really  liked it there.

What are you personally looking forward to in London?
I  like meeting new people and being in a new environment. I’m looking  forward to walking through the city. I will also go see a game of  football and 
I will continue practising karate, which is something I  have done for a long time. Thanks to attending some international  seminars I know those people, so that will be nice. I will also be  closer to Scotland. There is great nature and whisky, which is something  I like :-).

While  travelling, I have gotten to know different cities. Compared to others,  Prague is in fact tiny; Tokyo, on the other hand, is gigantic, as is  London. I’m not depressed by the size, though; I’m looking forward to  discovering a new place.

Jan Hauser on the expansion to the United Kingdom: I have been given the responsibility I asked for

What  kind of animal would you be? Where do you see yourself in five years?  HR people sometimes ask very strange questions during an interview. Some  are unusual in themselves, while others seem completely innocent, yet  they often have a deeper meaning. We will tell you how we do it here at  Applifting.

When  choosing future colleagues, it is very important for us to know how  they identify with our corporate culture and what they are like in terms  of personality. Will we understand each other? Our somewhat  non-standard questions help us figure out just that at an interview.

We  often try to find out the applicant’s way of thinking and their level  of dogmatism. Are those interested in working for Applifting ready to  discuss even slightly sensitive topics, such as programming in PHP, or,  in case of a copywriting position, the use of emoticons in a text?

Do  they insist they are in the right and are not open to another opinion?  Do they conduct the conversation constructively, can they look at the  matter at hand from multiple angles and not take everything as a  personal attack? These are fragments from which we compose a picture of  the applicant’s personality.

Knowing  how communicative the person is, what he or she enjoys in their spare  time, what is necessary for their work or what they have recently  learned is also important for us. It is not so much a question of  specific skills or the ability to learn fast as the fact that they try  to move on and develop.

We  also use the so-called concept of behavioural questions. These are  based on the fact that experience from the applicant’s previous position  indicates probable future behaviour. What was your last job? What did  you enjoy about it? Which positive work experience can you best recall?

A  short task constitutes a part of the admission procedure. There is  nothing special about that, this is a relatively common practice in IT.  But we do not set a submission deadline. We leave it up to each  applicant to determine that. Thanks to this move, we can see if they are  reliable and how they manage their time.

What is the strangest question or task you have gotten at an interview?

Behind the scenes of HR: What questions we ask at interviews, and why

How do you evaluate the skills of people in your company? In Applifting, we have a sophisticated system of competency models.

These  define the abilities and skills that an Applifter should master in  their position. They also determine what should be improved and what  else is needed for professional growth. We have a total of five standard  levels. They differ in their demands and they not only express the  experience and knowledge but also determine the salary. All Applifters  know these numbers because transparent wages go hand in hand with the  competency model.

Trainee: Is a beginner but knows the field, is talented and is keen to learn.

Junior: Saves their team more time than their colleagues invest in them.

Medior: Can work independently on an assigned project. Is able to solve tasks in their technology.

Senior: Is able to create and lead a new project, divide tasks and decide on fundamental changes.

Guru:  Only when an Applifter is considered to be a capacity in their field by  the others can they become a Guru. This is the highest position in  Applifting and it extends into business.

Mentoring  and remuneration are also closely related to the competency models.  Each Applifter has one or more mentors to help them with personal  development. This does not just extend to technical knowledge; it is  possible to improve in any area, including the so-called soft Brave new Applifter and his almighty mentor on their quest to gain new skills together.skills.

We  choose our mentors from among Applifters but from time to time we also  use external experts. That usually happens when there are only a few  people dedicated to the area and they are all busy already. Mentor check  meetings typically take place at least once a month; in case of a  mutual agreement even more often.

The  decision regarding a promotion and the salary increase involved is  taken by the mentor and the team leader. The latter evaluates overall  performance, teamwork, self-sufficiency and quality of work. The mentor  assesses whether or not the points of the competency model have been  met. These, of course, differ for individual positions. In general,  however, the greater the seniority, the greater the emphasis on  independence, responsibility, professionalism and proactivity.

Thanks  to the competency model, everyone knows exactly what to focus on and  what to work on, so that they can constantly improve, move to a higher  position and get a bigger salary.

Competency model: When you know how to grow

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