DEV Community: Katrin Lerm

Meet Christian – Head of Frontend: Insights into his role at IBM iX

Katrin Lerm — Wed, 31 Aug 2022 09:46:39 +0000

In this interview, we introduce Christian, Head of Frontend at the IBM iX Studio Dusseldorf, and give you greater insight into his role and his daily work at IBM iX. To do so, our Content Marketing & Communication manager Patricia had a meeting with Christian. Christian has been with IBM iX since 2011 and has progressed from a PHP developer to a Head of Frontend.

Patricia: Hello Christian. Thank you for telling us more about your role as Head of Frontend at IBM iX. What are your current core tasks as Head of Frontend and what do you particularly like about working at IBM iX?

Christian: Hi Patricia. I work as Head of Frontend at IBM iX studio Dusseldorf and am responsible for a team of nine colleagues. In my role as Head of Frontend, it is part of my job to ensure everyone in my team feels comfortable and is appropriately supported. My main tasks not only include looking after my team but also constant communication with the Heads of Frontend at the other sites, e.g. in Austria or Croatia. However, since I still very much enjoy coding, I continue to work on projects as a Frontend Developer.

Patricia: You have been working at IBM iX for more than 10 years now. What makes it so attractive to work as a frontend developer here?

Christian: The Frontend Developer role at IBM iX is very diverse. We use a variety of technologies, for example, Linter for coding guidelines, webpack, SCSS/SASS, typescript, and various CMS systems and application frameworks such as React, Angular, and VUE. Atomic design and accessibility are also important issues, which bring further exciting challenges. I particularly like the continuing education offered at IBM iX. At the internal Academy, we can also complete training courses like as EcmaScript for beginners and Angular, but also seminars for personal development, such as employee leadership and conflict management. In addition, we can also share our own expertise and hold training courses for colleagues.

Patricia: It’s not very common for a Frontend Developer to stay with one company for so long, is it? How did that come about?

Christian: The opportunities for further development, the team, and, in particular, the opportunity to make a contribution are compelling. Here we can help shape our own career paths and develop further, not only in our own roles but also in completely different areas.

Patricia: And how has your role at IBM iX changed over the years?

Christian: I joined IBM iX as a PHP developer, then switched to the frontend area and progressed from a junior frontend developer role to a senior one. In the role of a Senior Frontend Developer, I often took the lead in projects and began to lead small teams. In 2016 I was offered the role of Head of Frontend. I had never imagined doing that before but, when I was offered the role, I had already gained a lot of experience in team leadership on projects. So I just plucked up the courage and accepted the new job.

Patricia: You said there are great opportunities to contribute at IBM iX and that the digital agency thrives on employees being able to implement their own ideas. Do you have a specific example?

Christian: I discovered SCSS around eight years ago. At that time there were fewer people and the process of trying new things was different. I worked on a project that wanted to issue multiple themes and it was necessary to generate a CSS for each of them. Maintaining and fixing multiple themes would have been a nightmare at that time. So I just tried it with SCSS and luckily everything worked out! Since then no project has been created without it.

Patricia: That sounds exciting. You mentioned your core tasks to us at the beginning. Perhaps you could give us some deeper insights into your daily work?

Christian: For me, there is very little routine in my daily work and every day is very different. I have regular 1:1 discussions with my team of course. Once a week we also have a team meeting, our ‘dev minutes’. I also still work as a project lead or technical architect on projects and regularly coordinate with my project team. As a Frontend Dev you have a lot of freedom for creativity in projects, e.g. for animations or optimisation proposals according to the design. Aside from that, as Head of Frontend, I deal with organisational matters and induct new employees.

Patricia: What else can you tell us about your work or the culture here?

Christian: At all IBM iX locations, the frontend area is agile and works according to the Scrum method. This makes the work a lot easier and structures the tasks. Our teams are international, so at work, I communicate 50% of the time in English and 50% in German. I also work from home occasionally, which is very convenient for me because of the distance to my workplace. And if something happens at home at short notice, people can usually work from home. My colleagues are also relaxed and always ready to have fun. It is important to me that not only is work enjoyable but also the interaction with my colleagues. If you need help or a second opinion it is always at hand, for example via Slack.

Patricia: Would you like to tell us another ‘fun fact’ about yourself? What are you known for in your team?

Christian: I am an avid Coca-Cola fan! It is essential to every day and my colleagues know that. But only from noon, I draw the line at breakfast! If I don’t have one to hand at lunchtime everyone immediately worries whether there’s something wrong with me. I’m also known for being passionate about photographing landscapes with my camera or drone. One of my pictures hangs in my office at home.

Patricia: Thank you Christian for this great interview and these exciting insights.

IBM iX @ WeAreDevelopers World Congress 2022

Katrin Lerm — Tue, 24 May 2022 09:41:56 +0000

It’s finally time again: The global developer community with the world’s greatest minds in tech meets once again in Berlin to share recent insights on software development, best practices and future tech trends. And IBM iX is in! With a century of human-centred IBM tech expertise in our DNA, we’re building bridges between humans and machines. Connect with us on site in area A, booth A.2.6, or check out our program to level up your skills. We’re looking forward to two days full of insights, a great speaker line-up, hands-on workshops, and fun!

