The action plan presents a waterfall of new deadlines in the short term for agency officials responsible for implementing the new plan.

Learn about government contracting directly from the source. Take a look at Army Contracting Command's recently published training video describes the different types of exchanges with offerors that are used after receipt of proposals.

• Clarifications FAR 15.306(a) - used when the government intends to award without discussions
  
• Communications FAR 15.306(b) - used before initial competitive range is established
  
• Discussions FAR 15.306(d) - used after initial competitive range is established

You'll gain insight into how contracting officers are trained to draw the line between clarifications and discussions.

I got a chuckle out of this cartoon that appeared in my Linkedin feed yesterday. It was shared by one of my connections, Lynn Ann Casey of Arc Aspicio. It got me thinking about all of the times I've seen people try to reinvent the wheel on proposal process.

Gregory W. Pease of Tenzing Consulting presents some fundamental advice on improving your company's proposal writing efforts in his article "How Do I Avoid Reinventing the Wheel on Every Proposal?”

 In my opinion, the three most important ways to avoid caveman mentality are to:

• design an achievable schedule
• offer just-in-time training at the right points during proposal development
  
• mature the proposal process by 1) documenting it, and 2) incorporating lessons learned
  

Greg presents some ideas on how to leverage proposal content via repositories.  This concept is a double-edged sword. You run the risk of having the wrong customer name in a graphic, or worse, being non-responsive because your writers leveraged content designed for a completely different solution. Reuse squelches the creativity of the storyboard process and can inundate reviewers with too much text in the early color reviews.

Bottom line, the use of proposal boilerplate must be handled with caution.

I agree with the idea of developing a culture of improvement. Proposal people can burn out quickly, so it's important to reward them and encourage them to drive improvements in the process. Greg offers good advice to company executives to develop a list of 3 to 5 investment priorities and expected benefits and then share with everyone to achieve buy-in.

In the end, Greg sums it up nicely:  Eliminating “reinventing the wheel” in your proposal environment is about committing to change in the way you apply people, process, technology, and investment.

The Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) is a legislatively-mandated, 4-year review of DOD strategy and priorities. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel presents it as a 10-year plan with three priorities:

1. Defending the homeland
   
2. Building security globally, to aggression
   
3. Projecting power by remaining prepared to win decisively against any adversary
   

The QDR sets a long-term course for DOD as it assesses the threats and challenges that face our nation. It re-balances DOD's strategies, capabilities, and forces to address today's conflicts and tomorrow's threats.

Download a PDF version here:
Quadrennial Defense Review 2014

I had the opportunity to attend Bloomberg's BGOV Defense Summit at the Ronald Reagan International Trade Center. We spent the day with DoD officials and industry experts (partial list at bottom of post).

I must add that Peter Cook, Bloomberg TV's chief Washington correspondent, did an excellent job interviewing some of the senior defense officials. He's a native Washingtonian and seems passionate and knowledgeable about what's going on in government. Kudos to Bloomberg Government and its staff for putting on an fantastic event.

For me, the most exciting aspect is meeting new people and hearing their amazing stories. During the summit, I was fortunate to meet some super smart people including: 

• Nate Tibbits of Blackwood Advisory LLC
• Nathan Wilson, human trafficking expert, Founder of Project Meridian Foundation and CEO of Gallant Knights, LLC 
• Angela Harpalani, CEO, Dimensional Concepts, a Reston-based government contractor specializing in business intelligence (BI) solutions
  
• Also reconnected with Rear Admiral, USN (Ret.) Julius Caesar, Addx Corporation

At the post-event reception, I was in awe at the stores told to me by Lynda S. Roades of Roades Advisory. Lynda is a global public sector finance and government operations expert. She has assisted foreign governments including Afghanistan, Iraq and Zambia to establish and streamline their financial systems.

