Government Best Practices Training Workshop:
Planning
and Conducting a
Successful Best Value Source Selection
A Three-Day Workshop
April
11-13, 2006
Market*Access Training Center
4301 Wilson Boulevard, Suite 1003
Arlington, VA 22203
Registration:
7:30 AM (Day One Only)
Program Starts: 8:30 AM
Wrap-up: 4:00 PM
Course materials, continental breakfast, refreshments included.
Efficiently planning and conducting a best value source selection is
critical to acquiring the goods and services needed by agencies to meet
their mission objectives. Successfully managing the FAR Part 15 process,
however, requires in-depth knowledge of the statutes, regulations and
best practices that exist to ensure the source selection is fair, credible
and that the best value contractor is ultimately selected. From establishing
the right evaluation factors to debriefing the unsuccessful offerors,
it is essential that each member of the acquisition team possess the
skills and knowledge necessary to actively contribute at each step in
the process. For industry, understanding the government’s source
selection process will help promote more focused, customer-friendly
proposals that better display the key benefits and value of the proposed
solution.
In Planning and Conducting a Successful Best Value Source Selection, you’ll learn the techniques for selecting and composing meaningful evaluation factors and proposal submission instructions that will ensure a streamlined and highly-efficient source selection. You’ll understand the specific roles and responsibilities of each evaluation team – technical, management, business and past performance. And you will learn the requirements and various techniques in conducting a cost-technical tradeoff analysis and making the final decision. The course is practical and built around a multitude of hands-on exercises and case studies – you will leave with new-found skills that can be immediately applied on the job. Finally, you will receive a course manual containing many useful references, examples and templates that can be used long after you have completed the class.
A Market*Access "Certificate of Completion" will be provide to all attendees upon conclusion of the workshop.
- Acquisition Officers
- Technical personnel and subject matter experts
- Procurement managers and administrators
- Government and commercial project leaders and managers
- Contracting officers and specialists
- Business developers and proposal managers
- General Counsel
- Bid managers
- Audit Supervisors
- Advisory and assistance contractors
Early Registrants Include:
- AFCAA
- AWG, Facilities Manager
- AWG, XO
- BAE Systems, Subcontracts Administration Specialist
- Bureau of Engraving & Printing, Contract Specialist
- Bureau of Engraving & Printing, Production Specialist
- Bureau of Engraving & Printing, Program Analyst
- Defense Information Systems Agency, Procurement Analyst
- EMC˛ Corporation, Technical Solutions Program Manager
- IEM, Bids and Proposals Manager
- National Institutes of Health, Administrator for Strategic Planning & Resource Management
- Naval Sea Systems Command, Acquisition Manager
- OASA (FM&C), Army Pentagon, Deputy Director of Investments
- U.S. Army, Contract Specialist
- U.S. Army Audit Agency, Audit Supervisor
- U.S. Army, Picatinny Center for Contracting and Commerce
- U.S. Coast Guard Headquarters Support Command, DST Government Team Leader
1. Best Value Source Selection: Concept,
Obligations and Responsibilities
a. The concept and definition of best value
b. Obligations and responsibilities in using the best value source selection
process
c. The source selection organizational structure
d. Standards of conduct and procurement integrity
e. Organizational conflicts of interest
2. Developing Meaningful Evaluation Factors and Proposal Submission Instructions
a.
The characteristics of high quality evaluation criteria
b. Using risk assessment and value analysis to select effective factors/subfactors
c. Techniques for composing meaningful criteria
d. The importance of proposal submission instructions to ensure a streamlined
process
e. Useful methods for requesting and receiving proposal information
3. Technical Team’s Evaluation of Proposals
a.
Steps in the technical evaluation process
b. Maintaining consistency with RFP factors and subfactors
c. Definitions of strengths, weaknesses and deficiencies
d. Evaluation criteria weighting and relative orders of importance
e. Selecting and using factor rating scales and definitions
f. Techniques for improving evaluator comments and narratives
4. Reaching Team Consensus
a.
The four stages in team building
b. The characteristics and habits of high performance teams
c. Best practices in reaching team consensus
d. The requirements and importance of team consensus documentation
5. Evaluating Past Performance
a. FAR 15 requirements in conducting the evaluation of offeror past
performance
b. Steps in the past performance evaluation process
c. Past performance rating scales and definitions
6. Evaluating the Cost Proposal
a.
Responsibilities of the cost/price evaluation team
b. Key objectives of cost/price proposal evaluation
c. Definitions of reasonableness, completeness and realism
7. Exchanges/Negotiations with Offerors
a.