➡️ Join our IBM iX workshops, listen to our expert talk or meet us at our booth on site and enjoy a good chat with our people from IBM iX! Find out more: https://lnkd.in/eWprhyD9

Session 1: 14 June, 12 AM – 1 PM
Automated Code Quality Checks with Custom SonarQube Rules
Daniel Strmečki, Martin Gluhak

Workshop 1: 14 June, 12.45 AM – 2:45 PM
Unit vs. Integration Testing in Spring Boot
Dajana Jeđud, Ivan Foro

Workshop 2:15 June, 11.45 AM – 1.45 PM
Implementing GrahQL with plain Java
Josip Primorac, Josip Mlakar

🎁 Take your chance to get a free event ticket & a surprise onsite and check out our speakers & sessions: https://lnkd.in/eWprhyD9

ibmix #WeAreDevelopers #wearedevs #wearedevs22

Career kickstart: IBM iX recruits new colleagues with bootcamp

Katrin Lerm — Thu, 23 Dec 2021 08:22:46 +0000

Digitalisation affects almost all industries, and programmers are among the most sought-after professions. That’s why more and more career changers are opting for a career in the IT sector. With its new bootcamp format, IBM iX shows that it is possible to get started as a programmer in four (intensive!) months. From 14 June to 30 September, ten participants had the opportunity to immerse themselves in the world of front-end development as part of a challenging and supportive remote training course.

HTML, CSS, JavaScript – at the beginning of the bootcamp these were still foreign languages for some participants. And that is entirely intentional. Precisely because IT and digitalisation are relevant in almost every industry, programmers with different backgrounds are needed. People from outside the field who have switched to programming often think “outside the box” due to their experience and thus develop particularly successful approaches to solutions. Among the large number of applicants, 60 candidates with and without previous experience had the chance to convince in their interview. Because for IBM iX, motivation is one of the decisive factors: only those who were prepared to commit themselves fully to the bootcamp had a chance of winning one of ten places.

Eat, sleep, code –repeat

Although many workshops suggest that you can become a programmer on a long weekend, it’s not quite that simple. For its bootcamp, IBM iX therefore placed great emphasis on teaching the basics. Frontend development is a broad field, and going directly into specific frameworks would narrow the focus too much for beginners. So the participants spent eight hours a day, for four months, intensively learning the programming languages HTML, CSS, and JavaScript and laid the foundation for successful frontend development.

In addition to guided sessions with experienced mentors from IBM iX and a series of exciting guest lectures, the participants also had plenty of time to apply and deepen their newly acquired knowledge, independently and in group work. “I particularly enjoyed the practical tasks and lectures”, said participant Filip Rubes. “Our mentors were extremely committed and made the material clear to us with many practical examples. Just as important for me, however, were the scheduled time slots in which I was able to independently apply and internalise the material.” His fellow student Marija Susko agreed: “Of course it was hard. But our mentors were extremely motivating, and it was great for me to get such an opportunity and to see how much I’ve achieved in just four months.”

Mentors make the difference

The fact that the bootcamp has been such a success is also due to the mentors from IBM iX. With experience from previous training courses, such as the Apprenticeship Program, as well as a lot of heart and soul, they have developed a challenging program. The interplay of predefined content and flexible adjustments “on the fly” has made it possible to address individual participants’ questions and tasks and to motivate and challenge them every day anew.

At the end of the boot camp, the participants were able to demonstrate their skills in a final exam and set the course for their future careers. Nine of the ten participants started working at IBM iX after a more than deserved two-week break. Seven of them were able to join ongoing projects directly, while two completed a further one or two months of advanced training before they too were involved in active projects. “Although many of us originally come from other backgrounds, most have passed their exams. I am proud to have worked my way into IBM iX and to be part of a group of colleagues who encourage me and support me in further developing my knowledge,” said Marija Susko.

The next bootcamp is getting ready to start
If you are thinking “I want that too!”, then we already have the next chance for you at the beginning of 2022. Starting on 28 February 2022, our next bootcamp in Varaždin will be all about programming in Java.

The Agile Truth – How to start a podcast

Katrin Lerm — Thu, 16 Dec 2021 11:56:51 +0000

Ever wondered how podcasters create their stories? Or have you ever wanted to start a podcast yourself? Our IBM iX colleagues share their story behind “The Agile Truth” – an IBM iX podcast with weekly insights straight from the world of agile working.

https://anchor.fm/the-agile-truth-podcast

In June 2021, IBM iX launched “The Agile Truth” – a podcast with weekly 5-minute episodes about honest agile hands-on experiences made with real customers and projects in a digital agency setting. After successfully publishing the first season, we want to share our making-of with you.

Spoiler alert: Good ideas don’t just fall into your lap. It needs talent, creativity, a great team – and agile ways of working.

