Project Manager

Posted on: 2006-01-02

ADRIENNE FELICIA JOHNSON Homewood, Illinois 60430 (home) 708.991.2800 (mobile) 708.955.8041 (fax) 708.960.0542 eMail: [email protected] CORE COMPETENCIES •Adrienne combines a diverse background of over 12 years of exceptional consultative project management, strategy, business analysis, business process management and core consultative service delivery skills within large and small team environments. Top Tier groomed, she is well versed in the complete SDLC utilizing several analysis methodologies. Adept at transforming business and functional requirements into technical implementations, Adrienne is a self-starter, self-managed and forward thinker. The roles Adrienne has been staffed in has covered the gamut of managing cross-functional teams in fast-paced, rapid deployment environments, to PMO where she was involved in issue management, risk tracking, monitoring workplans and resource tracking. Her natural ability to communicate within all levels of an organization, makes her a welcome teammate. Adrienne holds a life and health insurance producer license, which is advantageous in improving a clients’ capabilities in an insurance practice and helping clients improve their overall performance by bringing an integrated perspective to issues of strategy, operations and organization. • Adrienne has experience performing the necessary Project Management and Program Office Management administrative tasks as delegated by the Engagement team; tracing issues, mitigating risks, escalating risks where necessary. Held User sessions and focus groups with clients’ constituents, stakeholders and business owners, provided project status to Engagement Partners and stakeholders. Managed Scope Change Control processes and updated project plans based on approved changes. • Adrienne has ability to develop change management skills to change agents using evolving methodologies to help achieve business results through transformation, business process improvement for new initiatives, workflow analysis, re-engineering technical and non-technical projects and identifying cost savings systems. As an Analyst or Project Manager, experienced in identifying audiences and users, cognizant of hostile work environments, particularly those in union organizations, conducting, facilitating and leading and stakeholders, and middle management through sessions and walk throughs. Business and functional requirements sessions, developing and writing Use Cases and facilitating business requirements gathering sessions (JAD) sessions. Lead the integrated business and technical teams in defining the vision and principles to drive the process change. • Adrienne has core consulting skills (i.e. Experienced multiple full project lifecycles from RFP through final delivery, technology integration/delivery, mainframe conversion, technical analysis and business development. Monitored milestones according to project plan, reduced scope creep.) Experienced in RUP (Rational Unified Process), Requisite Pro, ClearCase and ClearQuest and Agile exposed. Experienced in aggressive time-to-market requirements, design, development, and implementation of cost saving systems across all sectors and verticals; telecom, life sciences, healthcare, manufacturing, finance, supply-chain, insurance, high-tech, consumer products and automotive. PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE BUSINESS PROCESS DELIVERY MANAGER/SR. BUSINESS ANALYST 1/2003-11/2005 Arion Systems Houston, TX. (based) As a client serving member of an established management consulting firm that specializes in leading organization development and change initiatives, responsibilities were to partner with clients to facilitate transitions of new business strategies, processes, technologies, systems, and structures. Responsibilities include implementing and delivering improvements in cost, quality and operating efficiencies. Design/develop processes including researching best practices, merger services, strategic change, human capital optimization, gathering process requirements, designing to be (future state) processes, researching as is (current state) processes and identifying gaps. Included business process reengineering, business case and requirements analysis, process analysis and redesign, procedure creation, and process automation. Working with various companies in the public and private sectors, projects mainly focus on cost reduction, enhancement of current processes in place, efficiencies and controls within the workplace, revenue improvements, and quality improvements. Challenged the old rules of business and stimulated creative thinking to define new business processes. Interview business partners to determine business requirements and rules for system or process development and develop requirement models that convey those requirements to the IT project or service teams. Communicate and clarified project objectives and goals to stakeholder and business leaders. In project management role, work collaboratively with IT and business teams to build comprehensive work plans. Define system strategies, develop system requirements, design, record and detail process flows. Design and prototype new processes, test, train, design, and support procedures and implementations. Utilize strategic planning, process redesign, organizational structure and job redesign while developing strategies to redesign. Lead the integrated business and systems teams in defining the vision and principles to drive the process change Understand common best practices for business processes and communicate them to the business representatives. Collaborated with application designer-builders and business representatives to develop high-level business process designs and entity models. Identifies and plans high-level organizational change within the organization. Develop measurements and standards for process improvement projects with emphasis on driving standards of excellence, researching best practices, productivity, customer satisfaction and ROI. Facilitate transformation efforts by providing insight and demonstrate the ability