Definitions of clarifications, communications and discussions.
b. Information the government should consider before awarding without
discussions
c. Considerations and requirements in establishing the competitive range
d. The definition of and ensuring “meaningful” discussions
e. Requesting proposal revisions and the Call for Final Proposal Revisions
f. Government limits on exchanges
8. Making the Best Value Award Decision
a.
Integrating the final proposal evaluation results
b. Comparative assessment of offerors
c. Key considerations in the cost-technical tradeoff process
d. Documentation requirements for the source selection decision document
9. Conducting the Debriefings
a.
FAR 15 requirements in providing debriefings to unsuccessful offerors
b. Agenda for an effective debriefing
Mr. Robert Watts has over 26 years of federal acquisition experience in the disciplines of contracting, project management and financial management. He is the President of LodeStar Acquisition Services, a small business, acquisition training and consulting firm headquartered in the greater Washington D.C. metropolitan area. Previous to founding LodeStar Acquisition Services, Mr. Watts was Vice President of Acquisition Services at ManTech Integrated Data Systems from 1998 – 2004. The organizations he has led have helped over 500 government teams efficiently select and manage mission critical contractor products and services.
Mr. Watts is a retired USAF Lieutenant Colonel and a former member of the Defense Acquisition Corp. Prior to his retirement from the USAF, he was the Director of the National Reconnaissance Office’s (NRO’s) Acquisition Center of Excellence (ACE), a unique organization of over 60 personnel dedicated to providing the NRO workforce a dedicated acquisition support capability and infrastructure. As ACE Director, Mr. Watts was the architect of the NRO’s process for competitive procurement of over $15B in space-related hardware and software.
Mr. Watts is also a senior instructor, researcher, writer and consultant for The George Washington University’s (GWU’s) Educational Services Institute International. He received his MBA from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York.
What
Previous Students Said About Your Instructor:
"The instructor was very knowledgable. He used great
"real life" situations in getting the points across." -
Financial Analyst, US Air Force
"The
instructor was very effective and held our attention." - Contract
Specialist, Dept. of Commerce/NOAA
"Very knowledgable and was able to answer 99.9% of questions
right away." - Financial Analyst, Booz Allen Hamilton
“Excellent
examples drawn from personal experience; trivia warm-ups a great idea;
courteous and professional.” - GIS Manager, USBR
“Great expertise and experience!!” - Program Specialist, FEMA
- For registration information, please contact Pamela Greenstein at (703) 807-2758
- For general information about this workshop, please contact Abbie Hickman, (703) 807-2753
- Government attendees: $1,095 per person
- Small Business (less than 100 employees): $1,195 per person
- Industry:
$1,295 per person
Registration
Options
NOTE: On-line registrations for this workshop are now
closed. Space is available for walk in registrants. To
register the day of the conference, please bring your
payment and the attached
registration form.
Registration form requires Acrobat Reader.
Registrations
are payable by Visa, American Express, Mastercard, company check or government
purchase order.
CANCELLATION POLICY: You may designate
a substitute in writing any time before the event. If you need to
cancel your registration, you must send your notice in writing and will
be subject to a $50 processing fee. No refunds are given for cancellations
received one week prior to the event start date or later. PLEASE NOTE:
No shows will be liable for the entire registration fee.
Market*Access has the right to refuse registration to any attendee at any
time.
Location
and Hotel Information
The
workshop will be held in the Market*Access Training Center in the NRECA
Building at 4301 Wilson Boulevard, Suite #1003 (10th floor), Arlington,
VA 22203. Public parking at the facility is available for $9 a day. The
NRECA Building is just one block from the Ballston Metro Station in the
orange line. Please note: the parking garage and a side entrance to the
building is on Taylor Street.
Ballston Metro stop information
Driving
and Metro Directions
Nearby hotels include:
-
Hilton Arlington Towers, (877)
233-9330 (one block from conference center)
Ask for the NRECA rate - Comfort Inn Ballston, (703) 247-3399
- Holiday Inn, (703) 243-9800 (three blocks from conference center)
Have a Large Staff to Train? Can't Make These Dates? Tight Travel Budget?
Market*Access can provide training, wherever and whenever you need, including on-site at your facility. Our staff will cost-effectively implement training customized to your needs. If you have group of attendees (usually 15 or more), we can bring this course to you and help save you time, travel costs, and more!
To request a proposal and schedule training, e-mail Laura Johnson, VP of Conferences & Strategic Planning, at ljohnson@marketaccess.org or call (703) 807-2747.
Marketing, Conference Management and Production by:
Market*Access
International, Inc.
4301 Wilson Boulevard
Suite 1003
Arlington, VA 22203
(703) 807-2755
