Contracting Officer Podcast 2.0 (samples)

If you work in the Government acquisition world, this podcast is for you. (not just for Contracting Officers!) What is an ACRN? Yes, another confusing Government acquisition term.  ACRN is an acronym for Accounting Classification Reference Number.   Kevin and Paul explain how ACRNs are used and why both Government and Industry need to pay attention to ACRNs in order to keep the contracting (and bi...

If you work in the Government acquisition world, this podcast is for you. (not just for Contracting Officers!) Can a contractor evaluate your proposal? Tricky question. Kevin and Paul explain how this common practice can lead to organizational conflict of interest issues, what happens if OCI isn't addressed, and why the government needs contractors to participate in the evaluation process.   ...

If you work in the Government acquisition world, this podcast is for you. (not just for Contracting Officers!) Paul welcomes special guest Larry Leffler of Leffler Consulting (https://www.lefflerconsulting.com) to discuss the federal budget process.  Listen and learn: When does the budgeting process start?  Who is involved in the budgeting process?  How does a program budget request feed the syste...

If you work in the Government acquisition world, this podcast is for you. (not just for Contracting Officers!) Kevin and Paul expand on a blog written by Michael Derrios (Head of Contracting/Senior Procurement Executive at U.S. Coast Guard) about ghosting - the practice of withdrawing from communication without explanation.  The power of open communication is a regular topic on this podcast.  This...

If you work in the Government acquisition world, this podcast is for you. (not just for Contracting Officers!) Kevin and Paul discuss the impact of scale on government contracts.  Learn how contract size and scope can impact small and large businesses as well as government acquisition and program offices.    _________ If you enjoy our podcast, we invite you to check out the Skyway Community at sky...

If you work in the Government acquisition world, this podcast is for you. (not just for Contracting Officers!) Past performance is always an important factor in Government award decisions, but just having past performance isn't enough. Kevin and Paul dive into past performance once again, this time to clarify that the real value of past performance is how you apply it to the job at hand.   __...

If you work in the Government acquisition world, this podcast is for you. (not just for Contracting Officers!) The line above has been part of almost every podcast intro for the last 5 years.  We know the name has confused a lot of people.  In addition, we sometimes talk about Skyway Acquisition, which further confuses things. For today's episode Kevin and Paul attempt to clarify why they sta...

If you work in the Government acquisition world, this podcast is for you. (not just for Contracting Officers!) Kevin and Paul respond to a Skyway Community member's question about fall out money.  What is "end of year money" or "fall out money"?  Why does it happen?  How do I get it?  Listen and learn the answers to these questions and more.   Also a quick head's up:...

If you work in the Government acquisition world, this podcast is for you. (not just for Contracting Officers!) Price to win? Why would anyone price to lose?  Paul discusses the purpose of and methodology behind Price-to-Win (PTW) with Michael McNulty of McNulty  & Associates.  mcnultyinc.com   Learn how PTW is accomplished, what information it provides to decision-makers, and how it can benefi...

If you work in the Government acquisition world, this podcast is for you. (not just for Contracting Officers!) Back in the "good old days" of acquisition reform, 20 plus years ago, FAR Part 12 was born with the intent of making it easier to buy commercial products.  Kevin and Paul discuss a helpful addition to FAR Part 12 that now allows the use of the Time and Materials contract type.  ...

If you work in the Government acquisition world, this podcast is for you. (not just for Contracting Officers!) Kevin and Paul provide a simplified overview of wrap rates including what cost components make up a labor billing rate and a walk-through of a sample calculation.  Learn why some cost components are able to be managed and how others are not negotiable.   __________ This episode is brought...

If you work in the Government acquisition world, this podcast is for you. (not just for Contracting Officers!) Kevin and Paul return to CLINs to dig deeper into the Contracting Officer's responsibilities regarding CLIN structure.  Learn how "CLIN proliferation" impacts the acquisition and execution process and when new CLINs should be created.    __________ This episode is brought t...

