Mike Twardoski

Thanks, Neil. The customer is the Government, and the PCO is working across multiple Government programs. Unfortunately, the conversations I've had with my PCO asking that very question, and my PM doing the same with her counterpart, hasn't seemed to produce much headway.

Vern, thank you for the feedback. I think the situation you described on PCOs working multiple programs is pertinent to mine. The PCO is overseeing more than just my program, and thus, he may not be as in the loop as the customer. I guess there's only so much I can do here.

Exactly, and that's my role: contract manager. Personally, I have a good working relationship with the PCO, so no issue there. But getting him and the customer to align on this mod has been a bear. My PM is doing has a good relationship with her Government counterpart, which is why this situation is so puzzling. That's an interesting way to look at it. Maybe it's just my personality to want to solve problems, even if they're not directly mine. The proposed mod is something of a tradeoff - we don't need to do it, but if we do, it helps our bookings for the year, which is obviously an internal goal. It also helps the customer because we're giving them some pretty favorable pricing. I suppose the more responses I'm getting here, the more I realize a person in my position can only do so much. I appreciate all the feedback!

Thanks for the insight, all. Without going into too much detail, I'm trying to get them to align on a mod that involves a bit of horse trading on the delivery schedule. The customer is fine with what my team has proposed, but the PCO wants more. We attempt to explain to the customer that the PCO has concerns, but they continue to say they're good. And on it's gone for a few months. Perhaps it's just my own ignorance on the government's side of the house, but I would hope there would be some dialogue between the customer and PCO to make sure everyone's aligned on expectations, especially after a couple of false starts. No doubt an in-person meeting would probably solve a lot of the problems. Unfortunately, we're still stuck in the virtual environment. Btw, I could sure go for a donut right now

Does anyone have any tips on bridging a communication gap between the PCO and customer? I'm semi-new to the GovCon world, and as a contract specialist on the industry side, I have noticed a distinct lack of communication between the PCO and the customer as of late. It seems as if the only way to get them aligned is to schedule calls, and even then, sometimes one of them won't appear. The reason it's impacting me, specifically, is that the program is working on a significant mod, and PCO & customer continue to be misaligned on the expectations for it. I'm interested to hear any feedback, especially from the government's perspective on what industry can (or can't) do in situations like these.

Really enjoyed this pod. I'm semi-new to to the GovCon world, so I didn't get the opportunity to "learn via osmosis" (i.e. learning by overhearing office discussions, informal shop talk, etc.) in the virtual environment many of us were thrust into after COVID hit. I've scoured for online resources in effort to replicate some of those discussions, and am happy I found this pod. Already looking forward to future episodes!

If you want a good general overview in a pinch, I highly recommend the Contracting Officer Podcast. They've devoted a handful of episodes to the proposal process, all of which I found helpful as a newcomer to Government contracting. Good luck!

Thank you, Joel and Vern. I may just bite the bullet after searching for better deals over the past few months. It sounds like worthy investment!

New here, so please be gentle I 100% agree with learning as much as you can and being a professional. As someone new to government contracting, I'm grateful for forums like this one, where I've gotten many great ideas for suggested reading, viewing, and listening material. I'm a bookworm by nature, so I've been trying to get my hands on as much reading material as possible. However, one thing that seems to be a challenge is obtaining or reviewing some of the "classics" (e.g. Administration of Government Contracts, Contracting with the Federal Government, etc.) as the prices (+$100) on Amazon are showstoppers. Are there any alternative low-cost reading resources out there?