SONYA HOWARD

• Coached Executives, directors, managers, and teams towards agility to increase cashflow, build the best motivated team, create efficient/proficient systems, and manage their time.
• Enhanced team productivity by implementing Agile methodologies and facilitating daily stand-up meetings.
• Transformed project delivery by coaching teams on Scrum, Kanban, and Lean principles.
• Established a culture of continuous improvement through retrospective meetings and process refinement.
• Reduced time to market with the introduction of cross-functional teams and efficient backlog management.
• Streamlined communication between departments by creating a centralized platform for project updates and progress tracking.
• Developed customized training materials for Agile adoption, ensuring relevance to organizational needs.
• Mentored junior team members on Agile best practices, fostering collaboration and growth within the team.
• Increased stakeholder satisfaction by providing timely status reports and incorporating feedback into project iterations.
• Facilitated conflict resolution within teams to maintain momentum towards project goals.
• Led successful Agile transformations in multiple organizations, resulting in more efficient processes and higher-quality products.
• Optimized resource allocation by working closely with project managers to prioritize tasks based on business value.
• Empowered team members to self-organize, boosting morale and overall job satisfaction.

• Guided Frameworks team and Web Application team on how to use SAFe/Agile/Scrum practices and values while building infrastructure, backend services, user interface, and testing for International Hotel Group Concerto application.
• Improved team efficiency by implementing Agile and Scrum methodologies for project management.
• Coached cross-functional teams on Agile principles, leading to an increase in successful project deliveries.
• Developed custom Scrum boards for better task tracking and transparency within the team.
• Conducted daily stand-up meetings, sprint planning sessions, and sprint reviews, ensuring effective communication among team members.
• Resolved conflicts and facilitated open communication among team members, promoting a healthy work environment.

• Helped initiate the Compensation Engine Team that built an API and Rules Engine for Agents to offer consistent refunds to eligible customers who experience downgraded flights, thereby solidifying the final scope of the first MVP1.
• Improved team efficiency by implementing Agile and Scrum methodologies for project management.
• Created comprehensive user stories with clear acceptance criteria to guide development efforts.
• Assessed and reported progress to stakeholders regularly, maintaining transparency throughout the project lifecycle.
• Collaborated with Product Owners to refine requirements and ensure alignment with business goals.
• Facilitated seamless integration of new team members into existing projects without compromising productivity levels.

• Led five teams, across multiple work streams for a pharmaceutical company, as part of a SAFe, Agile Transformation Organization, using Scrum, XP, and Kanban, within scaled agile framework: while acting as a Change Agent and leading continuous improvement of teams, resulting in teams delivering value faster.
• Streamlined project delivery by conducting daily stand-ups, sprint planning, and review meetings for multiple projects simultaneously.
• Collaborated with Product Owners to develop clear product roadmaps and ensure timely release of high-quality deliverables.
• Resolved impediments to team progress by proactively identifying issues and facilitating effective solutions.
• Managed risk effectively through comprehensive assessment, mitigation strategies, and contingency plans throughout the project lifecycle.

• Coached five teams, across multiple work streams for a pharmaceutical company, as part of a SAFe, Agile Transformation Organization, by participating in Scrum of Scrums, at the program level, utilizing scaled agile concepts: while mentoring other Scrum Masters at the team level
• Resulting in 80% of teams changing from waterfall to agile transformation.
• Coached cross-functional teams on Agile principles, leading to an increase in successful project deliveries.
• Implemented key performance metrics to track team progress and identify areas of improvement consistently throughout projects'' lifecycles.
• Boosted customer satisfaction scores by providing regular updates on product enhancements resulting from feedback provided during sprint review meetings.
• Facilitated Scrum framework – sprint planning, backlog grooming, daily scrums, sprint reviews, and sprint retrospectives.
• Worked closely and listened to team members' feedback to identify issues and resolve conflicts.
• Collaborated with product owners, team members, technologists, and other scrum masters to define solutions and drive progress.

• Created a Scrum process to manage non-profit business goals by helping the team embrace Scrum values, adapted and applied Scrum principles, and implement Scrum practices, resulting in increased members and sponsors.
• Tracked project and team member performance closely to quickly intervene in mistakes or delays.
• Scheduled and facilitated meetings between project stakeholders to discuss deliverables, schedules and conflicts.
• Maintained open communication by presenting regular updates on project status to customers.
• Drafted project reports to identify successful outcomes, insights and future recommendations.
• Negotiated and managed third-party contracts related to project deliverables.
• Coached teams in Agile practices and provided necessary training to create positive mindset to Agile methodologies.

• Coached and mentored the team on Agile and Scrum values coordinating cross-functional teams to deliver ‘Done' products based on promotions for pricing and new devices, resulting in the new Cricket brand getting new enrolled customers purchasing new phones
• Exhibited Lean-Agile leadership and behaviors of a lean-agile mindset, overcoming missed stories and artifacts, by educating the IT-QA team on what needed to be tested, ensuring QA team had the current updated documentation, ensuring QA team were a part of the Agile meetings and tracked the progress of the QA team, resulting in removed obstacles so that Designers could focus on coding, and improved the transparency of the work completed
• Reinforced Working Agreements, overcoming missing vital members during Dry Runs, by validating the Pre-Production environment was ready prior, resulting in no more interruptions with the Dry Runs
• Facilitated the team's progress toward their delivery goal, overcoming Designers being pulled into other projects with equal priority and UAT not being completed, by facilitating discussion with the team on how UAT is a part of a ‘Done' product, resulting in obtaining dedicated Designers to completed UAT within Sprint
• Facilitated Scrum Retrospective, overcoming Pricing Promotions incorrectly stated on the website, by establishing a Working Agreement between QA and the Content Team, to ensure QA receives and reviews the Content documents, resulting in a dedicated QA resource for verifying promotions each Sprint release
• Enabled close cooperation across all roles and functionality with Scrum Work Streams.

