Monthly Archives: September 2011

Remember the 25-Point Plan? Give It A Try!

Vivek Kundra may have departed as federal CIO, but the 25-point IT reform plan lives on. Of the 25 points, agile, incremental systems development stands as perhaps the most important, if least original, prescription in the document. Since federal agencies have a long history of “grand designs” – overly ambitious systems plans with vague requirementsRead… Read more »

Lowly CO Representatives Get New Attention and Status

The Office of Federal Procurement Policy is turning its attention to a long-neglected function, that of the Contracting Officer’s Technical Representative, or COTR. Starting January 1, 2012, COTRs will simply be called Contracting Officers’ Representative, or COR. The switch from COTR to COR is much more than just a simple title change. It is aRead… Read more »

More Emissions-Reduction Bang for Our Buck?

Everyone likes efficiency, it seems. An efficient economy, efficient government, and energy efficiency are just a few examples of popular “efficiencies” these days. But what about a more efficient way to operate under a Clean Energy Standard? Is there a way to increase (or at least not limit) clean energy growth under current standards? ResourcesRead… Read more »

GSA Asks What You Want in a Federal Web Site

On Monday the General Services Administration, on behalf of the White House, launched the National Dialogue on Improving Federal Web Sites. The purpose is to re-invent how the federal government delivers information and services online. The website created for the campaign asks citizens to share their ideas to help answer the question “What practices, policies,Read… Read more »

Phone Tips & Tricks: Work. There’s an app for that!

The Phone Tips & Tricks series is supported by the Sprint Federal Employee Discount Program. To find awesome discounts visit the Sprint Federal Employee Discount resource center today. These days we are seeing folks not only using Blackberries, but smartphones like Droids, iPhones, etc. for their work phones. There are tons of mobile applications availableRead… Read more »

The Federal Coach: Alfonso Batres: A Leadership Veteran

Alfonso Batres has spent nearly three decades working with the community-based Department of Veterans Affairs’ (VA) Readjustment Counseling Vet Centers, starting in the field offices and heading the national program since 1994. The program, which provides counseling, family services, job assistance, medical and benefit referrals, has expanded from 200 to 300 centers in the lastRead… Read more »

The Hospitality Industry Has Gone Green

If you are involved with the hospitality industry even occasionally, and you haven’t heard of the National Sustainable Lodging Network, you might want to visit their website soon. That’s because the network is a great place to find green information on items and topics you might not otherwise find. Many professionals are involved regularly inRead… Read more »

It that time of year again: PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL!!!

I was reading yesterday’s article in the WSJ – Better Ideas Through Failure – Companies Reward Employee Mistakes to Spur Innovation, Get Back Their Edge… Check it out: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204010604576594671572584158.html This is my first Blog Post to GovLoop ever!!! Just looking to provoke some discussion before drafting up my “Self Assessment of FY11 Performance Measures”