Skills & Experience

Agile/SCRUM Servant Leader

At BellSouth/AT&T and before, we operated under the Waterfall methodology for managing technical projects.  I gained great experience there in documentation, requirements gathering, and defining scope and ensuring quality.  Several years ago, I read the book SCRUM by Jeff Sutherland and JJ Sutherland and it was a game changer!  The approach of using shorter sprint iterations for development with feedback and continuous improvement really clicked with me as an improved strategy for ensuring the end product truly satisfies the user’s needs.  I love how team members are empowered to do their best and the servant leader’s job is to remove obstacles and keep the team focused on the common goal.  Regular SCRUM check-in meetings ensure that everyone is accountable and transparent so risks can be better mitigated.  I am convinced that using SCRUM principles results in a great improvement in communication and productivity.  Since first learning of SCRUM/Agile, I have had an insatiable curiosity to gain related knowledge through articles, books, and web classes.  I am also planning to attain CSM certification in the near future.

Product Ownership

I am comfortable in the role of being a strong voice to understand and inform the decisions around what to build (and what not to build), identifying market gaps and customer needs, and providing clear, actionable feedback to guide development teams.  My background in programming and application development are very helpful to me in understanding the processes involved in software development so I can develop realistic schedules, workflows, and manage stakeholder expectations.  I have learned through experience that communication is critical in all of this.  I am always learning and researching.  I am committed and driven to go the extra mile to be a subject matter expert, knowing the product inside and out as well as the external environment for marketing it.

Timeline, Budget, Scope Management

I am assertive and proactive to monitor, control and communicate the factors contributing to the quality of the projects and resulting products I work on.  The “iron triangle” as it is known in project management is a common way to explain the relationship between time, cost, and scope. If you change one of the three variables, then most likely one of the others has to change too.  (I.E. If a project timeline is shortened it likely could require an increase in budget or a decrease in scope.)  In agile, this view is modified a bit so that the focus is off of delivering to a set schedule, a fixed budget, and some predetermined set of deliverables; and focused more on the product’s Value (extrinsic quality), Quality (Intrinsic quality), and Constraints (cost, schedule and scope).

External Vendor Management

Planning and Risk Management

Board Leadership Experience