ebook-VAT-collection-API

Thousands of contracting professionals have relied on the Federal Contracting Answer Book as their trusted guide to the highly regulated world of government procurement. In each edition the book has offered timely and accurate answers to the questions that arise daily in this complex field.

Now in its third edition, this answer book is even more comprehensive. Written by experts who have extensive experience working in and teaching government contracting, the book includes all the latest changes and requirements.

The question-and-answer format enables quick look-up and a concise presentation of the information. In this edition, new questions and answers have been added on avoiding proposal errors, debriefings, procurement vocabulary, regulatory changes, and best practices. In addition to these updates and revisions, the third edition includes new chapters on earned value management, GSA schedules, and contractor qualifications.

The standard on government statements of work just got better!
How to Write a Statement of Work has been a standard reference for government employees and contractors for many years. Now, with this sixth edition, it is even more relevant and useful. Based on the excellent foundation laid by the late Peter Cole, Michael Martin has updated and added material to guarantee this handbook's place in the list of “must haves” for working with government contracts. As in the earlier editions, the emphasis is on providing practical, detailed guidance on writing and preparing a description of government requirements, whether a statement of work (SOW), a performance work statement (PWS), or a statement of objectives (SOO).
Among the many additions to this sixth edition are updates to reflect the current definition of an SOO as well as references and guidance regarding the development and application of the SOO. There is a new chapter on why change management is so important on projects, legal precedents supporting change management, and how to identify when a change occurs using the SOW. This new chapter also includes information on the federal government's Standard Form 30 (SF30) to provide perspective on how change orders are used and applied in the federal government. If you are working in government contracting in any capacity, you should have this book on hand!

The standard on government statements of work just got better!
How to Write a Statement of Work has been a standard reference for government employees and contractors for many years. Now, with this sixth edition, it is even more relevant and useful. Based on the excellent foundation laid by the late Peter Cole, Michael Martin has updated and added material to guarantee this handbook's place in the list of “must haves” for working with government contracts. As in the earlier editions, the emphasis is on providing practical, detailed guidance on writing and preparing a description of government requirements, whether a statement of work (SOW), a performance work statement (PWS), or a statement of objectives (SOO).
Among the many additions to this sixth edition are updates to reflect the current definition of an SOO as well as references and guidance regarding the development and application of the SOO. There is a new chapter on why change management is so important on projects, legal precedents supporting change management, and how to identify when a change occurs using the SOW. This new chapter also includes information on the federal government's Standard Form 30 (SF30) to provide perspective on how change orders are used and applied in the federal government. If you are working in government contracting in any capacity, you should have this book on hand!

Change is difficult but essential—Esther Derby offers seven guidelines for change by attraction, an approach that draws people into the process so that instead of resisting change, they embrace it.

Even if you don't have change management in your job description, your job involves change. Change is a given as modern organizations respond to market and technology advances, make improvements, and evolve practices to meet new challenges. This is not a simple process on any level. Often, there is no indisputable right answer, and responding requires trial and error, learning and unlearning. Whatever you choose to do, it will interact with existing policies and structures in unpredictable ways. And there is, quite simply, a natural human resistance to being told to change.

Rather than creating more rigorous preconceived plans or imposing change by decree, agile software developer turned organizational change expert Esther Derby offers change by attraction, an approach that is adaptive and responsive and engages people in learning, evolving, and owning the new way. She presents a set of seven heuristics—guides to problem-solving—that empower people to achieve outcomes within broad constraints using their personal ingenuity and creativity.

When you work by attraction, you give space and support for people to feel the loss that comes with change and help them see what is valuable about the future you propose. Resistance fades because people feel there is nothing to push against—only something they want to move toward. Derby's approach clears the fog to provide a new way forward that honors people and creates safety for change.

Change is difficult but essential—Esther Derby offers seven guidelines for change by attraction, an approach that draws people into the process so that instead of resisting change, they embrace it.

Even if you don't have change management in your job description, your job involves change. Change is a given as modern organizations respond to market and technology advances, make improvements, and evolve practices to meet new challenges. This is not a simple process on any level. Often, there is no indisputable right answer, and responding requires trial and error, learning and unlearning. Whatever you choose to do, it will interact with existing policies and structures in unpredictable ways. And there is, quite simply, a natural human resistance to being told to change.

Rather than creating more rigorous preconceived plans or imposing change by decree, agile software developer turned organizational change expert Esther Derby offers change by attraction, an approach that is adaptive and responsive and engages people in learning, evolving, and owning the new way. She presents a set of seven heuristics—guides to problem-solving—that empower people to achieve outcomes within broad constraints using their personal ingenuity and creativity.

When you work by attraction, you give space and support for people to feel the loss that comes with change and help them see what is valuable about the future you propose. Resistance fades because people feel there is nothing to push against—only something they want to move toward. Derby's approach clears the fog to provide a new way forward that honors people and creates safety for change.

