In this cast, we explain the basics of what Contracting Officers do. We define the role of the CO, along with some detail on how they are appointed. We also describe the different types of contracting officers along with some of our personal experience mixed in, of course. This cast has a bit more ‘in the weeds’ FAR language, but it should give you some context on what the CO does and why they do it. Enjoy! And please provide comments below after you listen.

Zone: Zoneless

One of the many unique elements of federal contracting is the Debriefing. In this cast, we continue our discussion on the nuances and lessons learned on the enigmatic debriefing. During Part 2, we cover some detailed examples of what we found that worked well and what did not work well from our experience.  We also talk through some of the specific items to expect during a debriefing as both a CO and an offeror. While we didn’t cover every element of the debriefing, we hope we gave you a real head start on understanding this uniquely interesting topic. Enjoy!

Zone:Zone 4

Zone:Zone 4

Listen and Learn…   One of the many unique elements of federal contracting is the Debriefing. In this cast, we explain what a debriefing is (and what it isn’t). We also describe the debriefing process from both the contracting officer and industry perspective. We describe our perspective on why both the government team and the offeror should invest their energy in a meaningful debriefing.  This cast turned into a deeper conversation so we broke it into two sessions for you. Enjoy!

Ever wonder why it takes, or at least feels like it takes, so long to get an RFP out sometimes? In this session, we discuss what the government team is doing while contractors wait for the RFP to come out. We talk about schedule drives, mandatory reviews and approvals, documentation time, the relationship between the complexity of the requirement and that of the acquisition plan, and others. We share some of our experiences on why we took “so long” to get things done as COs. The requirement is the “what.”

Zone:Zone 1 and 2