"Less time, more efficiency", an interview with Eworks own IT gurus: Wojciech Oleksy, Managing Director at E-labs and Marcin Ciolczyk, Head of Development at E-labs.
It all started as a test of quality and ability. The outcome was impressive and now, a couple of years later, E-labs – Ework’s IT development centre in Warsaw – is responsible for developing the company’s internal and external IT solutions.
The new system was launched in 2019. “But that doesn’t mean we’ve finished. We’ll continue to develop the client application to add more functions – and at the same time streamline our internal systems to help consultants become even more efficient,” says Wojciech Oleksy, Managing Director at E-labs.
Poland is the country where the finest thing you can be is an engineer. There are many technical universities, a lot of international standard, and a high number of students in higher education. It is a fact that Poland has one of the besteducated populations in the EU. But Poles are not only well-educated, they also treasure their personal freedom, which means that being a consultant brings high status.
This is also an important reason why Ework chose to locate its centre for IT development in Warsaw, where a number of the country’s top IT minds have now been brought together within E-labs. The team also has skilled IT developers in both Sweden and Bosnia. The work is led by Wojciech Oleksy.
“From the very beginning, when there were only five of us, we focused on exploring how Ework can refine its offering by means of new approaches and new technology. Our ideas were listened to, and since then we’ve grown continuously. In parallel with the new internal system, we’ve been working to
develop a client application in which clients themselves can select and appoint consultants.”
The overarching goal for all of our research and development work is to produce systems that rationalise work and free up time, for Ework’s clients and consultants,” Wojciech Oleksy says.
Textbook example of remote working
E-labs is not just Ework’s think tank in the area of IT development, it is also a textbook example of an effective remote workplace. When we visit E-lab’s “head office” in Warsaw, there are few employees on site — apart from Wojciech Oleksy and Marcin Ciolczyk.
Even though Marcin Ciolczyk, who lives in Warsaw, spends some time in the office, he says that he also enjoys working from home.
Client system ready in 2019 Wojciech Oleksy admits that he, as head of the business, was fairly stressed to begin with about not being able to control in detail what all the employees were doing.
“But I’ve calmed down now. After all, it’s all about the quality of the delivery. If our employees work better and more efficiently from home, and are also happier and therefore perform better, this is the best possible way of working. And we’ve proved that it works.” Marcin Ciolczyk adds.
Ework now have employees who are in different parts of Poland. We also collaborate with experts in both Stockholm and Sarajevo. But as we hold daily digital meetings, everyone’s very familiar with what their colleagues are doing. All share information and insights, and update each other about experiences and results.
The new client application was launched in 2019.
“But that doesn’t mean we’ve finished. We’ll continue to develop the client application to add more
functions, and at the same time streamline Ework’s internal systems to help the consultants become even more efficient. There’s always something you can further improve when it comes to IT systems,” says Marcin Ciolczyk