to understand the impacts of change on multiple organizational levels and roles in support of the corporate structure. Conduct user sessions/interviews and facilitated JAD sessions. Develop and deliver process training based on user roles. Lead and coach client individuals and task forces in the effective use of management operating systems, tools, and process transformation projects. Represent stakeholder needs through initially leading and coordinating the collection of customer business needs and subsequently document, organize and communicate the requirements to appropriate members of the team, utilizing a structured methodology. Utilize group problem solving, team building and consensus development skills to implement the appropriate application of the assigned methodology. Experience with performing BPR, building requirements, and develop process models, Able to manage and provide support to a team of technical and non-technical staff. Maintain and build client relationships. CREATIVE SOLUTIONS ARCHITECT 8/2001-1/2003 AQUENT PARTNERS Chicago, IL Partnered with diverse companies to develop and plan their digital and business transformation. Demonstrated and applied strong project management skills as well as creative expertise, inspired teamwork and responsibility with engagement team members. Used current technologies and tools to enhance the effectiveness of deliverables and services. Tasked to guide creative design and technology consultants in development of relevant solutions. Assist with projects that include strategy development, requirements definition, business process improvement, stakeholder involvement, change management, quality assurance, risk management, user training, application configuration, system installation, and testing. Managed project plans and scope definition. Created high-level functional requirements for new development and enhancements of software products. Many projects provided a deep focus on site architecture, content management, and way-finding methodologies. Thorough understanding of usability and user experience standards for interactive, functional websites, capabilities of browsers, and design constraints of the web. The projects created world class user experiences for clients and organizations with only a brick and mortar presence. Documented system requirements from a creative standpoint through business process flowchart diagrams, use cases, wire frames, mock ups, system scenarios, design specifications, to sell the product or prototype. Performed liaison functions in communicating documented requirements between business unit executives, development and technical teams for use in development, configuration and testing. MANAGING CONSULTANT CAP GEMINI ERNST & YOUNG LLP, Chicago, IL. 10/1999-7/2001 First Creative Director hired for this ‘Big 5’ firm. Built the firms’ first Midwest Creative Practice from the ground up. Led creative and interactive strategic consulting engagements as well as new business and practice development initiatives. Developed work estimates, creative briefs and managed large teams and budgets, tracked progress, managed scope changes. Assisted in developing and implementing a new proprietary creative methodology leveraged from the Rational methodology to reduce creative cycle times, and develop compelling prototypes. Responsible for contributing to the strategy and building of new digital businesses from creating or assessing a strategic portfolio of opportunities to building realistic plans that will add value to the client’s bottom line. Additional responsibilities included scoping, defining, selling and performing on product feasibility, operational business area analysis and requirements definition engagements. Provided subject matter expertise in the areas of Visual Design and UI for web sites with a deep focus creating a world-class User Experience. Created use cases, scenarios, and user profiles. Guided usability tests. Directed focus groups, user interviews and JAD sessions. Conducted front-end analysis; interviewing, focus groups, organized and facilitated requirements gathering and validation sessions with clients and subject matter experts. Documented system requirements through business process flowchart diagrams, timeline diagrams, system scenarios and design specifications. Demonstrated an understanding of key design and human factor considerations of a wide variety of interactive environments. Lead UI Design teams in creating information architecture and user interface design. Instructed the design of UI prototypes using proprietary user-centered design methodology. Documented the design standards and guidelines, resulting in the creation in a world class user experience. Communicated user centered design objectives and goals to client executives and other development teams emphasizing on site development, usability, functionality, task flow and human factor issues. Translated user requirements through user session into usable interfaces that aligned with business goals. Created screen mock-ups, facilitated break-out sessions, which led to the development of use case scenarios, prototypes, storyboarding, style guides, and UI design specifications. Lead usability testing (led the design of prototypes, designed and conducted usability test plans, and analyzed results). Worked closely with business and technology teams. Led cross-functional teams in the process of creating effective user interface design solutions with human factors as a proponent. As Director and Project Manager, communicated and collaborated with clients, developers, producers, content developers, designers and information architects in all stages of development throughout the software life cycle deployment, including status, risks, project goals and objectives. Identified and resolved issues and dependencies. Managed project risks and changes impacting deliverables. Deployed resources based on competency and skill. Enforced a ‘one-team’ environment, mentoring and coaching multi-disciplined team members. Major Project Activities Undertaken Across Various Projects • Designed and developed Client