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Bridging the Customer/PCO communication gap


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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.

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With respect to the contractor’s perspective, it would depend upon what the PCO and client need to be aligned about. If it is scope or technical, I’d say that you could offer to meet with them and help work it out. If it is an issue with contractor performance or with price, they probably would want to keep that internal.

The Corps of Engineers has developed Partnering procedures that include interaction and cooperation between internal and external stakeholders (includes contractor) but wouldn’t normally be free to get into internal issues concerning mod pricing details with the contractor before negotiations.

Can you elaborate in general terms?

You can certainly explain your concerns regarding ongoing or potential impacts of delays in issuing a change order or modification and offer suggestions.  Discover and emphasize the things/goals  that each party has in common to find best paths forward. 

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29 minutes ago, Mike Twardoski said:

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.

The obvious answer for in-person meetings is to bring donuts. Govies will show if there are donuts. I'm not sure about virtual meetings.

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1 hour ago, Mike Twardoski said:

Does anyone have any tips on bridging a communication gap between the PCO and customer?

Depends on what it is as @joel hoffman pointed out. Some additional details would be nice. A few things could be causing it as well. PCO and client don't get along, one of/both of them are lazy or the government is having a hard time figuring out what they actually want. I mean you could have situation where you have a team on the government side that is locked in and ready to roll and leadership keeps moving the ball on it. Who knows!

In person meetings is always best. Everyone wants to, but testing, emails and virtual meetings can let so much context slip through the cracks leading to confusion for all involved.

41 minutes ago, Don Mansfield said:

The obvious answer for in-person meetings is to bring donuts. Govies will show if there are donuts.

Joking aside, you never know what you will get professionally with the government. Our business model has no profit incentive and you almost can't fire anyone. 

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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 :) 

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My experience in contractor world is that your company's authorized contract representative (usually a contract manager), has a working relationship with the PCO, and your company's program manager (or person with the x on their forehead for the project), has a working relationship with the government program manager (or person responsible for the project). Between them, matters get resolved or escalated within those functions both from the government and contractor side.     

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I I have attempted about 10 different responses and then I came to this conclusion.   Is it really your problem to solve?

If the proposed modification is due to change ordered by the government at some point you are going to have the opportunity to seek a equitable remedy.   Your basic comment in this case would be hey government time is money so you all need to get it together so we can move forward.

If the proposed modification is just something your and/or the customer has proposed as a nice to have then it seems the same conclusion of sorts.  Come on government time is money so lets either get this modification done or move forward without it.

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13 hours ago, Neil Roberts said:

My experience in contractor world is that your company's authorized contract representative (usually a contract manager), has a working relationship with the PCO, and your company's program manager (or person with the x on their forehead for the project), has a working relationship with the government program manager (or person responsible for the project). Between them, matters get resolved or escalated within those functions both from the government and contractor side.     

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. 

46 minutes ago, C Culham said:

I I have attempted about 10 different responses and then I came to this conclusion.   Is it really your problem to solve?

If the proposed modification is due to change ordered by the government at some point you are going to have the opportunity to seek a equitable remedy.   Your basic comment in this case would be hey government time is money so you all need to get it together so we can move forward.

If the proposed modification is just something your and/or the customer has proposed as a nice to have then it seems the same conclusion of sorts.  Come on government time is money so lets either get this modification done or move forward without it.

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! 

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1 hour ago, Mike Twardoski said:

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.

Not really understanding who you think the "customer" is. If it is not the government PM and PCO, who is it?  If they are collectively "the customer," they each are entitled to their best judgment and it is up to each of them to reach agreement with each other as to acceptance. Why don't each of you ask your counterpart what your company can do to make the contractor proposed mod acceptable to the government?

Edited by Neil Roberts
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On 7/8/2021 at 9:36 AM, Mike Twardoski said:

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.

Okay, here is some feedback. Early in my career I was a member of a single military program office, headed by a colonel or general officer, with my office around the corner from the program manager's, and I handled only one or two acquisitions at a time. Communication and coordination were excellent, even when there was disagreement about acquisition strategy and negotiation tactics.

Communication and coordination are largely (but not entirely) matters of organization. If contracting is centralized, not program-devoted, and if busy COs must support numerous program teams and their acquisitions, then communication and coordination will not be as good as it would be in an organization in which each CO is devoted to a single program team and manages only one or two acquisitions at a time. Donuts won't help.

My impression is that life in many contracting offices today is chaotic, with each CO supporting several program teams located in various places, and managing several acquisitions.

I'm glad I never had to work in such an office. If I had, I would not have stayed in contracting.

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On 7/9/2021 at 1:08 PM, Vern Edwards said:

Okay, here is some feedback. Early in my career I was a member of a single military program office, headed by a colonel or general officer, with my office around the corner from the program manager's, and I handled only one or two acquisitions at a time. Communication and coordination were excellent, even when there was disagreement about acquisition strategy and negotiation tactics.

Communication and coordination are largely (but not entirely) matters of organization. If contracting is centralized, not program-devoted, and if busy COs must support numerous program teams and their acquisitions, then communication and coordination will not be as good as it would be in an organization in which each CO is devoted to a single program team and manages only one or two acquisitions at a time. Donuts won't help.

My impression is that life in many contracting offices today is chaotic, with each CO supporting several program teams located in various places, and managing several acquisitions.

I'm glad I never had to work in such an office. If I had, I would not have stayed in contracting.

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. 

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On 7/9/2021 at 10:28 AM, Neil Roberts said:

Not really understanding who you think the "customer" is. If it is not the government PM and PCO, who is it?  If they are collectively "the customer," they each are entitled to their best judgment and it is up to each of them to reach agreement with each other as to acceptance. Why don't each of you ask your counterpart what your company can do to make the contractor proposed mod acceptable to the government?

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.

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On 7/9/2021 at 5:58 AM, Mike Twardoski said:

It also helps the customer because we're giving them some pretty favorable pricing. 

This apparently is an entirely discretionary government decision to accept that may not be attracting government attention. Suggest you consider unilateral action. Whether your contract includes FAR 52.248-1 Value Engineering or not, you may wish to revise based on the degree to which your company's proposed Mod aligns an appropriate share of savings to the Government per paragraph (f) therein.

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18 hours ago, Neil Roberts said:

This apparently is an entirely discretionary government decision to accept that may not be attracting government attention. Suggest you consider unilateral action. Whether your contract includes FAR 52.248-1 Value Engineering or not, you may wish to revise based on the degree to which your company's proposed Mod aligns an appropriate share of savings to the Government per paragraph (f) therein.

Thank you, Neil! The contract does contain FAR 52.248-1, so this is something I'll raise with my program. Appreciate the insight! 

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