Integrity

Try these tools to help you hurdle change in Federal IT Acquisition

With a seemingly broader array and quicker pace of threats, risks, and opportunities set against a backdrop of resource scarcity, maximizing value through optimal delivery of secure, citizen and customer-centric capabilities in line with strategy and priorities are more important than ever. Further, as we move through the Information age, the rate of change in the …

Performance Management Act II – Overcoming Challenges

There is an old saying, “the second act is the best” because it delves deeper into the meat of a story, including challenges and the rising actions in response to them. So it may be with the story of Government performance management. Federal Managers have seen many plot twists impacting governance since the early 90’s when …

Build Better Government-Small Business Relationships

Relationships matter. It’s a simple but powerful statement that is true in most areas of life, particularly in business. Trusting and lasting business relationships fuel the creation and completion of projects that serve organizational missions. Relationships lead to new opportunities. In the federal sector, it is critical to build solid relationships between government, prime, and …

Get Off the Lessons Learned Treadmill: Simple Ideas for Continuous Improvement in 2015

As a Program Manager, have you noticed a trend that your program keeps on repeating the same lessons learned or mistakes?  As a program, when completing a yearly reporting requirement, do you hear yourself stating to your staff that we did not complete x, y, or z in order to fulfill our operational requirements?  If …

Using a Cross-functional Team for Effective Capital Planning Investment Control (CPIC)

It’s a commonly-used process, and yet so few manage to execute it effectively on a consistent basis. Capital Planning Investment Control (CPIC), if performed as intended, provides a strategy for capital planning that enables organizations to demonstrate and maximize value from scarce public resources. With the current funding environment, CPIC is ever-more important as a …

Breathe! How a Holistic Approach Helped Us Survive the Government Shutdown

The latest in our Health and Wellness series of yoga classes for employees started last week and I began thinking how some of the fundamentals we’ve been learning in yoga can be applied to managing during an unexpected or challenging situation, such as the government shutdown. The implications of the shutdown have been far-reaching – …

My Military to Private Sector Transition – Seven Lessons Learned

I retired in March after 30 years as a US Naval Officer.  It was the end of a rewarding career that included travel, challenging work and camaraderie, but I knew that it was also the beginning of a new post-military chapter.  While I was excited about the possibilities and confident in my skills honed in …

Bright Spots in Government: VA Acquisition Academy’s Program Management Fellows Initiative

Integrity Management Consulting and GovLoop are proud to present a 12-part series called “Conscientious Contracting: A Thoughtful Approach to Acquisition and Program Management,” that aims to address common challenges and achieve new efficiencies in government procurement.  Integrity Matters will bring you occasional posts written by GovLoop’s Andrew Krzmarzick, featuring the expertise of Integrity subject matter experts and other professionals in acquisition. …

How Investing in Your Team Can Pay Off – Even in Tight Times

When the pressure is on to perform at a higher level due to limited resources and tight time constraints, your team’s morale is likely suffering.  As a manager, you are probably also feeling overwhelmed.  Many of us have experienced wanting to be proactive but struggling to find time to focus on the less tangible aspects …

Can Time Limits Improve Acquisition Documentation?

I believe there’s a truism in acquisition: the work’s not done until the paperwork is finished.  How many of you have tried to get an acquisition through the approval process only to be stymied because some of the critical Acquisition Documentation was not up to date or was missing completely? As one who teaches acquisition …