If you work in the Government acquisition world, this podcast is for you. (not just for Contracting Officers!) Prior to negotiations it is common for both Government and industry contracts folks to get "clearance"  to negotiate a deal within a range of possible outcomes. Kevin and Paul discuss the FAR's requirement for documentation of prenegotiation objectives and how they are prep...

If you work in the Government acquisition world, this podcast is for you. (not just for Contracting Officers!) Kevin and Paul discuss the FAR's preference for telecommuting.  (or working remotely in more modern lingo) Learn why the Government must be clear when documenting requirements for performance at a specific site and how industry can use remote (or onsite) workers to build a competitiv...

If you work in the Government acquisition world, this podcast is for you. (not just for Contracting Officers!) Kevin and Paul discuss the phenomenon of "happy ears".  (otherwise known to the world as confirmation bias)   Learn how our tendency to believe information that confirms our existing beliefs and ignore or rationalize information that conflicts with our thoughts impacts our lives...

If you work in the Government acquisition world, this podcast is for you. (not just for Contracting Officers!) Kevin discusses real world application of the Acquisition Time Zones with Myran Hunter.  Myran is a capture manager at Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc. The Acquisition Time Zones are a foundational concept of the Contracting Officer Podcast.  Each zone aligns to a phase of the governme...

If you work in the Government acquisition world, this podcast is for you. (not just for Contracting Officers!) Kevin and Paul describe the symptoms of a preventable disease that often infects the incumbent contractor during a recompete: the dreaded incumbent-itis.   Many recompetes are lost because the incumbent contractor becomes overconfident and fails to recognize changes that have occurred dur...

If you work in the Government acquisition world, this podcast is for you. (not just for Contracting Officers!) Learn how recognize and use your company's competitive advantages to lock your competitors out of a competition.  Learn how government acquisition teams can use the lockout concept to devise a transparent, efficient, and mission-effective acquisition strategy.    __________ This epis...

If you work in the Government acquisition world, this podcast is for you. (not just for Contracting Officers!) We're all busy.  That doesn't mean we're all productive.   Kevin and Paul discuss a strategy many leaders use to focus on high priority tasks and carve through the busyness:  The 6 Month Rule.  The strategy comes by many names and certainly wasn't invented here.  Liste...

If you work in the Government acquisition world, this podcast is for you. (not just for Contracting Officers!)  The Contractor Performance Assessment Reporting System (CPARS) has been designated as the Federal Government-wide solution for collection of contractor performance information.  In this rebroadcast of an early foundational episode, Paul discusses CPARS with special guest Shelley Hall. (r...

If you work in the Government acquisition world, this podcast is for you. (not just for Contracting Officers!) Three contracting officers walk into a bar... Have you heard that one?  What do you think of when someone says "let's talk to the contracting officer" or "it's in the purchasing manager's hands"?  Happy thoughts? Confidence?  Dread? Kevin and Paul discus...

If you work in the Government acquisition world, this podcast is for you. (not just for Contracting Officers!) Kevin and Paul discuss how the impacts of yet another government shutdown flow far beyond the thousands of people out of work.  Learn why the long term impacts can be greater than the short term pain and explore a few of the tools that government acquisition offices may use to keep things...

If you work in the Government acquisition world, this podcast is for you. (not just for Contracting Officers!) This is Part 2 of our mini-series on the “Fair Opportunity” process.  Kevin and Paul discuss the ordering process for task orders and delivery orders under Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contracts.  FAR 16.505(a) lays out the rules which are incorporated into your contrac...

If you work in the Government acquisition world, this podcast is for you. (not just for Contracting Officers!) Kevin and Paul discuss the concept of "the complex sale" and the complex buy on the other side of the equation.  Learn how industry can leverage the power of the complex sale and how government acquisition teams can use existing acquisition regulations to make government contrac...

If you work in the Government acquisition world, this podcast is for you. (not just for Contracting Officers!) This is Part 3 of our mini-series on the “Fair Opportunity” process. Winning the IDIQ contract was the first step. This is the step that counts. Kevin and Paul explain how orders are COMPETED between IDIQ contract holders.  Bottom line, all orders must give a “fair opportunity” for IDIQ c...