• Led Agile process in converting railroad mainframe systems into web applications, by facilitating discussion, decision making, and conflict resolution within the team, resulting in converted systems with new features that the Business valued
• Provided guidance to assist the teams in constantly improving the quality of their deliverables and meeting the Definition of Done, overcoming code being overwritten, by guiding the Development team in understanding the need for Version Control builds, resulting in rework being reduced
• Supported the Product Owner, by ensuring the Refinement Sessions occurred prior to the Sprint Planning so that stories are ‘Ready' for development to start work
• Facilitated Sprint Planning, by reviewing Backlog and Business Goals, discussing each for a common understanding, defining ‘Done' state for each, sizing the work effort, and prioritizing and selecting tasks based on Velocity
• Created an open environment during Daily Scrum meetings, by exhibiting Scrum values: courage, openness, respect, commitment, and focus
• Removed barriers by shielding team from external interferences
• Ensured the Agile/scrum process is followed by leading the team through Transparency, Inspection, and Adaption.

• Enhanced product quality by implementing rigorous testing procedures and protocols.
• Reduced software defects by closely monitoring QA processes and providing timely feedback to the development team.

• Ensured Agile/Scrum concepts and principles were adhered to, by assessing the Sales Team backlog for Healthcare Quoting Solutions, resulting in new customers enrolling quickly
• Systems included ERP for Financial and Supply Chain, and SAP for Accounting and HR resources
• Guided the Development Team on how to get the most from self-organization, overcoming challenges with meeting Business goals, by empowering the team to manage their committed work, removing obstacles so team could focus on the Agile process and making sure time boxes were adhered to, resulting in the team self-guided themselves through the Agile process
• Facilitating Sprint Planning by sizing the work, looking at the backlog, selecting stories, discussing for clarity, and creating a definition of ‘Done'
• Facilitated Daily Scrum within 15 minutes, getting status, showing burndown, identifying barriers, tracking remaining hours, and giving updates on obstacles
• Empowered users by eliciting what their valued products, resulting in higher satisfaction in Sprints Reviews
• Held effective Retrospective by celebrating the success of Sprint, discussing challenges, determining what/how to improve and monitor for next sprint, while encouraging freedom to speak truthfully.

• Collaborated with stakeholders to establish key performance indicators for the QA team, driving continuous improvement efforts throughout the organization.
• Conducted root cause analysis on recurring defects, implementing corrective measures to prevent future occurrences.

• Exhibited Agile-Lean leadership and behavior while working with diverse teams for Web Presence security applications, by anticipating risks, dependencies and managing them proactively, resulting in AT&T competing in the security industry
• Created an open, honest, and healthy environment during Daily Scrum meeting by identifying and addressing obstacles/barriers, resulting in an improved Quality of Life for the team
• Removed impediments and guided the Development Team to remove impediments, overcoming lack of transparency of obstacles, by displaying and discussing the obstacles in the review meeting
• Anticipating risks, dependencies and managing them proactively, overcoming teamwork being delayed by other teams, by established weekly Scrum-of-Scrums meeting to discuss impediments and impacts to Sprint Time-Box, resulting in improved communication across teams
• Improved communication between vendors and IT teams for resolving 3rd party defects.

• Mentored junior team members, providing guidance and support to help them excel in their roles and contribute effectively to the organization.
• Recorded, analyzed, and distributed statistical information.
• Streamlined bug reporting process, expediting resolution times for critical issues.
• Oversaw vendor relationships to ensure adherence to quality standards during outsourced projects or collaborations.
• Assessed product quality by monitoring quality assurance metrics, reports and dashboards.
• Investigated customer complaints and performed corrective actions to resolve quality issues.

• Transformed teams through Agile for Data Migration efforts by guiding the team on self-organization to fully realize potential of the Agile/Scrum frameworks, resulting in increased Dealers Sales Supported the team using a Servant Leadership style and leading by example, overcoming a new Scrum team being established, by fostering a cohesive team built on open communication and dedication to get the work done, resulting in the team engaged in offsite team building activities once a month
• Led and demonstrated value-add principles to the team, by pursuing perfection of the Scrum process over time
• Challenged team during Retrospective to improve ‘Done', removing un-needed steps, and improving collaboration, resulting in meeting sprint goals.

• Streamlined bug reporting process, expediting resolution times for critical issues.
• Developed quality planning for multiple new product launches by verifying customer requirements and implementing in design and production.
• Maintained a high standard of product performance by conducting thorough regression testing on each release.
• Developed and implemented comprehensive quality assurance plans to monitor product quality and adherence to regulatory standards.
• Investigated customer complaints and performed corrective actions to resolve quality issues.
• Conducted risk assessments to identify and mitigate potential quality issues.
• Optimized test case coverage by identifying gaps in existing test plans and devising new strategies for comprehensive testing.