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Quote of the Month


Guest Vern Edwards

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Guest Vern Edwards

Here is my nominee for quote of the month. It comes from the April 3 Washington Post blog of Jena McGregor, "Post Leadership," and is part of her commentary on the GSA conference scandal:

Maybe the embarrassment of hiring a mind reader and spending $31,000 on a networking reception will save a few more of us from the silly leadership development exercises and inane training games that make up that often miserable fact of office life: the team-building conference.

Bless you, Ms McGregor. Bless you. See the whole blog post at: http://www.washingto...KgBtS_blog.html

P.S. Another thing she said should perhaps resonate with another agency office before it lands on the front page of the Post:

People fly out to Las Vegas or Orlando, attend a few sessions, stay out drinking way too late with their colleagues...

Emphasis on Orlando added.

Please feel free to post your own nominees. None from Wifcon Forum, please.

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Here is my nominee for quote of the month. It comes from the April 3 Washington Post blog of Jena McGregor, "Post Leadership," and is part of her commentary on the GSA conference scandal:

Bless you, Ms McGregor. Bless you. See the whole blog post at: http://www.washingto...KgBtS_blog.html

P.S. Another thing she said should perhaps resonate with another agency office before it lands on the front page of the Post:

Emphasis on Orlando added.

Please feel free to post your own nominees. None from Wifcon Forum, please.

And the Orlando conference is right around the corner...

Although, it has been going on a few years and no one has said anything regarding it. I'm wondering if it'll receive increased scrutiny with the GSA case fresh in mind.

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Probably more of a "quote of the day" than a "quote of the month," but the following recommendation from the GAO's February 2012 report on DOD

Financial Management resonated with me:

Direct the Secretary of the Air Force to improve training for DEAMS users by providing training on actual job processes in a manner that allows users to understand how the new processes support their job responsibilities and the work they are expected to perform.

The quote resonates with me not because of any particular concern about Air Force training nor training specifically about DEAMS, but that so much government training I have attended is not sufficiently related to actual work situations and well-tailored to the group taking the training. I would take the time and money that is put into "flavor of the month" team building/process improvement/motivational exercises and focus on honing job skills.

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Guest Vern Edwards

And the Orlando conference is right around the corner...

Although, it has been going on a few years and no one has said anything regarding it. I'm wondering if it'll receive increased scrutiny with the GSA case fresh in mind.

The GSA conference had been held for a number of years, too. It was not a new event. As for other Orlando conferences, I got an email this morning saying that a suggestion has been made for one upcoming Orlando conference that the team building exercise be tug of war, and that the participants be given enough rope to hang themselves with. If they don't give that conference "fresh scrutiny" in light of of what has happened to GSA they are crazy. All that airfare to Orlando, all those rental cars and meals, and all those hotel rooms. Anybody heard of teleconferencing?

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The GSA conference had been held for a number of years, too. It was not a new event. As for other Orlando conferences, I got an email this morning saying that a suggestion has been made for one upcoming Orlando conference that the team building exercise be tug of war, and that the participants be given enough rope to hang themselves with. If they don't give that conference "fresh scrutiny" in light of of what has happened to GSA they are crazy. All that airfare to Orlando, all those rental cars and meals, and all those hotel rooms. Anybody heard of teleconferencing?

I wonder if we're referring to the same one. My specific command has come down hardcore on traveling since they setup all conference rooms with VTC capability, so now you have to justify why you can't VTC instead of travel, which I think is awesome because there is so much needless travel. We've also started scrutinizing requirements for quarterly program reviews with contractors, as to why they are necessary. It seems many program folks are stuck in a routine and want to monitor contractors hardcore, even for simple requirements that only require 2-3 deliveries in total. I'm interested to see if there is any backlash within the next year on the conference, as I'm sure congress will start monitoring these harder.

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