specific business processes (customization) for major organizations, throughout various sectors and industries. • Project Management skills (Cost schedule management. Budget, Resource management. Manage change controls and risk/issue identification and developing mitigation strategies, PMBOK.) Experience in a PMO role, where I was accountable to Executive Management for planning and implementing company quality and change management initiatives. Experience with Enterprise Systems implementations from a functional perspective. • Have worked with business partners to design and develop solutions to business issues to create new directions for processes and procedures. Rewrote job and training aids. Assisted in the development and delivery of training for hourly and salaried team members. Worked with management to understand training and development needs of employees. • Developed headcount strategies through proven methodologies and assisted management in implementation and roll-out. SOLUTIONS ARCHITECT 9/1997-12/1999 C-CHANGE, San Rafael, CA (Contracted through Aquent Partners) Multi-faceted position contracted to lead the creative development of high-level business and technical design solutions to support a high-profile web based development and integration project for a major telecommunications company. Recruited, directed and managed a corp of freelancers and contractors for creation of prototypes and new business development. Directed conceptual development through various stages of production from strategy-prototype through full design implementation. Coordinated with site architects and production developers to ensure visual solutions communicated and functioned as planned; defined and architect the user interface that met the needs of the target audience. Worked closely with business strategists and information architects to understand content needs with special emphasis on usability, task flow and human factor issues. implemented solutions based user experience strategy that integrates creative and information architecture practices to a wide variety of environments – websites, intranets, extranets, and web-based applications. UI experienced, with a combined creative and user center design experience with a deep focus on site architecture, content management, and way-finding methodologies. DESIGN MANAGER MARSHALL ASSOCIATES, Chicago, IL. 3/1997-9/1998 Provided the creative leadership for a team of professionals in creating and executing comprehensive sales and marketing projects for a wide variety of retail and manufacturing clients. Planned, directed and administered all aspects of projects including defining scope, developing and monitoring progress of work plans, managing resource requirements and timelines. Developed and maintained positive client relationships. Designed and produced marketing collateral pieces, media projects, point-of-purchase displays, catalogs, trade advertising and print advertising. CONTRACTED ART DIRECTOR/CONSULTANT 9/1998-6/1992 NYTE OWL GRAFX, Chicago, IL As an Independent Designer, was solely responsible for working closely with clients to identify and interpret specific business needs requiring visual deliverables and to develop on and offline based creative products to meet those needs. Developed web design requirements, usability requirements, creative briefs, wire frame/click-throughs, prototypes, interactive elements, and final creative product. Managed those responsible for developing the creative product for new web sites or for maintaining and updating ongoing web content. Collaborated with teammates to determine scope, level of activity and product work schedule. Liaised with architects, business associates, stakeholders and systems analysts to understand the business requirements and technical approach. Provided expertise and support to the development and business analyst teams while creating and adjusting user interfaces. Disciplined in the art of graphic design, marketing collateral, logo design, UI, GUI and human factors engineering (HFE) As a creative professional was also involved in usability analysis and the final release and integration of the creative product. SME for visual design and development of creative briefs. In addition to developing and maintaining web page designs and content presentation, was also involved in defining and communicating design guidelines, and working closely with web architects and developers, client and ad agencies of record to ensure creative products adhered to security, world class usability and above all, client expectations. For off line marketing material, was responsible for creating catalogs, corporate collateral, print checks creating collateral with industry standard printing software such as Quark, Photoshop, Freehand, Illustrator etc. As an Entrepreneur, marketing self-owned creative consultancy lead to work as a preferred vendor for stellar firms such as DDB, Young & Rubicam, and Golin-Harris Communications. Finally into the world of the then Big 5 Management Consulting/Accounting firms such as PriceWaterHouse Coopers, Deloitte, Arthur Andersen, many Boutique firms such as Gemini Consulting. Won City contracts through the City of Chicago in the early 90’s for advertising, public relations and marketing. As a Sole Proprietary entity, my client relationships were built on integrity, fortitude and the ability to communicate succinctly with my team and the client every aspect of the business. EDUCATION Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL. Pursued B.S. in Public Health Administration 1986-1987 Illinois State University, Normal, IL. Studied Medical Technology 1983-1986 Licensed by the Illinois Department of Insurance in Accident, Life and Health, completed mandatory 30 hours CPE courses for the state PROJECT URLs http://www.cigna.com/ http://www.farmers.com/ http://www.hcahealthcare.com/ http://www.gmdealerworld.com/ http://www.amex.com/ http://www.bellsouth.net http://gte.net http://www.irwinmortgage.com http://www.bp.com http://www.uillinois.edu http://www.ccmsi.com http://www.lilly.com http://www.biogen.com REFERENCES FURNISHED UPON REQUEST