Michael Falkson

• Collaborated on strategic plans in coordination with executive leadership to drive business growth through effective project execution.
• Promoted knowledge sharing among team members through regular workshops, trainings, and seminars on best practices in project management methodologies.
• Streamlined communication channels between departments for improved collaboration on projects.
• Enhanced overall project performance by providing guidance and support to project managers and teams.
• Boosted stakeholder satisfaction by enabling transparent reporting on project status and progress.
• Improved project management processes by implementing best practices and industry-standard tools.
• Reduced project risk through proactive identification and mitigation of potential issues.
• Developed comprehensive training programs for new hires to quickly onboard them onto PMO processes and expectations.
• Optimized resource allocation across multiple projects, ensuring timely delivery within budget constraints.
• Led cross-functional teams in delivering high-quality results while adhering to strict timelines.
• Assigned tasks to IT personnel and junior module staff, delegating work orders based on individual employee proficiencies.
• Established team priorities, maintained schedules and monitored performance.
• Defined clear targets and objectives and communicated to other team members.
• Evaluated employee performance and conveyed constructive feedback to improve skills.
• Developed detailed plans based on broad guidance and direction.

Responsible for facilitating the Scrum process for an Agile team, ensuring that Scrum practices are adhered to and that the team is working efficiently towards achieving its goals. The Scrum Master serves as a servant leader, helping to remove obstacles, foster collaboration, and create a productive environment for the team to thrive.

Key Responsibilities:

• Facilitate Scrum Events: Daily Standups: Lead and facilitate daily standup meetings to ensure effective communication and alignment.
  Sprint Planning: Guide the team in planning and organizing tasks for each sprint, ensuring that the goals are clear and achievable.
  Sprint Review and Retrospective: Facilitate sprint reviews and retrospectives, helping the team reflect on their performance and make continuous improvements.
  Backlog Refinement: Work with the Product Owner and team to ensure the product backlog is well-defined and prioritized.
  
• Support and Guide the Team: Ensure that the team follows Scrum principles and practices, helping them stay focused on the sprint goals.
  Remove impediments and roadblocks that may hinder the team's progress, ensuring that team members have the resources and support required.
  Foster a culture of self-organization within the team, encouraging team members to take ownership of their tasks and collaborate effectively.
  
• Collaboration with the Product Owner: Assist the Product Owner in managing and prioritizing the product backlog.
  Ensure that the team has a clear understanding of the requirements and priorities of the project.
  Help communicate between the development team and the Product Owner to ensure alignment and transparency.
  
• Continuous Improvement: Encourage a culture of continuous improvement by regularly assessing team dynamics, processes, and performance.
  Work with the team to identify opportunities for improvement, implement feedback from retrospectives, and help optimize Scrum processes.
  Help the team grow and mature in their Agile practices, promoting learning and development.
  
• Stakeholder Engagement: Act as a liaison between the development team and external stakeholders, ensuring that expectations are managed and communicated effectively.
  Provide transparency on progress, impediments, and risks to relevant stakeholders.
  Work with the leadership team to ensure alignment between the Scrum team’s goals and organizational objectives.
  
• Coaching and Mentoring: Coach the team on Agile principles, Scrum practices, and self-organizing behaviors.
  Provide guidance to new team members or teams transitioning to Scrum, helping them get up to speed.
  Offer support in conflict resolution, communication, and collaboration within the team.
  
• Monitor and Track Progress: Help the team track sprint progress using Scrum artifacts like burn-down charts, sprint goals, and velocity reports.
  Identify trends or issues that may impede the team's success and work proactively to address them.
  Ensure that Scrum processes are being followed effectively and identify areas for improvement.
  
• Excellent communication, facilitation, and interpersonal skills.
  Ability to build trust and foster collaboration within a cross-functional team.
• Problem-solving and conflict-resolution abilities.
• Strong organizational and time management skills.
• Experience with Agile project management tools such as Jira, Trello)
  

COACHING INDIVIDUALS

Strength coaching supports individuals in leveraging their natural talents for greater fulfillment, productivity, and success. By focusing on strengths, individuals can navigate life with more clarity, confidence, and purpose

Strength coaching for an individual offers numerous benefits that can significantly enhance both personal and professional growth. Here are some of the key advantages:

