September 17, 2019
Get to Know: Janella Funés, RevSpring’s Director of Project Management
This installation of our “Get to Know a RevSpring Employee” spotlights Janella Funés, Director of RevSpring’s Solution Delivery Project Management Office (PMO). Born in Texas, Janella moved around through much of her childhood because of her father’s career in the Navy. Posts included Texas, New York, and the Philippines. Now, she prefers the sunshine and lives in Los Angeles, California with her two dogs, Copper and Stella, and her husband, Jason. Janella joined RevSpring in July 2018, bringing with her a strong background in healthcare project management.
“It’s an interesting path I’ve taken in my work life,” Janella said. Her healthcare career began at MannKind Corporation, a biopharma company that specialized in diabetes and cancer drug development, where she worked in business development and then project management. During her tenure there, Janella was involved in Investigational New Drug (IND) and New Drug Application (NDA) submissions to the FDA. Janella then served as Director of Program Management, Research & Development for Abraxis BioScience with a focus on cancer therapeutics and diagnostics. Just prior to RevSpring, she worked for Orion Health, a health IT company providing integration solutions to hospitals, health systems, and insurers. At RevSpring, Janella helps improve the processes behind the delivery of our revenue cycle solutions.
Janella describes what she does at RevSpring in an informal pitch she once gave to an Uber driver: “I am the director of the solutions delivery project management office at RevSpring. We lead software implementations for customers and are also a source of knowledge and guidance for other departments on how to standardize processes. I manage the project management team which includes project managers and project coordinators. We implement mostly client-facing projects including our eVoke platform, patient statements, payment portal, and IVR.”
Creating a strong team dynamic is a priority for Janella, and she uses tools like the Clifton Strengths Finder to understand the skills and strengths within her department. “As a manager, I want to help my team find their strengths and understand how they work best individually, as a group, and then seek out what incentivizes and motivates them,” she said. “We do developmental training exercises every now and then that focus on employee engagement and other themes that come through in the things we do daily.”
Another piece of managerial wisdom that Janella shared is to end each conversation with a question, such as: “Do you have what you need to get your job done?” She’s found research from Gallup that only half of workers are clear on what they are supposed to do at work, and only one-third of workers strongly agree that they’ve told their manager the one thing they need the most to get their work done and why.
“Clearly laying out expectations and needs with my team helps to make sure we are on the same page, that they have the resources they need, and we are clear on responsibilities.”
Janella noted that she recognizes a huge range of work-life balances through past experience and in her current team. She believes that balance can look different for everyone, and in this range of experiences and methods, there is validity behind the various approaches. In short, everyone’s life approach to work doesn’t have to be the same.
“I think a good indicator is checking yourself and making sure you aren’t burning out. Some people like to work long and hard and get energy from achieving. When I’m on a roll, I ride the wave until it’s done. When I’m in the zone, I get so much done, and it clears my way. There can be pressure to mimic or match what others are doing. Some people like being online at 5 am, while some people find their sweet spot at 11 pm. Where work fits into those preferences can be fluid for each person.”
Passionate about staying active, Janella competes in a soccer league in Santa Monica every weekend. Her Apple Watch also motivates her daily. “I do jumping jacks by my desk to get my stand hour in between meetings. I’ll run in place for a minute if I need to!”
Janella displays the same determination and motivation for RevSpring customers, streamlining implementations and standardizing the process behind project management to support RevSpring’s overall goals. “Through the standardization of processes, through documentation, and then listening and learning from customer feedback and lessons learned—this is how I drive excellence and innovation at RevSpring.”