Partial List of Participants

Michele Flournoy, Senior Advisor, The Boston Consulting Group, Fmr. Under Secretary of Defense for Policy
Jim Talent, Distinguished Fellow, The Heritage Institute
Admiral James “Sandy” Winnefeld, Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
Heidi Shyu, Assistant Secretary of the Army (Acquisition, Logistics & Technology)
Elliot Branch, Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Acquisition (Navy)
LT. General Charles Davis, Military Deputy, Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition
Jeremy Bash, Founder and Managing Director, Beacon Global Strategies, Fmr. Chief of Staff, Defense Department and Central Intelligence Agency
John Dowdy, McKinsey & Company, Aerospace and Defense
Byron Callan, Director, Capital Alpha Partners
Rep Adam Smith (D-WA), Ranking Member, House Armed Services Committee
Rep Randy Forbes (R-VA), Chairman of the Seapower and Projection Forces Subcommittee, House Armed Services Committee
Rear Admiral Matthew Klunder, Chief of Naval Research, Office of Naval Research
Nancy Harned, Executive Director for Strategic Planning and Program Planning with the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army for Research and Technology 
Ricky Peters, Executive Director, Air Force Research Laboratory
Deborah Lee James, Secretary of the Air Force
Robert Hale, Under Secretary for Defense (Comptroller) and Chief Financial Officer

I help federal government contractors win new business in the for-profit arena; however, I'm often approached by non-profit organizations for advice on grant writing and how to locate a grant writer. Following are some of my recommended books and websites to help with grant search and grant writing tasks. Good luck to you!

The Only Grant Writing Book You'll Ever Need (August 2009)
Authors: Ellen Karsh, Arlen Sue Fox

http://www.amazon.com/dp/0465018696/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_dp_sxCktb1QZANN3

I own this book. The authors are successful, experienced grant writers who have done an excellent job providing all of the information you need to develop a grant proposal.

New edition to be released April 8, 2014
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00GL9TODI/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_dp_nqCktb1CVA4D1

Grant Writing for Dummies (new edition to be released March 31, 2014)
Author: Beverly Browning

http://www.amazon.com/dp/1118834666/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_dp_9zCktb1SNMJF8F8C

I'm not usually a fan of the "Dummies" books, but this one is very good. I own this book.

Perfect Phrases for Writing Grant Proposals (October 2007)
Author: Beverly Browning

http://www.amazon.com/dp/0071495843/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_dp_ECCktb1SZGD2A

This book provides specific examples of how to construct your needs statement and provides a lot of example narrative that shows you how to describe your solution and the evaluation activities/plan that are usually required as a part of receiving grant money.

Grants.gov - search for federal grant opportunities http://www.grants.gov/applicants/find_grant_opportunities.jsp

FoundationCenter.org - search for private funding opportunitieshttp://foundationcenter.org/findfunders/

Grants Alert - search for funding opportunities
http://www.grantsalert.com/grants

American Grant Writers' Association (AGWA) http://www.agwa.us/

American Association of Grant Professionals http://grantprofessionals.org/

Association of Fundraising Professionals http://www.afpnet.org/

Volunteer Match - find a volunteer to help with your grant proposal http://www.volunteermatch.org/nonprofits/

The Grantsmanship Center http://www.tgci.com

The Grantsmanship Center video series: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YXiAsoeSN0Q&list=UUQKwClajjqdn9UdrbP7v5xg&index=1&feature=plpp_video

Based on my experience on a U.S. DoJ grant effort, I have two key recommendations to increase your win probability on any grant:

1. Include formative and summative evaluation techniques to demonstrate that goals are being met.
   
2. Include information on your program's financial sustainability (e.g., long range funding strategy, commitment of other donors, etc.).

If you pursue opportunities with NGB, this 38-page statement is MUST READ. Have you ever heard the phrase "use the customer's language" when writing a proposal? This document will help you understand the NBG's current language.

This 38-page document communicates NGB's four key priorities:

• Provide trained and ready operational forces;
  
• Care for Guardsmen and Families: Enhancing accountability and become a fully effective steward of resources;
  
• Support and sustain the National Guard community, its members, their families and their employers; and
  
• Constantly analyze future threats and opportunities.

Download a PDF version here: http://www.nationalguard.mil/Features/PostureStatement.aspx

GSA announced that 123 small businesses have won the right to compete on its 10-year, $60 billion professional services contract, known as OASIS. The small business awards include 220 slots across six pools with some companies winning multiple pools.

GSA has not announced the awards for the large business portion of the OASIS program.

