It’s “Motion Force” time! This week we are excited to talk to Motion Software‘s Project Manager Izabel Kuzmanova.
Tell us a little bit about yourself and the kind of person you are.
My name is Izabel Kuzmanova and I have been a Project Manager for 4+ years.
I graduated in Denmark, majoring in Sales and Technology Management. I define myself as a positive and curious person who is open to new challenges and experiences.
My hobbies vary from fitness to fishing. I enjoy traveling quite a lot and what I find most interesting and exciting is to try to get as close as possible to the local culture, cuisine, and lifestyle, and have as much fun as possible.
As a huge animal and particularly dog lover, I myself am a dog owner and love spending time, hiking and playing with her.
Why did you decide to join Motion Software as a project manager?
After graduating, I had several internships, after which I started working as an IT Account Manager. Everything went according to plan, but over time I realized that I was increasingly drawn to organizing people, projects, and creating products.
My decision to join Motion Software came after I met with the founder and CEO of the company – Christo Peev. We sat down and talked about how I can be useful to the business, what I want to do and we agreed after the first conversation. I highly appreciate the given opportunity to develop in the environment and profession I like.
How do you combine your lifestyle with the demands of your role?
One of the things I love about Motion Software is the ability to work remotely. On the one hand, this is a huge benefit for personal time management, and on the other hand, it keeps the responsibility for my own work high at all times.
This of course allows me to keep the flexibility and perfect work-life balance that I have achieved.
It strikes me that when I shared this a few years ago, many people did not pay much attention to it as an option, but after the arrival of 2020 and the global Covid-19 situation, many people convinced themselves what it really means to achieve this balance between work and personal life.
Also, I love visiting and exploring foreign countries, so a remote job with flexible working hours is the perfect fit for my lifestyle.
What do you like most about working at the company?
It’s not one thing I like about the company. It’s a lot of things, but I will try to distinguish those that are most important to me.
Remote work – this allows me to focus entirely on the distribution of my personal and work time. I don’t waste time and resources traveling to the office every day, which opens another window for saving time. Of course, every now and then I like to go to the office to meet in person with my colleagues.
The Professional Trainings – Motion Software provides the opportunity for professional courses and certifications. This is very important for me, because the IT field is evolving every day, and to keep up to speed in this area I have to continuously upgrade my skills…. Plus I love gaining new knowledge and skills.
The Projects – one of the best things in Motion Software are the projects we work on. They represent a variety of industries and scale from medium to large corporate projects. This builds a sense of completeness and confidence that there is no project I can’t handle.
The professional environment – one of the best I have experienced. There are people working here from whom you can learn a lot and ones whom I can help. I like that people help each other and everyone walks with the thought of success. Having colleagues with so many different backgrounds and interests and yet, so like-minded, and being part of the growing community of the company is great!
Regular Team Buildings – This is the time when we get together and always have a lot of fun and engage in exciting activities. These are the events that make us an even better team. Kite, surfing, hiking, canoeing, skiing, or just a holiday at the beach – these are just memories that I will renew right at the next team building.
What is most challenging about working as a project manager at Motion Software?
Working as a Project Manager is a challenge in itself. The organization of people, time, methodology, and resources are some of the most important things whether a project will succeed or not.
At Motion Software, I have the opportunity to work on different projects, which at times may seem difficult, but on the other hand, it makes my experience great and flexible.
Every role is good and as long as you like it every challenge is easy to overcome.
What are you currently working on?
Currently, I am fully dedicated to this huge project with Coca-Cola Hellenic. It is quite a portfolio they have, and I am mainly engaged with their Big Data Advanced Analytics initiative.
What a challenge?! Yes, it is a new experience for me since the project is partially based on the Waterfall approach, and on the other hand, the agile approach is implemented for certain stages. The environment is dynamic and varies day-to-day.
Apart from the knowledge and experience already gained, I have the opportunity to work with brilliant professionals and create valuable connections.
As already mentioned, I am deeply interested in Product Management, and currently, I am exploring some courses and certifications that will help me accelerate my career in that direction.
From a personal perspective, I recently got into creating simple WordPress sites. No, no coding skills here. 🙂 This is more of a hobby for my free time.
What does a typical workday look like for you?
I don’t have a typical day…. 🙂 Each day is different with its own identity and charm, which is what I love most. Anyways, let me try to capture some common activities. After my morning walk with my dog, I grab another cup of coffee and I check my meetings schedule for the day, then come my emails and daily tasks. I usually hit the gym in the early afternoon (if possible) and then depending on the flexibility of the day I can go for a walk, engage in some other activity like reading, personal development, plan my next travels, and so on. I do some tasks on the go or in the evening but again it really depends on the day. All in all, I manage to get my job done in a timely manner, deliver value and yet, have some fun and lead a healthier lifestyle.
What is the setting you most like to work in?
I like to feel comfortable and cozy as this is how I concentrate best and get the most out of my focus time. I prefer peace and quiet when I am under pressure, so working from home or somewhere in the mountains is perfect for these cases. Of course, during the summer I love spending time at the seaside, so that is where I try to work from. My hopes are high for this year. How does it sound to get my job done while sailing somewhere in sunny Greece? 🙂 This is just the starter.
Which industry do you prefer having projects in and why?
As an open-minded person and one who can often easily get bored, I like exploring various industries as I learn a lot of new things and the most interesting part is when I can apply good practices from one industry to another.
However, my favorites are health, real estate, travel and leisure, business processes improvement web, and mobile apps.
The toughest situation you have found yourself in this year and what did you learn from it?
Not much has happened this year as it is still in its beginning. Though it feels like I should already be used to this restricted Covid-19 situation, probably the toughest obstacle for me are the remaining restrictions and insecurity when it comes to traveling.
