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products it offers, aswell as its internal systems. Itmust compete in
a difficult environment inwhichmost newspapers are undergoing
large, digital transformations in thewake of declining ad revenues
and increasingmarket pressures.
“My specialty is to come into thosedifficult transitions,where
companieswant tobeexcellent andefficient, andfindaway to
increasequalitywhile increasingagilityandefficiency.”
JenniferCardella says her “passion” for processmanagementwas
ignited courtesyof UWindsor psychologyprofessorTedVokes.
“Hewas aphenomenal professor,” she says. “I tookoneof
his courses andwehadagreat conversationabout organizational
psychology. I immediately connected to it. I sawhowpsychology
andbusiness gohand-in-hand.Hehada large influenceoverwhere
I am today.”
Post-graduation, Cardellaheldpositions at someof the same
places asBoutros, includingPernodRicard, IACandBlackberry.
Her roles evolved from theaccountingdepartment, recruitment and
business analysis toproject andprocessmanagement.
Today, she isVicePresident, StrategicVendorManagement, and
ProjectManagementOffice forViacom, anAmericanmediaconglomerate
that’shome tosuchbrandsasMTV,Nickelodeon,VH1,CMTandComedy
Central. She joined thecompanyalmost twoyearsago.
Inher role, Cardella is responsible for thevendormanagement and
projectmanagement offices.Onaday-to-daybasis, thatmightmean
making sure that thedepartmentswithinTechnologyhave theprocess,
tools and services available toexecute their projectswhether that be
internal initiatives or anaward show.
“I’mnot theprojectmanager delivering the solution,” sheexplains.
“I’mmaking sure theyhave the right agileprojectmanagement tools
for bothplanningandexecution. I oversee thegreater portfolio.”
Cardella considers herself “in love”with “agilemethodology”—
adisciplined, projectmanagement process that encourages frequent
inspectionandadaptation, a leadershipphilosophy that encourages
teamwork, self-organizationandaccountability, a set of engineering
best practices toallow for rapiddeliveryof high-quality software, and
abusiness approach that aligns developmentwith customer needs and
companygoals.
Thereare several different softwaremethodologies that
canachieve this. Cardella is anardent fanof LeanSixSigma,
amethodology that relies ona collaborative teameffort to improve
performanceby systematically removingwaste. The training for Lean
SixSigma is provided through thebelt-based training system—white
belts, yellowbelts, greenbelts, blackbelts andmaster blackbelts—
similar to judo.
Earlier inher career, sheacquiredherGreenBelt and then
continued toearnmore certifications. “Itwas really important tome
and I paid for it onmyown.”
Shebrought thegreenbelt course toViacom. “Iwant people to
recognize thatwewant to invest in them. At theendof theday, it’s the
peoplewhomake the company.”
Cardellavolunteers as amentor toyoungwomen todayand is
looking forward tovolunteering in co-ordinationwithViacomas apart
of GirlsWhoCode, anationalmentoringprogram in theUSmeant to
encourageyoungwomen to consider technologyas a career.
“Tech jobs arepart of the fastest-growing in the countrybut girls
arebeing left behind,” she says. “The job is to close thegender gap in
technology. Iwant tohelpwomen succeedand tobe fully integrated
into that.”
The decision for husband andwife to collaborate on a book
about processmanagementwas a natural one for them. But itwasn’t
Boutros’ first book on the subject.
In 2013, Boutros andhismentor, TimPurdie, published the
award-winningbook,
TheProcess ImprovementHandbook:
ABlueprint forManagingChange and IncreasingOrganizational
Performance
withMcGrawHill. “Itwasmuchmore of a textbook
about processmanagement,” he explains.
The second,
TheBasics of Process Improvement
, in collaboration
withCardella, came out in 2016. “It’smuchmore of a practical read.
The feedbackwe’ve received is that it is very easy touse inday-to-
day jobs,” saysBoutros. This book has also received critical praise,
andhas been a finalist inboth theUSABest BookAwards, andBook
Viral Awards, while beingnominated for several others.
Working together had its challenges, the largest beinghow to
divide family responsibilitieswhilewriting. “Some days Iwas largely
with the kids andother days Jennifer took the lead,” saysBoutros.
“I think the toughest thingwas dealingwith the amount of time
it took towrite the bookwith a young family, aswe haddeadlines
tomeet.”
TheBasics of Process Improvementwas featured at a
January 2017 conferencewith theProcess ExcellenceNetwork
inOrlando, Fla. The couple gave the keynote address. Cardella is
also slated tobe a panel speaker inApril at TheWorkfront 2017
LeapConference.
Theyplan to launch a newbook in summer 2017,
AgileProcess
Management.
“Itwon’t be focusedonprocess improvement asmuch
as how a company canbe agile—more responsive toneeds and
changing situations,” saysBoutros. “Itwill be for peoplewhowant
more innovative andnewermethods of product delivery.”
Sodevoted is the couple to the value of processmanagement
that they incorporated it into theirweddingplanning.
SaysBoutros, “We planned a destinationwedding in three or
four hours.We prioritized, assignedduties, and largely completed any
needed taskswithin a four-week period.”
“We had stickynotes all over thewalls,” saysCardella. “Itwas our
weddingwar room.”Theweddingwent off without a hitch.
This approachhas continued into theirmarriage anddaily lives.
“We look at every aspect of our family and assess if andhowwe
could improve it. Things like, outsourcing certainhousehold chores
such as having groceries delivereddirectly tobuyusmore time as a
family together.We alsouse visualmanagement, like having a family
boardwith chores and tasks on it.”
AlthoughBoutros andCardella are in the same field, Boutros
admits that theydiffer onhow rigorous tobe about planning. “Jen is
more relaxed. She’s accepts shifts and evolutionmore so thanme.
I push execution a bitmuch sometimes.”
“I knowwhen to slack off a little,” addsCardella. “But, he’s
the onewho gets us back on the right path. He’s definitelyhad an
excellent influence overmypath and I attribute a lot of my success
tohim.”
n
v
TheBasics of Process Improvement
(CRCPress 2016)
AgileProcessManagement
(CRCPress 2017)
Available onAmazon
