Project Management

Know your rights if you’re furloughed – Sequestration Deadline Approaching

The March 1st deadline for sequestration is only a week away. And agency managers are grappling with the very real possibility that they will be forced to furlough thousands of workers. The DoD has already announced that if a deal to avert sequestration is not passed, it will be forced to furlough 800,000 civilian workers.Read… Read more »

Thursday Thoughts: 5 Boundaries Organizations Face

I am a graduate student at George Washington University and I am fortunate enough to be taking a leadership class with a former high-level government official. My professor has served at the highest levels of government, and provides a first hand account how to lead large, complex and bureaucratic government agencies. Every Thursday I’ll postRead… Read more »

Smoother Acquisition Sailing – An Argument for Increased Communication

Article By John Coombs, Fellow, CFCM, DAWIA III On a trip to San Diego I watched a Navy destroyer slip quietly under the Coronado Bridge. I remembered a phrase I’ve repeated many times throughout my career as a procurement leader and manager: “Don’t try to dial up an aircraft carrier in port to the perfectRead… Read more »

Buy outcomes, not output

There a couple of things you need to think about before you buy consulting services, management consulting, or any of the types of services where you’re looking for a unique perspective or insight, the benefit of experience, and a fresh view on things. Anytime you’re looking for something that’s going to end in real changeRead… Read more »

Is your program/agency on GAO’s High Risk List

What is the high risk list? Beginning in 1990 the Government Accountability Office started putting together a list of programs that were most vulnerable to waste, fraud, abuse, mis-management and the need for fundamental transformation. The GAO produces the list every two years to help Congress and the Executive Branch set priorities on high riskRead… Read more »

Shared Services: DHS Tests Multi-Band Radio Solution for First Responders

Breakdowns in communications are hurting first responders. And one of the reasons for the communications breakdown is that their radio’s aren’t on the same bandwidth. That means that during an emergency firefighters can’t talk to EMS or law enforcement on their radios. It slows down reaction time and operability. The solution seems simple, give everyoneRead… Read more »

Heroes of Excellence

Excellence.gov Awards were created to recognize government programs that provide substantive improvements in government activities. But that is not the whole story – At a time when government employees were singled out at the cause for everything wrong in the world, we felt that it was important to put faces on the great things thatRead… Read more »

For young feds is the pace of government change too slow?

Retaining and engaging young feds has been the drum beat in government for awhile now and will probably continue to be for the foreseeable future. But one of the main stumbling blocks for agency leaders has been the pace of government change. Millennials are quick to adopt new technologies and programs. But the government isRead… Read more »

Is March the Armageddon for federal budgets? Sequestration, CR, 2014 and more

March may go down as one of the worst months ever for federal budgeting. Take a look: Sequestration goes into effect on March 1st. 1.2 trillion in across the board cuts. Continuing Resolution expires on March 27th. In order for a budget to be passed by April 15th the House and Senate need to beginRead… Read more »