You got the award. Congratulations! This is where the relationship between the CO and awardee is shown to be either a trusted business partnership or merely a supervisor-subordinate transactional relationship. The VA Acquisition Academy taught me to be a trusted business partner and not to exercise government authority because I could have.
This phase also displays how well the awardee understands how their business engages in the federal arena. Are their rights understood? How do those rights align with federal authority?
There are two sections to this phase. Performance and closeout.
Contract Performance
Perform Negotiated Contract
-Administer Contract
-Ensure Quality
-Manage Subcontracts (if applicable)
-Manage Changes
Close Contract
-Ensure all negotiated tasks have been performed to agreed upon standards
-Contract performance has been properly evaluated
-Final payment(s) have been made
-Contract has been reconciled
If you have been assigned a trusted business partner for a CO then you will most likely be coached throughout the life-cycle of your contract. If you understand your business relationship with your CO to be purely transactional then you might need help. Keep in mind that different agencies as well as different contract shops inside those twelve agencies have varying workloads.
At the FSS inside the Hines VA, I chose to be a trusted business partner despite a crushing workload. I sacrificed my procurement administrative lead time for the benefit of my business partners. Now, I don’t have constraints and I will bring the same high-level of detail to you and your company.
If you think I can help you then email nicholas.s.robertson@outlook.com for your introductory email and free consultation.
RobertsonKX Business Blog 