Projects
What does a project manager do?
As a Project Manager, I can help prioritize small tasks, hold stakeholders accountable for their deliverables and have a Plan B for everything just in case we need it. I also must look at the Big Picture and how your project fits in with the Objectives and Goals of an overall organization. As a project ramps up and we are trying to help define objectives and deliverables, I must be the instigator. I must ask the questions that no one is asking. I look at the root cause of the pain points that are causing the problems. What is the problem? Why are we doing this project? Are we fixing an already broken process? Will we have buy-in from all the stakeholders during all the phases of the project? How will we ensure that everyone is on board during the project and happy at the end with the results?
Here are some of my project highlights:
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2022 - Moved from Amex to Emburse Credit Cards for a projected $18,000 annual savings.
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2021 - Frosh Travel Program helped TSP capture $22,000 savings in discounts and used non-refundable airline tickets and flight credits from the Covid travel disruption.
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2020 - Office Consolidation Project saved TSP in Dallas $234,000 annually.
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2020 - Clinton, NJ Inventory Consolidation Project saved $17,000 annually.
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2011 - 2022 - Managed major office and inventory moves in 2011, 2014, 2015, and 2020 working with Move Solutions and PODS. This included finding locations, negotiating leases, designing floorplans, working with general contractors for renovations, permits, movers, setting up utilities, interior design and decorating. Weekly Status updates to Executives, budget tracking. All my moves were completed on time and within budget.
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2018 -2022 - Played a key role in working with the stakeholders to create a CRM with a Quoting Tool that the sales team uses to create and manage quotes for projects. Worked with multiple departments to determine everyone’s needs and requirements. Tested and developed the tool. Held training webinars to train the end users. Created documentation for the processes and distributed it.
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2018 - Managed the full implementation process end to end on a new Travel and Expense Program for 500+ employees from planning through execution and end user training. TSP left Concur and moved to Deem for booking travel and Chrome River for expense reports. I was the Chrome River Admin for 5 years and continued to grow and evolve the system as needed and UI changed. Savings of $3/expense report which was an estimated $47,000 annually.
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2018 - Smoothly transitioned TSP to Office 365. Negotiated the contracts and pricing. Planned the transition meetings. Oversaw the rollout.
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2018 - Successfully transitioned TSP from ADP to Exponent HR. Negotiated the SOW, attended all planning sessions, organized/distributed Action Items, and documented lessons learned.
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2015-2018 - Helped transition the previous software that was used to create quotes, part orders and purchase orders from an Access database to a web accessible portal. Provided ideas and feedback to the Software Engineer and worked closely with him to streamline processes that were previously manually done. Tested and developed the tool. Created documentation for the processes.
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2011 - 2022 - As Leader of the Fun Committee, I was responsible for budgeting, planning and executing all our major company events. In 2016, we participated in the Richardson Corporate Challenge (2 month long Olympic style competition) with 23 sporting events. Past events also included Quarterly happy hour mixers, Annual Chili Cook off competition, poker tournaments, charity 5K’s, Holiday parties, company volunteering for Readers to Leaders, Leighton’s Gift, Rough Riders games, Annual Fish Fry, and random fun days (Tattoo Tuesday, Ninja Day, Hawaiian Shirt Day, etc.). I delegated components of large projects to other fun committee members as needed. I’ve managed facilities, catering, signage, invites/corporate email invites, special needs requirements, printing, promotional giveaways and trade show materials for corporate and private events.
What does a product owner do?
As a Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO), I am responsible for managing the product backlog, creating a product vision, and maximizing the value delivered by the team. We collaborate with stakeholders and prioritize features to meet customer needs. We help to create a roadmap that helps prioritize user stories, ensuring the most valuable and impactful features reach customers at regular intervals.