Acquisition Team “US Government and Contractor” One Team One Mission

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Acquisition Team “US Government and Contractor” One Team One Mission

Understanding how an Acquisition Team operates could position your company for greater contracts when doing business with the Federal Government.

Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 1 clearly defines the acquisition team as all participants in government acquisition including not only the representatives of technical, supply, and procurement, but also the customers they serve and the contractors who provide the products and services. You as a Contractor is part of the government acquisition team, the more you know about your team’s roles and responsibilities, including yours, you will be better suited for growing your business in the federal government market. The acquisition team should be working together toward a common goal not toward individual achievements. The only way you would know what the common goal is to interact with the acquisition team. You’re probably asking how do I interact with the acquisition team when I don’t know who’s on the team.

Please allow me to identify your acquisition team for most federal government agencies

·         Contracting Officer

·         Contract Specialist

·         General Counsel

·         Small Business Advocate

·         Competition Advocate

·         Contracting Officer Representative

·         Customers

·         Contractor providing the Goods or Services

It is important that team members understand their roles and responsibilities – where specific duties are assigned, how performance measures and milestones are developed and that members are held accountable for individual work products. The success of many companies doing business with the federal government establish a similar acquisition team to support their efforts, ensuring that their team operate in a similar format as the US Government operates.

All members of a Acquisition Team should embrace a framework of collaborative partnering and remove any “US” vs “Them” methods from the operating environment. The Acquisition Team consist of the Government and the Contractor, let’s work together to accomplish the task.