• Increased Self-Awareness: Coach individuals to gain a deeper understanding of their unique talents, skills, and abilities, leading to greater confidence and self-acceptance, allowing individuals to focus on areas where they naturally excel.
• Improved Focus and Direction: By helping people to identify and align with their strengths, ensures clearer goals and priorities. This allows them to focus their time and energy on activities that align with their natural abilities, leading to more productive and meaningful outcomes.
• Higher Motivation and Engagement: Strength coaching can guide individuals toward roles, tasks, and projects that resonate with their core competencies, increasing their enthusiasm and commitment to work, leading to higher engagement.
• Enhanced Performance: Focusing on strengths typically leads to better performance. By honing and applying their natural talents, individuals can achieve higher levels of success and excellence, particularly in areas that matter most to them.
• Greater Resilience: Strength coaching helps individuals recognize how their strengths can serve as resources during challenging times. When faced with setbacks or obstacles, individuals who are aware of their strengths are better equipped to overcome difficulties, adapt, and stay focused on solutions.
• Increased Confidence: As individuals recognize and leverage their strengths, their confidence tends to grow. This increased self-assurance enables them to take on new challenges, seize opportunities, and engage in more fulfilling experiences.
• Enhanced Personal Growth: Strength coaching encourages individuals to continuously develop and refine their strengths. As they learn more about themselves and their capabilities, they can pursue continuous personal growth, ultimately enhancing both their skills and character.
• Improved Relationships: Understanding one’s own strengths can also improve relationships with others. When individuals are clear about their strengths and how they work best, they can communicate more effectively, collaborate better, and engage in more authentic, positive interactions with colleagues, friends, and family.
• Career Advancement: Individuals who understand and capitalize on their strengths are often more successful in their careers. Strength coaching can guide individuals to identify career paths or roles where they can thrive, positioning them for greater professional growth and advancement.
• Better Decision-Making: Knowing one’s strengths helps with making more informed and confident decisions. Individuals are more likely to choose paths and make choices that align with their core abilities, leading to more effective and satisfying decisions in both personal and professional life.

COACHING TEAMS

• Passionate about creating high performing teams, by helping team leaders and members to recognize and honor the unique talents and strengths in the team, and then harness the power of the group, which leads to;
• Enhanced Collaboration: When team members are aware of each other's strengths, they can collaborate more effectively by leveraging each person’s unique skills. This leads to better communication, cooperation, and a more cohesive team dynamic.
• Increased Engagement and Motivation: People are more likely to be engaged and motivated when they are utilizing their strengths. Working in roles or tasks that align with personal strengths fosters a sense of fulfillment, leading to higher job satisfaction and enthusiasm.
• Optimized Resource Allocation: By identifying the strengths of each team member, leaders can delegate tasks that align with individual capabilities. This ensures that the right person is doing the right work, increasing efficiency and reducing the likelihood of mistakes.
• Higher Performance and Productivity: When individuals are in positions that capitalize on their strengths, they are more likely to excel in their work. This leads to higher performance outcomes and improved overall productivity.
• Enhanced Problem-Solving: Teams that understand and respect each other’s strengths are better equipped to approach challenges from diverse angles. A variety of strengths provides a broader set of tools for creative problem-solving and innovation.
• Better Conflict Resolution: When team members understand each other's strengths, they are more likely to appreciate the value that each person brings to the team. This can help reduce misunderstandings and conflicts, leading to a more positive and supportive work environment.
• Personal and Professional Growth: Understanding strengths provides opportunities for personal development. Team members can focus on enhancing their own strengths while also learning from others, contributing to overall professional growth and skill development.
• Increased Trust: Recognizing and valuing each individual’s strengths fosters trust within the team. When team members trust that everyone will contribute in the areas where they are most capable, the team becomes more unified and effective.
• Collaborated with other coaches to share best practices, techniques, and insights for overall program improvement.

PROJECT FACILITATION

• Facilitation of multi-functional project teams, both locally and abroad, predominantly in FMCG/Manufacturing industry, but also in Tourism and Agriculture.
• Project work and training with Blue chip clients such as Unilever, RCL Foods, Danone, Pioneer Foods, SA and KZN Tourism, AGRI-IQ, AFMA, KZN Small Business Association.
• Highly skilled in coaching individuals and teams in collaboration, communication and information sharing.
• Coordinated multidisciplinary teams throughout the entire product lifecycle, from concept generation to commercialization.
• Built rapport with diverse groups of stakeholders by demonstrating empathy, active listening skills, and cultural competence during facilitated sessions.
• Ran risk management sessions to ensure contingencies and mitigation plans are in place to reduce cost and improve efficiency.
• Fostered an inclusive learning environment by addressing diverse needs and adapting facilitation techniques as needed.
• Built Project plans of quality and integrity using MS Project to ensure accountability and ownership within the team, in order to launch products on time in full.
• Coaching and guidance to Project Leaders on how to effectively manage their teams and drive good project behaviors
• Coaching of team members on sound project behaviors, and guidance on the end to end project process
• Provided stability and expertise to teams and businesses in flux
• Played the role of a Creative Catalyst disseminating learnings and expertise to project teams
• Played the role of a Challenger, pushing the teams to look for solutions to project issues.

