Why Aren't We Collaborating More in the Acquisition 2.0 Group?
I was just reading Steve Kelman's latest blog post on Federal Computer Week in which he highlights a recent visit to this Acquisition 2.0 Group on GovLoop. The bulk of Kelman's blog post covers the conversation that occurred in Mary Davie's "Collaborate Lately" forum discussion, but he also makes these keen observations about the level of activity in this group:
"A very different observation about the group is that the amount of traffic in the group is still rather modest even though it has more than 700 members. Only three discussions have been opened over the last few months, and one of the those has generated no traffic. There are a fair number of single posts about a smattering of broad topics – such as membership fees for the Tyson's Corner National Contract Management Association chapter or job openings – and some specific, targeted questions. This shows the challenge of building communities of practice. As work becomes more distributed, and more and more functional specialists work in cross-functional teams, the challenges of creating an equivalent to the office water cooler, where functional experts can help teach each other, grows stronger.
We need to learn better how successfully to create alternatives."
I remember when this group was the hottest one on GovLoop - it really was our flagship group and the gathering of people we always pointed to as the best practice in terms of valuable dialogue and information among both private and public sector innovators.
So I think we can thank Mr. Kelman for giving us a jumping off point to talk about the value of this forum and what's happened in the last few months...and what this group could be if we give it some thought and energy. Here are some specific questions:
1) Why do you think the group became less active?
2) How can we better leverage the fact that there are 700 people in one place who care about acquisition and "can help teach each other" to do their jobs more effectively?
3) How can we make this kind of group a normal part of people's work flow such that they have a real-time resource on the job?
Looking forward to the dialogue...just like the good ol' days! ;-)
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Angel Delgado on -
In my case:
1) Maybe because some of us are really busy...
2) Maybe try to begin with some "post" work-day activities
3) Someone can start with other ideas...
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Permalink Reply by Andrew Krzmarzick on -
1) That was my main assumption...collaborators / innovators are usually super busy folks
2) So maybe organize something in person in early evening?
3) Looking forward to those...
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Permalink Reply by Marilyn on -
I know I am slowly learning and taking courses about contracting, so anything that might offer information about how to break into that world would be helpful. I'm a do-it-yourself person when it comes to training and transformation and I always hope to learn from these venues.
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Permalink Reply by Angel Delgado on
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Simple book to help you get started....
1) Federal Contracting Made Easy -= Scott A. Stanberry for more complex info... Nash and Cibinic books on contracting an more importantly.... The FAR...
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Permalink Reply by Julie Chase on -
You are only as innovative/collaborative as the directive/order/policy dictates.
Change comes v e r y s l o w l y to DoD (DoN).
Response begins: "No faxing allowed from your desktop, "get up and go to the fax machine" and fax it, v e r y s l o w l y."
Common Sense says: "Well if you have multi function scanner, just scan what you need and email it."
Response says: ".......um....NO, can't do that."
Common sense asks: "Why?"
Response is: "Because we are "limited" in attachment sizes. There are some "big" contracts out there. Oh, and somebody has to "sign".
Common Sense says: "Well, why don't you format it in PDF and digitally sign it?"
Response is: "The jury is out on that. Depends who you talk to. Some will say digital signatures are perfectly legit. Others will tell you, NO way, it has to be hand signed."
Reponse says: "Oh I almost forgot something regarding PDF (Adobe)."
Common Sense says: "What would that be?"
Reponse says: "Only a few workstations have Adobe Pro, due to license costs. And the Adobe Reader will sometimes allow you sign, and other times, it will not."
Common Sense says: "Well why doesn't your agency, purchase a site license?"
Response says: "It's all about the Benjamins."
Common Sense weeps.
Reponse <sighs>
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Permalink Reply by Peter G. Tuttle on -
Hi Andrew - in my specific case it's a workload issue - and that's a good thing. I get the standard emails regarding postings and triage from there. Early morning seems to be my best time to see what's new on the collaborative forums that I subscribe to. After that the rest of the day and (many) evenings are usually full of activities. Maybe you take a poll on when folks normally look at Acq 2.0 during a "normal" day or week and try and focus events on those times. Cheers. Pete
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Permalink Reply by Deor Baker on
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1) People need initiatives to focus our efforts; OMB's Myth-busting is an example of good collaboration with focused activities that will produce usable results.
2) From experience with many kinds of collaboration, it is very helpful to have a support staff to organize and facilitate. This forum is for the people, by the people, which is great, but as many have noted, it's hard for many to invest a lot of time in Wikis.
3) Credits towards PMI Professional Development Units or Continuing Education credits are motivating; if we found a way to offer credits for participation, I bet more people would engage. (Not offering to develop this idea right now due to other obligations!)
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Permalink Reply by Sandy Barsky on -
What we are missing in here is a baseline discussion of the Cloud Computing Acquisition models and the need to address the FAR and DFAR to enable the right clauses to be created so that govies can buy cloud, faster, easier, and save the tax payers dollars. Since we know that congress is funding less, yet government must continue to transform the business it is mandated to do, the Cloud Computing Broker or Exchange and a demand driven Acquisition model are becoming compelling.
Who in here knows and understands what is needed to be addressed int he FAR and DFAR? If we can compile a specific lists of regulations that can be used to create the needed clauses, or identify the regulations to be changed or added this will propel a discussion into actionable take aways
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