project management | The Contracting Education Academy

January 18, 2017 By AMK

Project management for the rest of us

For many individuals thrust or drafted into the role of initiative or project leader without a formal background in project management, expect a steep learning curve and bumpy ride.

In spite of the popularity of project management training and the growth in the number of certified professionals, most projects in organizations are led by functional or technical experts tapped to pull a team together and make the magic happen. The magic, in this case, is successfully completing the initiative on time, under budget and at the right level of quality.

Experienced project managers everywhere are smiling externally while secretly writing your project obituary in their minds. Yes, the road ahead is rocky. In this article, I frame the challenges and offer some getting started ideas and resources.

Keep reading this article at: http://m.govexec.com/excellence/promising-practices/2017/01/project-management-rest-us/134473

January 6, 2017 By AMK

Learn all about federal construction contracts beginning on Feb. 13

The Contracting Education Academy at Georgia Tech is offering the five-day Defense Acquisition University course, CON 244: Construction Contracting, beginning February 13, 2017.

The course focuses on government contracting issues unique to construction contracting. Topics include: acquisition planning, contract performance management, funding, environmental concerns, construction contract language, construction contracting in the commercial setting, the Construction Wage Rate Requirements Statute (formerly Davis-Bacon), the design/build strategy, schedule delay analysis, constructive changes, acceleration, and construction contract quality management.

To register for this course, please visit: https://pe.gatech.edu/courses/con-244-construction-contracting.

Who Should Attend

Contracting officers, contract specialists, contracting officer representatives, program/project managers, small business specialists, and industry contracting personnel.

How You Will Benefit

Attendees learn how to:

- - Apply federal acquisition laws and regulations, Department of Defense and other agency supplemental regulation, and agency policies, procedures, and best practices in soliciting, awarding and administering construction contracts.
  - Contrast typical support requirements with a federal Construction Acquisition Plan in accordance with FAR Parts 7 and 36, DFARS Parts 207 and 236, and agency supplements, policies and procedures.
  - Develop a construction solicitation package in accordance with FAR, agency supplements, and agency policy/procedures.
  - Evaluate, using appropriate procedures, construction offerors and the contract awardee.
  - Determine the applicable construction contract administration (compliance) approach, using FAR, DFARS, DoD regulation/guidelines, and other relevant agency supplements, procedures and best practices.
  - Formulate the remedy and appropriate clause for a changed construction condition in accordance with federal and DoD acquisition and other agency laws, regulations, and best practices.
  - Document appropriate actions necessary to verify and authorize construction progress payments and construction contract closeout.

Act Now

Plan to join your colleagues in attending this thorough and engaging examination of the federal construction contracting process. Complete registration details are right here.

October 6, 2016 By AMK

Changing the role of contract managers

The role of today’s “contract manager” continues to change. How and why it is doing so depends on one’s perspective, but from the private to public sector it is converging.

fischetti-ncma At the federal level, contract managers develop and manage contract vehicles between both parties; interpret and implement the myriad laws and regulations required for inclusion; provide sound business advice in the execution of pre-award and post-award functions, use a wide range of common contracting methods and contract types; develop and/or review complex pricing arrangements; conduct meetings with contractors on sensitive and/or acquisition-related issues as an authoritative contractual representative when warranted; assist in the procurement of standard or specialized services, commodities and/or construction within a contracting office;execute and track deliverables until final contract closeout, etc. This traditional “cradle to grave” responsibility is (to the extent it wasn’t already) a growing role at the state and local public procurement level as well.

Some government organizations, or the contract managers themselves, view their role as compliance and process enforcement, while others see it as much more. However, in going beyond traditional roles, should contract manager involvement start much earlier and be more comprehensive, including requirements definition, acquisition strategy and planning, spend analysis, source selection, supply chain management, project management, and the external relationships from beginning to end?

Keep reading this article at: http://www.federaltimes.com/articles/changing-role-of-contract-managers

February 16, 2016 By AMK

No agility without stability in acquisition reform

In early January, the House Armed Services Committee held a hearing to gather suggestions for reducing acquisition cycle times through experimentation and prototyping.

Their hopes for increasing agility were delivered in testimony from three armed-forces acquisition leaders: Lt. Gen. Michael E. Williamson, Army Director for Acquisition Career Management; Mr. Sean J. Stackley, Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research, Development & Acquisition; Mr. Richard Lombardi, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition.

The embrace of prototyping is a smart move and echoes other approaches to increase agility by the federal government, the private sector and other public sector organizations. Innovators such as Google have adopted and adapted prototyping to their innovation efforts to increase success of project and program outcomes in a process Google calls “pretotyping” which is now appearing in many industries globally.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.federaltimes.com/story/government/management/blog/2016/02/03/no-agility-without-stability-acquisition-reform/79761480/

A Veterans Affairs Department inspector general’s report on how the agency blew $5 million on a botched cloud broker program should be mandatory reading for any tech-focused program manager or executive.