"I specialize in program rescue consulting. I am assigned new clients to help large programs of work that are at risk of failure get back on track. I typically work with medium to large enterprises and programs that consist of multiple projects that affect several cross-functional teams, have multi-million dollar budgets, and have large-scale impact.

I was recently assigned to work on a series of projects to stand up several new international data centers for an enterprise data management company. They were working to expand their operations in India and they were significantly behind schedule and budget. The individuals running the program were operations experts and did not have official project management training. The strategic and tactical plans were lacking, the political landscape was tricky, and everyone involved was stressed and overworked.

As soon as I was assigned I jumped in and gathered all of the information available to me about the program's goals, budgets, resources, and history. I then facilitated a session with all of the leaders involved to discuss what was going wrong. I established trust and demonstrated expertise in both program management and the technical space their project was related to.

From there, I worked to restructure the resource assignments, hire experts needed to fill gaps, make scope adjustments, and develop a new communication plan. I met with each of the project managers and helped them to refine their methodology and plans accordingly.

The program was ultimately a success. I traveled extensively to India and the US offices involved in the project and I was able to establish healthy communication between all of the groups involved. It was stressful, but we met the original project completion timelines for 90% of the projects and we came in on budget. I enjoyed working with the people there and helping them improve their approach to programs like these going forward."