...as articulated by Kevin Spacey

As a small business, you may have been coached to prepare a one- or two-page capability statement for your company. Your company representative presents this document to government acquisition personnel in an effort to raise awareness about your company's business data, core capabilities, and past performance. At a minimum, it typically includes:

• Location: geographical locations where your company operates including point-of-contact, physical address, telephone, office fax, and email address
  
• Relevant codes: DUNS, CAGE, NAICS, NIGP, etc.
  
• Web address for easy access to additional information
  
• Facilities, tools, or technologies: include your partners, enterprise architecture, computers, or any other technology that can be leveraged to support your customer
  
• Financial data and firm size including:
  Revenue over last three years
  Number of employees over three years

Following are some examples of a standard 2-page capability statement:

• VISTA Technology Services, Inc.

• Ford Management Services

• SWP Systems
  

If you don't have a capabilities statement or need to refresh your own, I highly recommend reviewing Gloria Larkin's Refreshing Your Capability Statement. 

I can help you create a capabilities statement. Feel free to give me a call at 281.865.8648.

The Obama administration will send its FY15 budget proposal to Congress on March 4, about a month past deadline. The Budget and Accounting Act of 1921 requires the President to submit his budget request for the upcoming fiscal year no later than the first Monday of February.

When it goes live, the information will be available at: http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget

Following is what happens when a proposal consultant gets bored while writing a paper about Federal RFP analysis.

I discovered a shiny new toy called Wordle www.wordle.net and decided to see what would happen when I dumped my 10k-word draft into its java-based engine. I set the tool to create the Wordle based on the 150 most common words in my narrative, went with a soothing green and blue color scheme called "Chilled Summer" and selected the Grilled Cheese BTN font. Hint: common words appear more prominently.

POOF! Here's my Wordle word cloud:

Here are a few resources to help you unravel the mystery of this often confused topic. BLUF: Paul Heron nails it.

APMP
Proposal Guide: Compliance vs Responsiveness (pdf)
APMP Podcast (mp3)

Shipley
Proposal Guide: Compliance and Responsiveness (pdf)

Paul Heron's Clear Thinking
Bid Proposals / Complex vs. Responsiveness 

Larry Newman PPF. APMP (Author)
Shipley Proposal Guide
http://www.amazon.com/Shipley-Proposal-Guide-4th-Ed/dp/0971424462
As of March 7, 2014, the Kindle Edition is $13.99.

Mark Amtower (Author)
Selling to the Government
http://www.amazon.com/Selling-Government-Compete-Worlds-Largest/dp/047088133X/ref=tmm_hrd_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1394419757&sr=8-1

Bob Frey (Author)
Successful Proposal Strategies for Small Businesses: Using Knowledge Management to Win Government, Private-Sector, and International Contracts, Sixth Edition [Hardcover]
http://www.amazon.com/Successful-Proposal-Strategies-Small-Businesses/dp/1608074749/ref=tmm_hrd_title_popover?ie=UTF8&qid=1394417527&sr=1-1

Tom Sant (Author)
Persuasive Business Proposals
http://www.amazon.com/Persuasive-Business-Proposals-Customers-Contracts/dp/0814471536/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1394418219&sr=8-3

James Baker (Author)
How To Win Business From the Government: A Tactical Guide to Understanding the U.S. Federal Government Information Technology Marketplace [Kindle Edition]
http://www.amazon.com/How-Business-From-Government-Understanding-ebook/dp/B00884Q4HI/ref=dp_kinw_strp_1

Jerry Evans (Author)
Marketing and Capturing Federal Contracts as a Small Business [Kindle Edition]
http://www.amazon.om/Marketing-Capturing-Federal-Contracts-Business-ebook/dp/B00G71H4R8

Marillyn Hewson, Lockheed Martin's first female CEO, on running world's largest defense contractor

I recently attended Army Intelligence Day to gain insight to drive capture strategy in pursuit of Army business. Attendance at this event was limited to a small audience of cleared professionals. The Army's investment model was briefed during the morning session by LTG Mary Legere, Deputy Chief of Staff, G-2 (Intelligence). If you are currently formulating Army BD strategy, I encourage you to study this investment model.

