Izumi Kojima, coding team leader of the Coding Factory, works tirelessly every day, sometimes as a leader who brings together a group of coders with diverse personalities, sometimes as a coder, and sometimes as a director in charge of mega projects of over 1,000 pages. Sometimes she gets so busy that she forgets about scheduled meetings and panics, but she never forgets her promises to clients and her consideration for the coders.
He laughs a lot, cries a lot, drinks a lot, and gets shy when the camera is pointed at him. Let's take a look at this humane Kojima as a leader.
Because I love making things.
The backs of craftsmen in manufacturing
Kojima always keeps a "firefighter's charm" on his desk. It is truly a guardian angel that has saved coders who have had to deal with controversial projects.
Born in Kimitsu, Chiba Prefecture, Kojima studied electronic control at a local technical college before transferring to Kyoto Institute of Technology to pursue design. After graduating, he worked in a variety of manufacturing roles, including as a product designer, before joining Monosus after starting work as a freelancer with Coding Factory.
Despite having just started working there, he immediately demonstrated his talent by winning Monosus' Monthly MVP award and was selected as the leader of the coding team.
Currently, I am in charge of organizational building and management, including project scheduling, team budget management, and establishing team structures and various committees. Meanwhile, I also handle projects as a director/coder, consult with the coders on their individual projects, and accompany them on meetings for large projects. My daily tasks are too numerous to list here.
Kojima, who has always wanted to pass on the skills and knowledge he has accumulated to the next generation since his freelance days, is also proactive in educating coders. He has imparted a variety of know-how to coders, from efficient work flows while maintaining quality, to methods for calculating man-hours, how to create schedules, and even health management.
In particular, the "Summary of on-site meetings" section is of great help to coders who need direction skills but are not good at external meetings.
"Summary of Meetings for Visits" made by Leader Kojima. I also post it on the wall next to my desk and check it the day before each visit to create the agenda.
These are the words Kojima said when he was selected as Monosas' annual MVP last year.
"Every project is difficult. But it's okay because I love creating."
CF utilizes its production track record and know-how to undertake super-large projects of over 1,000 pages. In such cases, a director is appointed for each project and the production proceeds as a team.
The director's job is to guarantee the schedule, budget, and "absolutely confident quality" that CF is proud of. With her past experience, Kojima is often in charge of directing super-large projects. Even so, she won't compromise on even one page, whether it's 1000 or 7000 pages.
No matter how complex the specifications are, or even how simple a static page is, they repeatedly check with the customer and always pursue the required quality, just like a true "craftsman."
Not only can we learn directly from him, but there is also a lot that we coders can learn from his attitude.
Let's start with beer!
Honest, kind and always giving his all.
Izumi Kojima "Individual Back"
Kojima receives consultations from coders. With the desire to "support the coders, who are also players, as much as possible," the meetings can last for long periods of time.
Kojima is well known within Monosus for his honest personality, and of course he cannot hide his anger or laughter.
He is a kind-hearted man who is so easily moved to tears that his manager, Ito, calls him "Tokumitsu from CF."
He has a weakness for beer, and on the rare days off he devotes himself to Hello! Project-related "otaku activities."
When work gets busy, because you are so focused and devoted to one thing, you might forget a scheduled internal meeting and panic, or accidentally miss your lunch.
When the conversation gets heated, we sometimes end up using slightly too friendly language when speaking to the customer on the phone.
Also, Kojima is from the Kisarazu area and rides a large motorbike. Despite his slightly yankee-like appearance, he loves cute things. He is addicted to "Neko Atsume" and has created "Kojima World" on his desk.
When you see a small child out and about, narrow your eyes and say,
"You walk so quickly, it's so cute."
Just one word.
Mame mame... Her unique and cute linguistic sense shines through when she refers to adjusting project schedules as "ton ton" and when she refers to data as "gacchanko."
Kojima's desk is equipped with a specially made, high-spec water-cooled PC, and beneath the monitor is the "Kojima world."
As a team leader, Kojima also consults with coders about projects and schedules. Sometimes, CF coders give their honest opinions, making them wonder if they should really say such things. But that's because of her personality, and she takes the coders' problems as her own and sticks with them for hours or days until they find a solution.
We also conducted a survey of these coders to find out what they thought of Kojima.
"I think he's a rare boss that you can talk to casually."
"Someone you can rely on"
"At first, I thought she was a straightforward person, but that wasn't actually the case."
"I was impressed by the story he told in a morning assembly some time ago about a blind person in Nakano who was able to walk through a crowd without bumping into anyone. I felt that he was a kind person because he was able to stop his eyes and use his imagination."
It is because we trust each other that we can confidently share our opinions.
Sometimes, the "leader's back" motivates coders without words
His favorite "Big Catch" T-shirt expresses his determination to "may the big catch come to me." He says that his "back" is "wide, but thin!"
In the textbook for becoming a manager at the workplace where I previously worked, there was a phrase called "the leader's back."
A leader's actions are always observed by his subordinates. No matter how much you say, if you behave badly, even in small things, your subordinates will behave badly, and if you behave well, your subordinates will follow your example.
The idea was that a leader's everyday behavior is what subordinates notice most and is therefore the most important.
This happened a few months ago.
In addition to his regular duties, Kojima was working as a project manager on a huge project.
The number of pages was over 3,000, and the specifications were highly challenging. I was involved from the UI proposal stage, acting as a liaison between clients, managing the in-house team, and getting my hands dirty myself.
The burden was considerable.
Seeing Kojima running around regardless of day or night, I was reminded of a certain incident.
This was my first project after leaving my training supervisor. I made a mistake and it quickly went viral.
When I felt so sorry for causing trouble to our customers and frustrated at my own incompetence that my mind went blank, it was Kojima, along with my other seniors, who reached out to me.
"Even if I fail, I won't die, so let's think about how I can make it happen now."
My leader repeated this process over and over, organizing the man-hours and tasks, assigning work to his seniors, and communicating with customers on my behalf.
After a while, when I became a director, my mentor taught me the directing know-how he had cultivated up to that point, and sometimes even stayed up late into the night to discuss work-related matters and chat about silly things.
They would share their own stories of failure as lessons learned from them, and whenever I had a problem, they would always listen with a smile until I was satisfied.
Is there anything I can do? If I'm going to do it, now is the time!
First of all, I wanted to be able to manage my own projects by myself. At that time, I was in charge of directing a large project, and I tried to think about and proceed with things as much as possible on my own, even though I always consulted with Kojima about things like communicating with customers. Also, after thinking about what I could do for the team, I became the person in charge of coordinating the Monosasu site CF corner.
I thought it was not enough compared to what they usually do for me, but I wanted to do everything I could, even if it was just a small contribution, so I took action.
And it wasn't just me; the other coders also worked to minimize the burden on Kojima.
Kojima's constant "attitude of working for the team - the leader's back" was what motivated the team.
That project has finally come to an end, and the busy season is now drawing to an end.
Today's commercial also shows a coder approaching, saying, "Kojima-san, there's something I'd like to discuss with you...", and Kojima, munching on a banana for breakfast, replies with a slightly surprised look on his face, "Yes, what's wrong?"
In a previous survey, we received the following response:
"There is still a lot I want to learn from Kojima-san as a coder.
As a leader, I imagine it must be very difficult for you, as CF's coders are all very unique individuals.
I want to support them in any way I can."
Kojima-san, we will follow your example and appreciate your continued support.
TANAKA Natsumi