PROJECT MANAGEMENT TRAINING

• Have run the Project Management Basics course for RCL Foods Management Trainee Programme since 2006, to current.
• Facilitated training sessions locally and abroad as part of the Unilever Global Project Excellence team
• Increased participant engagement by incorporating interactive activities and group discussions into sessions.
• Delivered high-quality training sessions, ensuring participants developed a thorough understanding of the subject matter.
• Provided constructive feedback to participants during debriefing sessions, fostering personal growth and skill development.
• Led virtual training sessions during Covid using web-based platforms while maintaining high levels of participant interaction and engagement throughout the event duration.
• Served as a resource for trainees post-session completion by providing follow-up support via email or phone consultations.

• Provided Project Facilitation for the Foods Business
• Managed the internal Project Management Portal(IPM) for the Foods business.
• Provided Project Management training for the entire business.
• Managed multiple high-priority projects simultaneously, ensuring timely delivery and adherence to budget constraints.
• Improved company-wide communication regarding upcoming innovations, fostering a culture of continuous improvement.
• Reduced time-to-market for new products by optimizing internal workflows and removing bottlenecks in the process.
• Streamlined innovation processes by implementing a project management system tailored to the department''s needs.
• Coordinated multidisciplinary teams throughout the entire product lifecycle, from concept generation to commercialization.
• Enhanced collaboration between cross-functional teams for stronger ideation and faster product development.
• Established team priorities, maintained schedules and monitored performance.

• Senior Brand Manager for Baking Aids and Knorr
• Optimized budget allocation, ensuring efficient use of resources to drive sales growth and profitability.
• Collaborated with sales teams to create tailored presentations for key clients, resulting in strengthened relationships and increased business opportunities.
• Fostered a culture of innovation within the team by encouraging creative thinking and embracing new ideas that supported brand goals.
• Managed cross-functional teams(Marketing, Sales, Trade, Supply Chain, Finance, Procurement, Production) for the successful development and launch of new products.
• Developed pricing strategies that maximized revenue while maintaining competitive positioning in the market.
• Managed crisis communications during challenging situations, mitigating potential damage to company reputation.
• Improved customer engagement with the creation of compelling content and media strategies.
• Enhanced brand awareness by developing and implementing strategic marketing plans.
• Developed training materials for internal stakeholders to communicate brand strategy effectively across all levels of the organization.
• Led market research initiatives to gather insights on consumer preferences, trends, and competitor analysis.
• Developed and executed branding campaigns to educate target audiences on product features, benefits and values.
• Researched and identified new opportunities for product and brand development.
• Managed and oversaw creative projects to drive quality, accuracy and deadline management.
• Organized and delivered training sessions for new product content and technological advancements.
• Mentored junior team members to develop their skills and further their professional growth within the organization.
• Monitored and evaluated marketing and advertising campaigns to support brand consistency and engagement.

• Assisted the Senior Brand Managers in managing the Robertson's Spice and Knorr Brands
• Assisted in the development of packaging design that effectively communicated product benefits while adhering to regulatory requirements.
• Created impactful presentations for internal stakeholders, demonstrating the value of marketing efforts on overall business objectives.
• Assisted in the successful launch of new products by coordinating cross-functional teams.
• Managed budget allocations for marketing initiatives, ensuring optimal use of resources.
• Supported sales force with timely delivery of sales materials, including product sheets, presentations, and training modules.
• Monitored and evaluated marketing and advertising campaigns to support brand consistency and engagement.
• Analyzed customer feedback and market trends to make informed decisions about product and brand messaging.
• Created and managed media campaigns to increase brand engagement.

• Ran the Robertsons account for Barrows POS, a home-grown Point of Sale business with international footprint.
• Increased client satisfaction by building strong relationships and addressing their needs promptly.
• Successfully resolved escalated issues, preventing potential loss of valuable clients while maintaining positive relationships with all parties involved.
• Conducted regular account reviews to identify areas for improvement and ensure continued success.
• Established clear communication channels between clients and internal teams, ensuring seamless project execution.
• Cultivated long-term relationships with key stakeholders in assigned accounts, fostering trust and loyalty among clients.
• Facilitated client meetings to gather feedback and adjust strategies accordingly, ensuring alignment with client objectives.
• Achieved recognition for outstanding client service, contributing to team's reputation for excellence(was head-hunted by Robertsons to join their marketing team based on this recognition)

• Assisted the receipt and launch of the Management Reports section of the FT
• Performed administrative and clerical duties such as word processing, data entry, faxing and copying.
• Communicated regularly with customers regarding account questions and issues.
• Provided excellent customer service while handling various inquiries from clients, fostering strong client relationships.
• Managed and responded to correspondence and inquiries from customers and vendors.