Let’s find out why…

“What about doing an IBM iX podcast?”
Our colleagues and agile experts Katja Piepel (Scrum Master), Thierry Baudez (Scrum Master), and Gábor Bedőcs (Product Owner) have carried the idea of creating a podcast from the first minute onwards. It all started with a casual chat and the questions: “Why not let others benefit from the experiences of our agile experts at IBM iX? Sharing is caring. So, what about doing a podcast?”

Thierry had already tried his wings in the podcast world and brought valuable knowledge into the project. As an experienced Scrum Master, he knows that great stories don’t start with planning – but with doing. He set up a team to discuss which topics would be interesting for the agile universe and software development community.

The first workshop started with brainstorming and collecting ideas in Mural:

What topics shall we cover?
How long should an episode be?
What about the title of our podcast?
And our branding?

Tricky questions to answer.

Agile style: from the idea to the story

After gathering the first ideas and subjects, the newly formed editorial team started to group them: “Which of the suggestions fit the IBM iX philosophy best?” We decided to go with a short 5-minute interview format that should feature a new guest every week. Each interview would tell a real-life story that changed the way we think about agility or proves that our methods are working.

True to the motto of our podcast, we have worked in an agile way to bring the idea to life:

We tried things and kept what was working.
We improved on what needed to be improved.
We threw away what was not the focus.
Recording interviews under Covid restrictions was a big challenge. Instead of lengthy discussions about how to do it, the podcast team just used our Cisco Webex tool and started to record the first episode.
They tried a few setups and ta-da: there was the first recording in raw format!

With the help of our Marketing & Communications Manager Alexandra, the audio file of the first recording was cut. Together we chose the publishing platform, the intro sound, and a logo. A marketing plan was created to make sure the launch of the podcast did not go unnoticed.

Creating a social network of agile stories

The IBM iX marketing team as well as the editorial team found a way of working efficiently in parallel. While the editorial team took care of coordinating and producing the recordings, the marketing team handled the editing, publishing, and promotion of every new episode. WebEx was found to be sufficient for recordings. The only thing we had to improve on was the microphones. We experienced issues with wireless headsets and therefore started to prefer wired microphones. However, that was the easiest issue to tackle in getting recordings done. The bigger issue was the lack of interviewees. Lucky us: once we started interviewing our first experienced colleagues, they suggested who to interview next and on which subject. Again, a very agile part of the editorial work. Once you start talking to people, you find yourself in a storyline that is even more interesting than the original idea and which the interviewee is also more passionate about. It felt like we were building a social network of agile stories, that can now be experienced in “The Agile Truth” on all major podcast platforms.

Curious? Listen in!

This is how the podcast “The Agile Truth” was born and realised. Do our 5-minute chunks of honest agile experiences sound interesting to you?
Listen in! https://anchor.fm/the-agile-truth-podcast

Already finished season 1? Look forward to season 2 – available soon here. And shhh: season 3 is already in the making. Happy listening!

About the podcast “The Agile Truth”:
“The Agile Truth” is your weekly 5-minute chunk of honest agile experiences created by our digital experts at IBM iX. Every episode of our podcast deals with a different agile topic, but the mission stays the same: to provide you with the most valuable insights for your work as an agilist.

About our podcast team:

Gábor Bedőcs

Gábor works at IBM iX as senior Product Owner. As a PO he is a member of the scrum team, supporting them in defining stories and prioritising the team backlog to streamline the execution of programme priorities. Before he was hired at IBM IX, he worked as a software developer and development team lead in Budapest creating tailored software for banking. In 2012 he started as an agile software developer in Austria in one of the leading companies of Styria and switched to the PO role in 2015. Through experiencing several project methodologies and managing styles, he developed his motto: “Agile is not a noun.”

Thierry Baudez

Thierry has been a Senior Scrum Master at IBM iX since 2019. He helps teams deliver the digital manifestation of their clients’ strategies across industries. Before that, he freelanced in Siberia, ran a communications and time management consultancy in Belgium, set up a communications department in an international bank and, while based in the Netherlands, co-engineered the agilisation of 5,000 global employees. Only then did he find his true calling in 2019 as a Scrum Master in the IBM iX family, where he started the podcast about digital projects in an agile agency setting.

Katja Piepel

Katja started her journey as a media designer. Driven by her interest in people and relationships she decided to get trained as a systemic coach with a focus on team development. Through the training, she discovered the power of self-organised work and experienced that Agile can help to increase people’s motivation, joy of work, and effectiveness. Encouraged by this realisation, Katja changed her course and became a Scrum Master. At IBM iX, her focus is on building successful teams with strong self-organising and cross-functional skills and the pursuit of continuous improvement.

Alexandra Bauer

Alexandra has been a marketer since the very beginning. After joining the IBM iX DACH marketing & communications team in 2019 for a student internship, she gathered practical experience as a Marketing Manager in a start-up and returned to IBM iX in 2020. Since then, she has taken care of the internal and external communication channels as well as promoting the IBM iX content in form of text, audio, and video. She is convinced that a wide range of formats is necessary to properly address the wide range of personalities within the audience.