Interview: development, great people and working on exciting solutions

Jan on development work at Elektrosil and why communication and organisation are so important in this regard.

 

Jan, how did you end up at Elektrosil?

I already knew Hendrik as a customer. In the past, I worked for an engineering service provider, and we developed test stands for Elektrosil. I kept in touch with Hendrik over the years and after the management buyout he offered me the job as head of the development department. I have been working here for five years now.

 

What do you like most about your work?

That I work with great people every day and can tinker with exciting technical solutions. This combination has always been important to me: being in touch with people and working on technology at the same time. Plus, there are no boring days here – there's always something new and unexpected. In the afternoon, I often think: "It's crazy how fast time has passed!" It is particularly motivating when you can hold something in your hands at the end. Since we develop prototypes at an early stage, you can quickly see tangible results.

 

An internal talk between development and technical sales.

 

Do we also develop prototypes on site in Hamburg?

Yes! We are developing the first prototypes here on site in Hamburg.

 

Which projects do you enjoy the most?

Successful projects! Especially when several colleagues are involved, when there was a challenging problem and we have found a stable solution. If a task is too easy, the tension is missing. But if we develop a solution together, then it will be really interesting.

 

Which skills are particularly important for your work?

Communication and organization. In the development department, it is a lot about working together to develop improvements, implementing them and then checking whether we are complying with them. Are we really doing it exactly the way we set out to do it? Does this work well or do we still need to adjust something? In addition, we must constantly adapt our planning to new circumstances.

 

Hardware on a desk in the development department.

 

What motivates you and your team?

The members of my team – like everyone else – want to be perceived as people, colleagues and engineers. Her motivation is as diverse as she is. One wants to talk about what's happening at home, another needs to talk about a technical problem at his desk. A third is annoyed by what a colleague has done and must be picked up. It is important to respond to each individual person. In the end, however, it always remains the same: Get involved with your counterpart, listen and understand.

 

What do you wish for your team?

Exciting technical projects continue – too much routine can quickly become boring. I also hope that we retain the recognition, both internally at Elektrosil and from our customers. We plan to distribute more responsibility on several shoulders and involve more colleagues in the planning processes. I hope that in the coming months we will be able to reap the fruits of our organizational improvements, so that we can work even more stably and reliably.

 

Jan and the team of developers.