"Project and team leaders, do yourself a favor and make this book required reading by each member of your team!" —HR Professionals Magazine

Collaborative strategies work when they're designed by teams—where each person is heard, valued, and held accountable. This book is a practical guide for project team leaders and individual contributors who want their teams to play by a better set of rules.

Today's teams want more alignment among their members, better decision-making processes, and a greater sense of ownership over their work. This can be easy, even fun, if you have the right rituals.

Rituals are group activities during which people go through a series of behaviors in a specific order. They give teams the ability to create a collective point of view and reshape the processes that affect their day-to-day work. In Turning People into Teams, you'll find dozens of practical rituals for finding a common purpose at the beginning of a project, getting unstuck when you hit bottlenecks or brick walls, and wrapping things up at the end and moving on to new teams.

Customizable for any industry, work situation, or organizational philosophy, these rituals have been used internationally by many for-profit and not-for-profit organizations. By implementing just a few of these rituals, a team can capture the strengths of each individual for incredible results, making choices together that matter.

A truly revolutionary method of change management, Appreciative Inquiry (AI) emphasizes inquiry into strengths, rather than focusing exclusively on fixing weaknesses. Written by the originators and leaders of the AI movement, this accessible guide offers a practical introduction to the method, which has been used to significantly enhance customer satisfaction, cost competitiveness, revenues, profits, and employee engagement, as well as organizations' abilities to meet the needs of society. Full of exciting stories that illustrate its many applications and benefits, this is the most authoritative guide to Al. By using this change method to systematically tap human potential, organizations, communities, and individuals become more effective.

Written by the two most recognized Appreciative Inquiry thought leaders A quick, accessible introduction to one of the most popular change methods today--proven effective in organizations ranging from Roadway Express and British Airways to the United Nations and the United States Navy Appreciative Inquiry (AI) is a model of change management uniquely suited to the values, beliefs, and challenges of organizations today. AI is a process that emphasizes identifying and building on strengths, rather than focusing exclusively on fixing weaknesses as most other change processes do. As the stories in this book illustrate, it results in dramatic improvements in the triple bottom line: people, profits, and planet. AI has been used to significantly enhance customer satisfaction, cost competitiveness, revenues, profits, and employee engagement, retention, and morale, as well as organizations' abilities to meet the needs of society. This book is a concise introduction to Appreciative Inquiry. It provides a basic overview of the process and principles of AI along with exciting stories illustrating how organizations have applied AI and the benefits they have gained as a result. It has been specifically designed to be accessible to a wide audience so that it can be handed out in organizations where AI is either being contemplated or being implemented. Written by two of the key figures in the development of Appreciative Inquiry, this is the most authoritative guide available to a change method that systematically taps the potential of human beings to make themselves, their organizations, and their communities more adaptive and more effective.

Right-Brain Project Management: A Complementary Approach looks at contemporary project management from a fresh perspective, exploring “right-brain" approaches that are intuitive and capitalize on natural human thinking and activity. Coupled with the logical and formal, or “left-brain," methodology associated with conventional project management, facilitation of right-brain functions offers a good range of techniques for project success. Presenting extensive research and the experiences of project managers who use right-brain approaches successfully, this book sheds a unique and hopeful light on conquering the challenges of contemporary projects. In this valuable resource, you will:
•Explore the current landscape of project management, which highlights contemporary projects that are complex and aggressive
•Examine topics that address how people grow and develop patterns of thinking and attitudes that have a profound effect on the management of projects
•Consider what truly motivates people to get out of bed and right to their projects
•Evaluate the profound changes that take place on projects and how to navigate those changes
•Discover the seven principles of right-brain project management, founded on the powerful and rich processing capabilities of the right brain

Learn how the successful project manager can become a whole-brain project manager by enlisting resources from both the right and the left sides, and how to further enhance project management by incorporating innovation and flexibility.

Right-Brain Project Management: A Complementary Approach looks at contemporary project management from a fresh perspective, exploring “right-brain" approaches that are intuitive and capitalize on natural human thinking and activity. Coupled with the logical and formal, or “left-brain," methodology associated with conventional project management, facilitation of right-brain functions offers a good range of techniques for project success. Presenting extensive research and the experiences of project managers who use right-brain approaches successfully, this book sheds a unique and hopeful light on conquering the challenges of contemporary projects. In this valuable resource, you will:
•Explore the current landscape of project management, which highlights contemporary projects that are complex and aggressive
•Examine topics that address how people grow and develop patterns of thinking and attitudes that have a profound effect on the management of projects
•Consider what truly motivates people to get out of bed and right to their projects
•Evaluate the profound changes that take place on projects and how to navigate those changes
•Discover the seven principles of right-brain project management, founded on the powerful and rich processing capabilities of the right brain

Learn how the successful project manager can become a whole-brain project manager by enlisting resources from both the right and the left sides, and how to further enhance project management by incorporating innovation and flexibility.

