Crystal Areal | Freelancer Resume

CRYSTAL AREAL - CSP, CSM, CSPO, SAFe SA, PMI-ACP Agile & Lean Coach, Scrum Master, SAFe Agilist, Agile Program Manager Skills Agile Coach, Scrum Master, Program and Project Manager, Certified Product Owner Transformation of companies and teams to a more Agile environment and mindset Leadership of multiple Scrum teams, both in house and distributed Servant driven leader, leading by example and upholding Agile principles while removing impediments, helping a team self-organize and remain accountable for commitments Coach team and individual team members as needed in order to deliver the highest Business Value Kanban and Lean coaching (Lean Black Belt) Teach 2-day classes and short workshops on Scrum, Agile, Lean, Continuous Improvement, Scrum Master and Product Owner classes Lead SAFe Agile PI Planning Events Areas of expertise include Software Delivery, SaaS, PaaS, Retail, IoT, iOS and Android App Delivery, eCommerce, Government, Insurance Industry, Startups, Web Projects & more Tools, etc. SAFe Agile, Lean Six Sigma, Azure Devops (functional and administration), Jira (functional and administration), Confluence (functional and administration), Team Foundation Server (TFS), Service Now, Version One, Rational Team Concert (RTC), Eclipse, Salesforce, CRM, Adobe Experience Manager, Visual Studio, HP Quality Center, Pivotal Tracker, Rally, Clarity, Relay, MS Office, Project, OneNote, Excel, Access, Word, PowerPoint, MS Project, Visio, Cognos and SharePoint Experience Alaska Airlines (through Summit Group Solutions) June 2019 – Current Sr. Scrum Master Key Duties Service to the Product Manager Responsible for ensuring that goals, scope, and product domain are understood by everyone on the team to encourage the delivery of high-quality, high-value products Coach techniques for effective product backlog management Lead the team to understand the need for clear and concise product backlog items Contribute to the development of release plans with data and insight and leads the team to develop quicker service delivery and continuous improvement by utilizing feedback and metrics to identify areas of opportunity Help the Product Manager understanding value-based prioritization in an Agile environment Service to the Team Provide overall strategic direction for team to adhere to Agile principles and practices, including coaching the team to strategically adopt practices which optimize success in their context, leading the team to make measurable, continuous improvement and coaching the team in self-organization and cross-functionality Remove impediments to the team’s progress and manages cross team dependencies, including working with peers to resolve cross-team impediments Set the strategic direction for planning and tracking artifacts and tools, and in establishing and maintaining metrics that will enable teams to continuously improve Facilitate Agile events and provides transparency to team process and progress, including measuring and diagnosing team performance Service to the Organization Trusted representative of Team members and leaders, viewed as a strategic partner in the delivery of high-quality, high-value products that contribute to the success of our technology initiatives while creating an environment which embraces Agile Values and Principles Lead and coach the organization in its Agile adoption, including planning Agile implementations within the organization and leads change that increase the productivity of the team Lead in developing and maintaining team standards, tools, and best practices, operationalizing the plan, build, delivery process, while mentoring other Scrum Masters to increase the effectiveness of the application of Agile in the organization Help to set the strategic direction for planning and tracking artifacts and tools, and in establishing and maintaining team metrics which provide a comprehensive view of team health Coach management (including engineering, design and product) to identify opportunities to build high performing teams ClearlyAgile October 2018 – July 2019 Enterprise Agile Coach Collaborating and delivering Agile transformation roadmaps and driving those activities across organizations Supporting development and monitoring of Agile adoption/maturity metrics to aid in accelerating overall Agile transformation efforts and to gauge the maturity progress of new and existing teams Coaching and enabling large organizations to deliver outstanding product as fast as possible while having fun Coaching, mentoring, and teaching teams, as well as working closely with senior management to advance agility at the enterprise level Advancing best practices for scaling and optimizing the organization’s Agile Practice Helping leadership and teams appreciate the depth of Agile practices and principles as well as helping them understand the benefits of working in an Agile way Working with organizations on all levels to raise and remove impediments Creating training materials and other resources from a ground up Agile perspective, including project initiation, Agile readiness, playbooks, role specific training, etc. Responsible for key deliverables and guiding clients through their entire Agile transformation Creating and conducting assessments at all levels, giving organizations a baseline to work with for their transformation, and helping to move the needle in a positive direction with every re-assessment JIRA consultation, training, and implementation for outside clients Universal Studios Orlando (contract through North Highland) March 2018 – October 2018 Agile Coach, Scrum Master Digital Guest Experience Platform Acting as servant leader (Scrum Master and Agile Coach) for two Scrum teams while training a new Scrum Master for these teams Coaching through Agile transformation in an official Agile Coach role. Leading coaching workshops for all scrum teams, leadership, Product Owners, etc. Facilitating organizational change to allow for a transition to SAFe Agile. The StandardMay 2017 –March 2018 Sr. Scrum Master, Agile Coach, Project Manager IA and IDI Projects Acting as servant leader (Scrum Master