Sometimes it’s nice to put faces to names and learn a little bit about the people behind the screens at Paprika HQ, working away to make Paprika the best it can be. We spoke to Beth Stickels from our Dev department about what she does on a day-to-day basis.
Every day is so different, it is difficult to identify a particular routine. I am the project manager within the team, so my role is very much as a coordinator. I spend my time organising and attending meetings, as required to drive development tasks through the appropriate specification, development and testing routes.
A lot of my time requires managing people’s expectations, answering emails and supporting colleagues. I try, where I can to field some of the queries coming into the department away from the developers, to enable them to continue uninterrupted. Sometimes of course it is me asking them the questions!
I believe the most challenging thing the team are faced with is the demand for development time and resource when we are already at capacity. It is very frustrating for all concerned when we have to say it isn’t on our roadmap yet.
I love listening to live music, and dancing, so if I get an opportunity to do either I will take it. Otherwise after a long day, you will find me in my PJs on the sofa watching television.
It’s not very exciting….
My day starts around 6:30am, after I have snoozed the alarm a couple of times. I shove some clothes on and take the dog for his morning walk. Luckily my garden backs onto the local park so I don’t have to stumble very far, and generally it’s dark, so I can get away with the bed hair!
Quick cup of tea on my return, and a quick check to ensure both my boys are up and getting ready for school. I like to sit and chat with them a while prior to sending them off, and normally discover that this is where one of them has forgotten to tell me that I was meant to be doing something for them. Ingredients for food tech that day is the one I relish the most! Yes I know I am not alone.
Then I get myself ready for work, do the usual adult chores, tidy up, put a wash on and on occasion I may have even been organised enough to have something cooking in the slow cooker! Around 8.20 I leave the house and take the shortest commute to work. Yes I can do the drive in 6 minutes, 4 if I need to!
My team! We are all very supportive of each other, we work hard, but usually with a little banter along the way (normally at my cost!) It is a pleasure coming to work at ASW.
The 40 something cynic in me would say my least favourite time of the day is getting out of bed and my most favourite is going to bed……I’m just so tired!
Feed the dog! He just won’t give up until you do!
Having previously worked for a Certification body for 13 years, I already had a good understanding of the principles and requirements of ISO 9001 and was happy to become part of the team when asked. We obviously all had a lot to learn in relation to ISO 27001, Information Security but accepted the challenge.
I was responsible for ensuring the all the Development processes and procedures where documented and then adhered too. I also helped other department’s process map their work flow.
The development, layouts and testing teams processes are all embedded in the functionality of the Paprika product. We control change progress by utilising task status routines and controlling who has the ability to progress tasks. It is probably the easiest way of maintaining our standards, as each task records the progression of development, with an audit trail and alert system that keeps me informed.
I prefer face to face communication myself, if I can avoid sending an email I will! I use our IM solution, SLACK when messages aren’t required to be saved or referred to again, and this does make us more efficient.
We have weekly coordinators meetings, involving representatives from each department, this ensures that we collaborate effectively, driving the business in the right direction.
The Development team and Technical Support team meet monthly to ensure that we are supporting each other, continuously improving the environments that are required to provide a quality product and service to our customers.
