Nicola C Phillips
Senior Project Manager
Bayer Corp Science
St. Louis
Gateway Institute of Technology
BS, Interdisciplinary Studies
MBA
Master Certificate in Public Administration
Certificates
- Scrum Master
- SAFe Agilest
- Technical Leadership Certificate
RBC Young Professionals
Project Management Institute
Scrum Alliance
Women in Communication Technology
In short, what do you do?
I drive projects from inception to completion. I consider myself a coach/leader, I meet each individual project contributor at their present level, utilizing their skills and knowledge to assist me in the overall completion and delivery of a project. In all, I coordinate the intricate details of the project utilizing core fundamental and the facilitation of communication, organizing, defining, and managing key project components such as the scope, schedule and budget.
You previously worked in education and health care before pursuing project management. What propelled your new course?
I always hope to have my passions drive who I am and what I do as an individual as well as within my career. Considering this, Project Management is a career field in which I can always stay true to that. Project Management allows for greater flexibility, as it allows me to utilize specific skill set to manage and drive projects of varying complexities across industries. In addition, it provides a level of mobility that is beneficial when the economy impacts trends across industries.
What’s your project management style and philosophy?
Being well versed in many project management styles/methodologies, such as, Waterfall, Agile, Strategic, and Scrum, I prefer taking an approach that blends methodologies when necessary. Furthermore, for the sake of choosing, I would go with being a Strategic Agilest as my project management methodology seems to always be focused on the bigger picture while always determining ways to ensure that the customer receives their product and/or service in a timely manner.
Your nominator emphasized that you take special care in prioritizing the human side of business. What are some of the ways you keep people at the forefront in business?
Communication is a major element to keeping people at the forefront in business. Furthermore, behind every business case is a human need. It’s easy to focus on the bottom-line and/or the ROI. More importantly, I like to make a greater connection to the overall impact of the effort. I believe 80% of all projects have customer impact whether directly or indirectly. Because of this, I think it’s vital to always consider the impact on customers’ experience regardless to the return it will have to the organization.
You earned your MBA and hold several additional graduate certifications. Why is continuing education especially important to you?
Continuing education is the one thing in life that can not be stripped away from you. Education leads to growth and development of self. Exposure to education allows us to gain a greater perspective of the things arounds us. It ultimately allows us to generate opinions and have broader point of views, on things that not only affect us as individuals but the world.
What is your favorite social media platform and why?
I enjoy Facebook a great deal. The enjoyment comes from being able to share with millions from close family and friends to people we have met on our life journeys, to complete strangers, the life we chose to display. It is an innovative platform that can be utilized for many purposes.