White privilege damages and distorts societies around the world, not just in the United States. This book exposes its pervasive global reach and creates a new space for discourse on worldwide racial equality.

As Chandran Nair shows in this uncompromising new book, a belief in the innate superiority of White people and Western culture, once the driving force behind imperialism, is now woven into the very fabric of globalization. It is so insidious that, as Nair points out, even many non-White people have internalized it, judging themselves by an alien standard. It has no rival in terms of longevity, global reach, harm done, and continuing subversion of other cultures and societies.

Nair takes a comprehensive look at the destructive influence of global White privilege. He examines its impact on geopolitics, the reframing of world history, and international business practices. In the soft-power spheres of White privilege—entertainment, the news media, sports, and fashion—he offers example after example of how White cultural products remain the aspirational standard. Even environmentalism has been corrupted, dominated by a White savior mentality whereby technologies and practices built in the West will save the supposedly underdeveloped, poorly governed, and polluted non-Western world.

For all these areas, Nair gives specific suggestions for breaking the power of White privilege. It must be dismantled—not just because it is an injustice but also because we will be creating a post-Western world that has less conflict, is more united, and is better able to respond to the existential challenges facing all of us.

White privilege damages and distorts societies around the world, not just in the United States. This book exposes its pervasive global reach and creates a new space for discourse on worldwide racial equality.

As Chandran Nair shows in this uncompromising new book, a belief in the innate superiority of White people and Western culture, once the driving force behind imperialism, is now woven into the very fabric of globalization. It is so insidious that, as Nair points out, even many non-White people have internalized it, judging themselves by an alien standard. It has no rival in terms of longevity, global reach, harm done, and continuing subversion of other cultures and societies.

Nair takes a comprehensive look at the destructive influence of global White privilege. He examines its impact on geopolitics, the reframing of world history, and international business practices. In the soft-power spheres of White privilege—entertainment, the news media, sports, and fashion—he offers example after example of how White cultural products remain the aspirational standard. Even environmentalism has been corrupted, dominated by a White savior mentality whereby technologies and practices built in the West will save the supposedly underdeveloped, poorly governed, and polluted non-Western world.

For all these areas, Nair gives specific suggestions for breaking the power of White privilege. It must be dismantled—not just because it is an injustice but also because we will be creating a post-Western world that has less conflict, is more united, and is better able to respond to the existential challenges facing all of us.

Modern culture’s worship of “how-to” pragmatism has turned us into instruments of efficiency and commerce—but we’re doing more and more about things that mean less and less. We constantly ask “how? and still struggle to find purpose and act on what matters. Instead of acting on what we know to be of importance, we wait for bosses to change, we seek the latest fad, we invest in one more degree. Asking how keeps us safe—instead of being led by our hearts into uncharted territory, we keep our heads down and stick to the rules. But we are gaining the world and losing our souls. Peter Block puts the “how-to” craze in perspective and presents a guide to the difficult and life-granting journey of bringing what we know is of personal value into an indifferent or even hostile corporate and cultural landscape. He raises our awareness of the trade-offs we’ve made in the name of practicality and expediency, and offers hope for a way of life in which we’re motivated not by what “works,” but by the things that truly matter in life—idealism, intimacy, depth and engagement.

Holding the Calm is a practical and immediately useful guide that meticulously lays out twenty concrete, easy-to-use tools for defusing tension, settling cases, resolving disputes, and rechanneling arguments.

How do you stop conflict? Settle disputes? Handle someone who is yelling at you, crying, or just won't speak? How do you find a solution when a solution seems impossible? Holding the Calm shares the secrets that enable everyone to avoid, minimize, or resolve conflict.

Popular master mediator Hesha Abrams has tens of thousands of hours in the trenches mediating human conflict, and she shares her pragmatic wisdom in digestible bites that detail how to improve situations and solve difficult problems between human beings, from family and workplace disputes to complex commercial and global conflicts. Learn how to

Speak into the ears that hear you
Be the grown-up in the room
Listen to what is not said
Create small, winnable victories

Practical, inspirational, and full of accessible tools you can use right now, Holding the Calm proves that you don't need an advanced degree or certification to minimize challenges and defuse tension between real people, businesses, and countries.

Real organizational change isn't brought about by decree, pressure, permission, or even persuasion. Sustained change comes when people are passionately and personally committed to a future that they have helped to shape. If you want to turn your organization's cynics into owners, give them a voice in the decisions that impact their work. Consensus Through Conversation shows how.

