Customer Project Manager

Results-oriented professional with experience in all aspects of technical communications, including project management, content strategy, engineering documentation, Agile methodology, facilitation, and usability expertise. Strong written and verbal communication skills with expertise in interviewing and working with developers to take documentation from reference material to customer-usable content. Skilled at managing multiple projects and mentoring new writers.

Core Competencies

Content development

Software and hardware environments

Process design and improvement

Agile and Waterfall methodology

Analytical thinking and problem solving

Interactive communication skills

Mentoring

Content Development: Possess superior interpersonal skills; expert interviewer and researcher to capture the essence of detailed technical matters and present them in a form that works for the intended audience

Software/Hardware Environment: Involved throughout the software and hardware development lifecycle including participation on cross-functional teams from initial design through changes during iterations (waterfall and agile methodologies), and to QA support through builds. Full participant on three active Agile Scrum teams.

Project Management: Conscientious and detail-oriented project manager able to deliver high quality user-centered documentation on time for multiple projects concurrently. Tracked and reported project status weekly on multiple projects.

Tools and Methodologies: Have used many tools from engineering to documentation. MadCap Flare/Analyzer, Confluence, FrameMaker, Microsoft Office Suite, Author-it, Visio, GIMP, HTML, Adobe Acrobat, SnagIt, SharePoint, CSS, XML, content management, OnTime, Agile methodology, VersionOne, Linux.

Professional Experience

CA Technologies – Plano, TX 08/2013 – 07/2015

Sr. Technical Information Engineer

Full Agile team member on Scrum teams developing five mainframe products and a new hybrid mainframe/SaaS storage product, Cloud Storage for System z (CS4z). Organized, developed, created and edited content that included text, graphics and video scripts. Advocated for the user experience with all Scrum team members and Product Management. Drove team communications to ensure proper Agile transition and operations. Helped to convert product doc sets from book-based to web-based content, and then modernized to full DocOps content residing on the Confluence wiki engine. After the CS4z release, the team awarded me the title, “Seeker of Truth” who kept them on track and challenged their decisions during the entire period.

Tested documentation and products on multiple platforms including Windows and Linux, and in multiple browsers including Chrome and Firefox. Discovered defects team would have missed and worked with team to ensure defects were fixed.

Monitored social media channels, interacting with customers and passing on relevant items to the teams. Discovered that customers wanted tasked-based documentation. Convinced Product Manager to run a survey to get more information on customer documentation needs.

Mentored a new hire on technical writing, tools use, standards, and proper Agile communications. With no technical writing training, allowing her to come up-to-speed much faster than normal.

Convinced team members in Services, Development, QA, and other groups of the need to switch from reference-based to user-friendly how-to content. Succeeded in getting them to adopt the Wiki and learn to edit in the Wiki. Customers readily accepted after seeing how searchable the doc was.

Presented all documentation developments at customer sprint reviews. This resulted in customers volunteering to review documentation and provide feedback consistently for each sprint.

Acknowledged by upper management as one of the most successful total Agile teams including documentation.

T System, Inc. – Dallas, TX 02/2006 – 07/2013

Senior Technical Writer

Evolved T System (Best-of-Breed EDIS company) documentation from a set of reference specifications to a full suite of usable how-to guides for clinicians on par with the high quality software. Persuaded customers to participate in document development and reduced support call significantly.

As lone writer, planned and developed user how-to documentation that enabled users to fully use the software while meeting government standards and improving coding and billing. Built the team to three writers and successfully implemented an online help system using MadCap Flare.

Redesigned the SharePoint technical documentation web site for usability and received 98% approval rating from a 78% return on user-feedback survey conducted in 2007.

Created a configuration spreadsheet tool in Excel to assist customers and account managers in implementing the software. The spreadsheet is used to record and store customer input that helps align site implementations with product and government standards and serves as a future reference for customer support.

Redesigned the platform requirements document and created software installation instructions that guide the customer support and implementation teams through the installation process.

Conducted user surveys with clinicians to determine software usability and identify areas needing the most assistance. Received 75% return on the surveys distributed; implemented changes based on the results and instituted a customer review board for training and documentation.

Texas Instruments – ASIC and Design Automation Division (DAD) 02/1985 – 08/2005

Senior Technical Communicator

Worked with local and worldwide teams to develop online product documentation Web sites; delivered internal and customer documentation that included cell libraries, flow information, datasheets, and other documents to design ASICs. We saved more than $1M in projected printing costs in the first year. We delivered 14 Web sites per release on internal and secure extranet and zip files for customers. This included over 100,000 pages per release with two to four releases per year.

Member of team that conceived and created graphics-driven flow design Web site providing up-to-date information to customers in an accessible and searchable format. Planned and carried out usability testing for the Web site.

Managed a cross-functional team that developed an automated rules and error database to generate customer documentation for Test Description Language tools.

Spearheaded team to convert internal paper documentation to online documentation. Defined requirements, established metrics, evaluated available software packages, set standards, and implemented system. Conducted usability tests and achieved 100% customer approval.

Led cross-functional team to determine the job function skills of DAD employees and managed development of an automated system to publish this information to better serve DAD customers by using all available resources. (The Design Automation Division developed the software other engineers inside TI used to develop ASIC chips. All divisions of TI had access to this database.)

Served as usability expert for fabrication software developers in DAD, gathered product requirements from customers, created specifications, and implemented first context-sensitive help system for Design Automation Division with customer acceptance.

Along with a TI colleague, redesigned and wrote a diversity training class that was more applicable and acceptable to the Design Automation Division vice president and participants.

Education

BS, Indiana State University, Journalism

MS, Ball State University, Public Relations and Photojournalism (all but thesis)

Certificate in Usability, University of Waterloo, Canada

Continuing education in usability, technical writing, project management, business analysis, team leadership, diversity, quality methods, conflict management and cultural awareness through TI internal training and classes at Southern Methodist University and University of Texas at Dallas

Additional Relevant Information

Elected Associate Fellow, Society for Technical Communication (STC)

Presented, co-presented, or participated as a panelist at STC international and regional conferences and seminars:

The Basics of HTML, How to Get Started

Creating a Dynamic International Team

Automating Web Development for High-Performance Teams (presented as Web seminar to Intel Documentation teams)

Single Sourcing, You can do it

Online Documentation, the Way to Go (co-presented with Fujitsu employees to Adobe Inc. customers)

Wrote articles for both local chapter and international STC newsletters:

How to Get the Most Cooperation from SMEs

If you don’t like the way it’s done, volunteer to change it

Fast and Easy Usability

How to Develop Standards for Your Group

Promote Your Chapter Through Effective PR

Served on Adobe, Inc. customer board for five years.

Co-founded a 501(c) 3 non-profit feline rescue group called New Beginnings Cat Rescue. With colleague, designed and implemented organization’s Web site and newsletter, created brochures, wrote grant proposals, and created training for volunteer positions. I was a board member for six years and continue to volunteer.

Served as steering team member since 1998 for Dallas Boosting Engineering, Science, and Technology (BEST), competition for high school and middle school students. Served on the BEST Robotics, Inc. (BRI) parent organization Board of Directors and created standards and training for BRI. Volunteer since 1995.

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