Client: A Leading Multinational Corporation in the Palm Oil and Rubber Plantation Industry

Duration ⏱️ : 12 months

The Kanban Board is a reflection of how I typically structure my workflow on platforms like Jira, Notion, or Trello. I encourage the reader to explore the tickets I’ve created, which showcase real-life scenarios I’ve encountered while working on various projects. These tickets capture narratives involving interactions with stakeholders, developers, and other team members.

One unique aspect of my approach is that developers move the tickets themselves. This is intentional—by allowing them this responsibility, I promote transparency and accountability within the team. It creates a seamless flow of communication between me and my team, ensuring everyone is aligned and up to date on task progress.

My skills and experience extend beyond these examples, and I look forward to facing new challenges. I’m confident in my ability to navigate different situations successfully!

Team Size🙎🏼‍♂️: 7 members

Objective❗:

To digitalise the manual operations from bunch counting to delivery, using NFC cards and cloud-based data storage

Key Achievements ✅:

Successfully digitalised 70% of the manual process

Reduced 50% usage of paper

Improved data tracing & accuracy by 95%

Tools Used 📝:

Figma: a collaborative design tool used by designers to showcase their work to me & the client

Notion: a tool used as a task management tools for designers

Jira: a collaborative tool used as task management between project manager, stakeholders & tech team

Google Sheets: used to create project timeline, bug report, and is shared with the client

During the initiation phase of our project with a renowned Rubber Plantation company, known for its oil palm development in Malaysia, it became clear that we would need to work closely with their IT team. While our team was tasked with front-end development, the client’s IT team would handle the back-end. To add a twist, the client candidly told us, “Scott, these two modules will only be ready towards the end,” which left us with a tricky situation. 🥲

Given this, I had to consider multiple factors to ensure smooth project delivery:

Ensuring Parallel Development: How do we align the development of the front-end and back-end to ensure timelines are met?

Handling Missing Information: What if there’s missing information during development?

Reprioritisation Risks: If there’s a shift in priorities, how do I ensure both teams can still deliver on time?

Naturally, like anyone else, I felt the pressure. Every stakeholder seemed to be looking to me with that classic Malaysian accent saying, "Scott, ok ah?" and "We trust you ah." The responsibility was on me, and I had to deliver.

I took a step back and realised that the key to resolving all these concerns was effective COMMUNICATION.

So, I implemented Agile practices: daily stand-ups, a Kanban board, and weekly reviews. By streamlining communication, we managed to reduce project delays and increase efficiency by 15%, keeping everything on track.

In the end, clear communication and Agile practices made all the difference!

Challenges & Solutions ⛔:

During our weekly review with the client, we discussed the project timeline, covering:

Current Focus: What module or feature we were concentrating on that week.

Completion Status: We had completed about 50-60% of the current tasks.

Blockers: There were no blockers at the time.

Following this, we proceeded with a demo to show the client what we had accomplished based on our prior discussions and requirements. The client responded positively, stating, “All looks good.” However, they then requested, “Scott, can we shift focus to module X now because of…”

Active Listening: I immediately acknowledged their request while simultaneously reviewing our requirements document to check if the new request was in scope or if it constituted scope creep.

Scope Verification: Upon confirming that the module was in the original scope, it became clear that the client wanted to reprioritise the work.

Collaborative Discussion: I engaged with the client, saying:

“I understand your request and the rationale behind shifting priorities. However, I would like to clarify the impact this change may have on the timeline and deliverables.”

I then explained the potential consequences of the reprioritization and suggested that completing the current module first, given the remaining effort, might be more efficient.