Consensus is a cooperative process in which all of a group's members develop and agree to actively support a decision. It's not mere acquiescence—consensus goes several steps beyond, transforming people from resigned instruction-followers to dedicated champions of an idea. Larry Dressler shows you exactly how to prepare for a successful consensus-building process, takes you step-by-step through that process, and offers tips for success and traps to avoid. Throughout, he provides a host of tools and examples that make this an eminently practical and immediately useful guide.

Consensus Through Conversation will give you the tools you need to use consensus effectively in your organization. It is a handy, vital reference that you will turn to again and again in your efforts to tackle high stakes issues, make high quality decisions, and build enthusiasm and commitment to action.

Shows that the key to effectively leading difficult meetings lies not in acquiring more tools and techniques but in your state of mind Offers dozens of stories, exercises and practices to help readers cultivate a grounded, compassionate, purposeful presence Draws on Dressler’s interviews with 35 distinguished experts in facilitation, negotiation, organizational development and leadership High heat meetings seem to be happening in more and more organizations these days. Situations where participants are polarized, angry, fearful, confused. If you facilitate meetings for a living, all your well-learned techniques won’t help you in volatile and unpredictable situations like this. If you lead meetings as simply one part of your job, you probably feel even less able to cope. The answer is not another technique—not something you do to people. Veteran facilitator Larry Dressler has learned the hard way that when stakes are high, outcomes uncertain, and emotions running wild what makes the crucial difference is the leader’s presence. To work with people in high-heat meetings you have to work on yourself. Standing in the Fire shares not just Dressler’s experiences but also the insights of 35 iconic facilitators, leaders, conveners, and change agents, all with an eye to helping you stay grounded and focused enough to make the kind of inventive, split-second decisions these pressure-cooker situations demand. He outlines the mindsets, the emotional and physical ways of being that will enable you to master yourself so you can remain firmly in service to the group, and offers dozens of practices for cultivating these capabilities before, during and after any meeting. In meetings as in the natural world fire can be creative rather than destructive—but only if handled skillfully. Standing in the Fire gives you everything you need to keep from being draw into the inferno yourself and instead become a masterful fire tender.

The hardest part of a manager's job isn't staying organized, meeting deliverable dates, or staying on budget. It's dealing with people who are too comfortable doing things the way they've always been done and too afraid to do things differently—workers who are, as author Bill Treasurer puts it, too “comfeartable.” Such workers fail to exert themselves any more than they have to, equating “just enough” with good enough. By avoiding even mild challenges, these workers thwart forward progress and make their businesses dangerously safe.
To combat this affliction, Treasurer proposes a bold antidote: courage. In Courage Goes to Work, he lays out a comprehensive, step-by-step process that treats courage as a skill that can be developed and strengthened. He Treasurer shows how managers can build workplace courage by modeling courageous behavior themselves, creating an environment where people feel safe taking chances and helping workers deal with fear.
To make the concept of courage more concrete, Treasurer identifies what he calls the Three Buckets of Courage: Try Courage, having the guts to take initiative; Trust Courage, being willing to follow the lead of others; and Tell Courage, being honest and assertive with coworkers and bosses. He illustrates each with a variety of vivid real-world examples and offers proven practices for helping your workers keep each bucket full.
Aristotle said that courage is the first virtue because it makes all other virtues possible. It's as true in business as it is in life. With more courage, workers gain the necessary confidence to take on harder projects, embrace company changes with more enthusiasm, and extend themselves in ways that will benefit their careers and their company. Courage Goes to Work is the first book to take a systematic approach to developing a vital but overlooked component of business success.

The hardest part of a manager's job isn't staying organized, meeting deliverable dates, or staying on budget. It's dealing with people who are too comfortable doing things the way they've always been done and too afraid to do things differently—workers who are, as author Bill Treasurer puts it, too “comfeartable.” Such workers fail to exert themselves any more than they have to, equating “just enough” with good enough. By avoiding even mild challenges, these workers thwart forward progress and make their businesses dangerously safe.
To combat this affliction, Treasurer proposes a bold antidote: courage. In Courage Goes to Work, he lays out a comprehensive, step-by-step process that treats courage as a skill that can be developed and strengthened. He Treasurer shows how managers can build workplace courage by modeling courageous behavior themselves, creating an environment where people feel safe taking chances and helping workers deal with fear.
To make the concept of courage more concrete, Treasurer identifies what he calls the Three Buckets of Courage: Try Courage, having the guts to take initiative; Trust Courage, being willing to follow the lead of others; and Tell Courage, being honest and assertive with coworkers and bosses. He illustrates each with a variety of vivid real-world examples and offers proven practices for helping your workers keep each bucket full.
Aristotle said that courage is the first virtue because it makes all other virtues possible. It's as true in business as it is in life. With more courage, workers gain the necessary confidence to take on harder projects, embrace company changes with more enthusiasm, and extend themselves in ways that will benefit their careers and their company. Courage Goes to Work is the first book to take a systematic approach to developing a vital but overlooked component of business success.