# Presentation: 520012

## USDA Federal Acquisition Certification in Contracting Mentoring Opportunities

**August**** 2008**
**Attachments**

**Notes:**
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## According to the FAC-C guidance dated 1/20/06, mentoring is one of the many ways to accumulate continuous learning points (CLPs).
USDA is strengthening the acquisition workforce by encouraging the use of mentoring .

- According to the FAC-C guidance dated 1/20/06, mentoring is one of the many ways to accumulate continuous learning points (CLPs).
- USDA is strengthening the acquisition workforce by encouraging the use of mentoring .

- FAC-C  Training

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## Mentoring Defined

- Mentoring is when a role model, supervisor, or colleague serves as a counselor or teacher to another in order to relay knowledge and experience in a particular area of expertise.
-  Mentor
- A person who shares contracting experience, knowledge, and wisdom with a protégé
- Provides guidance, recommendations and coaching through the mentoring process
- Protégé
- A person who receives support, advice and knowledge from an experienced Contracting Specialist to improve his/her acquisition competencies

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## Mentors Should Have...

- Confidence
- A minimum of 1-2 hours to devote to a mentoring session
- Patience
- A positive, professional attitude
- Good communication skills
- Experience in Government contracting
- A sincere interest in another’s growth

**Notes:**
Made some changes to this slide (messed up formating)  Also changed title.  We have a slide “who will make a good Mentor”
Let’s do another slide with “who will make a good Protégé”

## Protégés Should Have...

- A minimum of 1-2 hours to devote to a mentoring session
- A sincere interest in acquiring and expanding his/her knowledge in Government contracting
- A positive, professional attitude
- Good listening skills
- An open mind

**Notes:**
Made some changes to this slide (messed up formating)  Also changed title.  We have a slide “who will make a good Mentor”
Let’s do another slide with “who will make a good Protégé”

## Why Choose Mentoring?

- Contributes directly to the success and improvement of the USDA Acquisition Workforce
- Equates to one Continuous Learning Point (CLP) for every hour of participation up to 20 CLPs per year for both mentors and protégés
- Promotes career development within USDA
- Enhances participants’ resumes
- Provides a truly rewarding experience for both parties
- Promotes professional growth through feedback

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## Suggested Mentoring Process

- Obtain approval from your supervisor or training manager.
- Agree on the terms with your mentor or protégé
- Decide on the number of hours for each mentoring session (e.g., single incident, daily, weekly, monthly)
- Identify the skills to build or improve during the sessions
- Determine the objectives of each session
- Identify what you would like to gain from the experience
- Focus on in-person mentoring opportunities, but long-distance is acceptable (e.g., teleconference, video conference)
- Maintain a log of mentoring activities to include:
- Dates and number of hours spent for each mentoring activity
- A brief description of the activity
- The names of the mentor and protégé involved with each activity
- Upon successful completion of your activity, document training in ACMIS

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Made some changes.  You may want to use some of this for the new slide.

## Mentoring to Improve Acquisition Competencies

- Consider mentoring opportunities with other Contracting Specialists to improve your acquisition competencies focusing on:
- Effective Negotiation- See Exhibit 1 for a description of suggested mentoring activities
- Effective Performance Management and the Use of Performance Metrics – See Exhibit 2 for a description of suggested mentoring activities
- Mid to senior-level specialists should seek opportunities to practice negotiating and administering high-dollar value or high-profile contracts
- Seek opportunities either within or outside your agency
- Focus on certain acquisition competencies by:
- Demonstrating certain skills to your protégé or,
- Observing those skills being performed by your mentor

## Effective Negotiation Skills

- Demonstrate or observe these skills during the mentoring sessions:
- Coaching the Government team to obtain best value
- Controlling a meeting to resolve complex issues
- Applying negotiation tactics
- Making sound business decisions
- Handling difficult people
- Negotiating tradeoffs for both the vendor and Government
- Maintaining a positive outlook and displaying a professional image
- Calmly and effectively dealing with high stress situations
- Being open to new information during the negotiation
- Thinking outside the box
- Maintaining honesty and integrity of the acquisition process

## Effective Performance Management Skills

- Demonstrate or observe these skills during the mentoring sessions
- Obtaining feedback from the COR/COTR on contractor performance or deliverables
- Verifying and documenting evidence of performance problems
- Evaluating the legal considerations of a performance problem
- Determining potential impacts of any problems on cost, schedule, and other requirements
- Resolving problems informally and formally depending on your assessment of the situation
- Assessing the reasons and benefits of invoking formal contract remedies like Stop Work Orders
- Investigating potential or actual delays
- Thoroughly documenting the contract file with monitoring activities, evidence of problems, and actions taken to resolve problems

## 
“ I would suggest finding any way possible to watch, learn, and be involved; make the effort to develop mentoring relationships whenever possible.” 
		Randy West

“Mentoring is a brain to pick, an ear to listen, and a push in the right direction.”
		John C. Crosby

*“ *I* *would suggest finding any way possible to watch, learn, and be involved; make the effort to develop mentoring relationships whenever possible.”
*	**	*Randy West
*“*Mentoring is a brain to pick, an ear to listen, and a push in the right direction.”
*	**	*John C. Crosby

- Choose Mentoring