and Agile Coach) for two Scrum teams Coaching through Agile and Lean transformations in an official Agile Coach capacity Managing resources, project budget and project process improvement identification Managing and escalating impediments that affect the teams and projects Ensuring accurate and timely communication with project stakeholders Driving project work and timelines in accordance with PMO portfolio schedule Coordinating communication, work and timelines between multiple teams, projects and stakeholders A Real Legacy, LLCJanuary 2013 – May 2017 Agile Program Manager, Scrum Master, Agile Coach, Product Owner, Project Manager, Director of Continuous Improvement - Independent Contractor at multiple sites: CIGNA (February 2017-May through consulting company) Scrum Master, Agile Coach Acted as servant leader for two Scrum teams Removed impediments and escalated risks, issues and concerns Tracked sprint health with burndown charts, release burnups, etc Facilitated all Agile ceremonies - Daily Standup, Backlog Grooming, Sprint Planning, Sprint Review, Demo, Retrospective Participated in SAFe Agile ceremonies such as PI Planning, Agile Release Train activities, etc. Walmart Labs (March 2016-January 2017 through consulting company) Digital Project - Product Owner, Program and Release Manager – Mobile Apps Acted as Product Owner for Android and iOS mobile apps Managed release process for Digital, iOS and Android mobile platforms Coached development managers and teams on Scrum and Agile processes Managed mobile application programs for vertical slices of Walmart applications Worked with project sponsors and customers to define business benefits, requirements and project scope Built partnerships across organizational and departmental boundaries Conducted all Agile ceremonies from Sprint Planning to Retrospectives Maintained multiple Confluence spaces with program and project information Managed Holiday Readiness across all mobile platforms and programs to insure all business critical features and bugs are worked and put into production in time for holiday season Feeney Wireless a Novatel Company (June 2015-October 2016)Agile Program Manager/Scrum Master/Director of Continuous Improvement – Internet Of Things and M2M Led the Agile transformation of several teams, including Scrum team formation, working agreements, accountability for commitments, Scrum training, methodology customization per team Facilitated Agile and Scrum ceremonies and coached other Scrum Masters in Agile best practices Trained employees as needed for Scrum and Lean practices Administration of Jira and Confluence tools Coaching and Scrum Master for Salesforce CRM team Creation of Release Management and Change Management processes Identified and developed communication tools which served to engage employees and created continuous improvement opportunities and conversation at all levels of the organization Regularly interacted with Business Unit Managers and the executive team in order to obtain project approvals and communicated trend identification and ongoing project and process improvement updates Ensured productivity project pipelines met identified timetables to sustain growth and delivered on assigned target goals Developed and directed continuous improvement projects with a goal toward improving process efficiency and manufacturing costs Reduced costs company-wide and increased ROI via waste reduction, providing visible ongoing metrics Promoted and supported a cultural change process across multiple facilities for all employees through coaching and influencing positive behavior Championed Agile/Lean/Six Sigma methodologies across all functional areas, including facilitation of Kaizen events and training/mentoring employees on Agile, Scrum and Six Sigma Nike (March 2015-June 2015 through consulting company) Agile Project Manager – Retail Knowledge Business Intelligence (manager Jennifer Beres) Managed the SKU Forecasting business intelligence project in Retail Knowledge Developed resource plans, project plans, communication plans and risk management plans Worked with project sponsors and customers to define business benefits, requirements and project scope Built partnerships across organizational and departmental boundaries Conducted all Agile ceremonies from Sprint Planning to Retrospectives and was able to shape the team into a more consistent velocity with minimal dropped points or missed deliveries Maintained the team’s Confluence space with Sprint information and reported this up to Program Manager weekly for presentation at department meetings Salem Hospital (November 2014-March 2015 through consulting company) Scrum Master/Sr. Business Intelligence Analyst – Business Intelligence Worked in a Lean environment, coaching newer Scrum teams and junior Business Analysts, working to improve the hospital’s Agile methods and metrics Created training for incoming Scrum Master/Analysts Created training for Product Owners Led Rapid Improvement Events with teams including development and clinical staff Managed Service Now Project and used the tool for managing Agile projects Major focus was improving process and outcome metrics using Agile and Lean UTi Scrum Master – Global Invoicing Team (January 2013-June 2014) Scrum Master for the Global Invoicing Team, which provided the customer facing invoice and shipment tracking system Led daily standup with a team of 8 onshore and 8 offshore Conducted sprint planning, retrospectives, backlog grooming, story time, etc. Facilitated meetings with Product Owner and Business Assisted in story creation and grooming Provided coaching, guidance and impediment resolution Collaborated with several other Scrum Masters across the organization to ensure business value and dependencies were not overlooked Coordinated and led product demos Education and Certifications Bachelor of Science 1999 Concordia College and University Certified Scrum Master Certified Scrum Product Owner Certified Scrum Professional – SM Certified Scrum Professional - PO SAFe Agilist PMI-ACP Training From the Back of the Room Outward Mindset Certified Trainer (Arbinger Institute)