Conference slides are available at AFCEA's website: 
http://www.afcea.org/events/armyintel/13/welcome.asp

Background paper for the event: Army Intelligence 2020 (Oct 2012) http://www.afcea.org/mission/intel/ArmyIntel.pdf

Get answers to questions including the following:

• What are the key Science and Technology (S&T) and Research, Development, Test and Evaluation (RDT&E) capability investment priorities being developed and implemented by the Army, with focus on Intelligence 2020?
• What areas should the private sector concentrate their internal R&D priorities over the next 3-5 years?
• What are the key enabling capabilities to hone the enterprise and COE in order to enhance situational awareness, visualization and operational decision making ?
• How can Industry partners help Army Intelligence meet the future warfighting vision?

The Army's DCGS-A Innovation Showcase provided an overview of the future of Army Intelligence and the DCGS-A program. This was an excellent opportunity for current and future industry partners to learn more about the technologies currently under development within the DCGS-A framework. Presentation and discussion topics included:

• Army Intelligence 2020
  
• Persistent Surveillance and the Intelligence Enterprise
  
• DCGS-A Technology Focus Areas 
  
• Overviews of I2WD and INSCOM laboratory efforts

About Distributed Common Ground System Army (DCGS-A)

DCGS-A is the Army's flagship Intelligence system supporting intelligence Tasking, Processing, Analysis, Exploitation, and Dissemination at every echelon from Company to Echelon-Above-Corps. 

DCGS-A ingests data from every sensor - from space-based sensors to the Soldier as a sensor, and fuses that data together in a common environment that is compliant with Intelligence Community (IC) and Department of Defense (DoD) standards. Benefits include: Powerful Analysis - because the analyst can easily access global data from 500+ data sources through the DCGS-A global architecture; and Enhanced Collaboration, because DCGS-A is also built within an open architecture - compliant with the Defense Intelligence Information Enterprise (DI2E), IC and Joint Information Enterprise standards.

Have you heard of the Haiku Deck app for iPad? I just created this deck "Federal RFPs Decoded" in about 20 minutes. Haiku takes your story and sets it free by searching the Internet and suggesting an array of high-quality images that photographers have licensed under Creative Commons. Navigate forward and backward by clicking the arrow buttons about midway down on the right or left side of the slide.

GSA’s Federal Acquisition Service (FAS) is developing a next generation contract vehicle for complex professional services.

This contract vehicle addresses agencies' needs for professional service requirements that: 1) span multiple professional service disciplines; 2) Involve significant IT components, but aren't IT requirements; 3) Require flexibility for all contract type task orders and other direct costs at the task order level; 4) Are difficult to specify or quantify prior to award; and 5) Create an environment of elevated risk due to their unanticipated nature.

Did you attend the May 13th OASIS Industry Day? Slide decks are now available for both large and small businesses.

https://interact.gsa.gov/document/oasis-industry-day-slides-available

Additional info:

• GSA OASIS Program Overview - Jim Ghiloni 29 OCT 2013
  
• GSA OASIS Overview - Jim Ghiloni - JULY 2013
  
• GSA OASIS SB Industry Day Presentation - Jim Ghiloni - MAY 13 2013
  
• GSA OASIS Draft Q and A Final Recs - MAY 2013
  
• GSA PreSolicitation Meeting Transcript - 15 MAY 2013
  
• GSA OASIS - Coalitition for Govt Procurement - NOV 2012
  
• Intro to GSA OASIS - Todd Richards - MAY 2012
  
• Intro to GSA OASIS - Jim Ghiloni - 18 APR 2012
  

Follow the GSA OASIS Blog: https://interact.gsa.gov/group/oasis-industry-community

Download a PDF version here:
www.uscg.mil/budget/docs/2013_Posture_Statement.pdf

Take a look at this self-interview where I reveal some of the tips on proposal management including recommended reading, industry experts and practical tools for developing winning proposals. For example:

What's Your Favorite Proposal Book?
The Shipley Proposal Guide v4.0 is an excellent resource for anyone involved in developing proposals. I encourage my clients to develop a proposal library and this book is #1 on the list.

Interested in doing business with the Federal government? Use the buttons below to navigate to your target federal agency to view the latest procurement forecasts.