We thoroughly understand the IPT process because of our ongoing relationship and contracts with NAVAIR. Our organizational structure and business management processes have been uniquely constructed from the beginning to meet the demands of the DoD and the Navy's new millennium management philosophy to facilitate cultural change toward a streamlined, innovative, 21st century management team. Our goal is to partner with the government to generate effective life-cycle cost management and to meet the challenges of maximizing quality and innovation while realizing cost savings for the government.
Our capability to manage any task order awarded under SeaPort-e is grounded in the strength of our management team. Our work history has given us the experience to know what is needed to immediately head in the right direction. Organizational groundwork must be laid with startup and staffing plans to minimize common obstacles associated with new work. Realizing the importance of a smooth startup, the following steps are already in place:
Upon award of task orders, we will meet with the government client to discuss the initiation of the task orders and tasking. From the project’s inception, we will provide documentation of our efforts to manage the operations and ensure consistency in our design. Since our project team already understands the basic needs of task order contracts, we will be able to begin work without delay. There will be no risks associated with a learning curve or personnel delays because managing the efforts will be second nature to us as a current DoD contractor. Our management capability has been demonstrated to be superior in our past history of working with our DOD customers. We pride ourselves on our ability to respond rapidly and effectively to our clients from start to finish on any effort.
As a normal part of our business process design, Total Technology has developed an effective quality control process to systematically review and audit the quality of both products and daily support operations from the client’s vantage point, as well as within the corporate environment. As part of this process, we identify the required elements of maintenance, as well as the capabilities necessary to perform a mission throughout its life cycle and arrange those elements to support the mission to the highest possible standard. Each site, each project team, and all managers and team personnel are periodically reviewed to ensure that technical requirements and quality assurance objectives are met, with no decline in performance or quality at any level.
Our Project Leader conducts monthly program reviews with project personnel to evaluate the status of the contract efforts. During quality reviews, feedback from the COR is presented, along with any problems identified. Our Project Leader presents the results of this review to T2’s executive management for action, as appropriate.
All products and deliverables (formal and informal) pass through quality assurance (QA) technical editing and technical reviews, as well as Project Leader checks, prior to submittal. During technical reviews, output is thoroughly scrutinized in the following areas, at minimum:
Recognizing that prompt turnaround of products and responsive support to tasking is a key ingredient to timely, quality support, our process is designed to provide a rapid but thoroughly professional review of each deliverable product. We address our quality control (QC) process on three distinct levels to meet delivery and performance requirements as follows:
In keeping with our stated goal of continuous improvement, Total Technology’s executive leadership and Program Managers seek out and welcome feedback on each team’s performance. It is important to ensure that all work performed meets or exceeds the standard of quality we demand. As such, our Project Leader maintains frequent personal contact with government technical POCs to assess our progress—throughout the period of work as well as upon task order completion. We follow up each formal CDRL deliverable to ensure that we have delivered to the client’s expectation and satisfaction.
In today’s challenging marketplace for talent, Total Technology's superior record of employee retention has been a cornerstone of our success. Over the past five years, our employee turnover rate has remained below three percent in the aggregate. Our generous benefits package, as described in our Compensation Plan, provides a strong incentive that keeps turnover low. Our excellent managers also inspire employee loyalty. Our philosophy is based on taking care of our employees so they can concentrate on pleasing the client. We provide our employees with all the tools, support, equipment, and training they need to support our customers’ needs.
Should the need to replace an employee arise, it is our commitment to seek out another candidate who is equally or better suited to the needs of the program and the client. While the quality of a candidate’s resume is a very important consideration, we believe the candidate must also work compatibly with the client and other project team staff. We consider it a priority to find that “right fit.” These methods have been the basis for our low turnover rate, as well as a legacy of satisfied clients.
Before we replace a team member, we investigate candidates’ backgrounds and validate their resumes with regard to experience and education. We contact all schools listed on a resume to verify degrees awarded and retain copies of verification letters in personnel files. We conduct a rapid, but rigorous, interviewing process before making a recommendation to the client whom the change will affect. Any new team member will be trained using our established training procedures to ensure that the quality of work remains consistent. Our clients can rest assured that our staff will complete all tasks to their satisfaction.
Our Project Leader is actively and intimately involved with our project personnel and their daily operations in order to be fully knowledgeable about potential client needs. We practice the principle of “involved management” so that clients can easily come to the Project Leader as the primary contact for questions or concerns. Our management and support staff practice full and open communication between each other and with the client. Communication is available on a 24-hour basis and can occur as the client deems appropriate—whether face-to-face, or by e-mail, telephone or a combination of all modes. We are prepared to take any and all steps that will increase project effectiveness and program success, making sure that those steps are tailored to best accommodate the client’s needs. The success of the Navy’s Seaport-e Program is our primary concern.
Our goal is to be fully responsive at all levels and provide value-added client support. Our clients have complete and immediate access to our Project Leader as well as to executive management. In addition to their daily project participation, our Project Leader and personnel conduct informal weekly and formal monthly in-process reviews. These regular reviews serve as a continuous assessment of the entire process and help us find ways to constantly and systematically improve our ability to deliver quality services on time and within budget. Their purpose is to evaluate performance toward task completion, planned costs versus actual expenditures, earned value management (EVM), and actual accomplishments versus planned milestones, as well as to discuss and resolve any issues or problems.
We measure the progress of each task order using the POA&M and WBS developed by our Project Leader and approved by government personnel. The first step of our team’s problem-solving technique is simply talking to and listening to both our employees and our clients on a regular basis. The best way to stop a potential problem before it starts is to keep all involved parties included in regular communication and aware of what is going on with a project. The Project Leader conducts monthly program status reviews with project personnel to identify problems. Other methods we use in the resolution process include flow charting, brainstorming, cause/effect analysis, data collection, and economic analysis.
If a problem is identified, the Project Leader and the project personnel work together to identify the best solution using the following procedure:
As soon as the root of the problem is identified and quantified, we immediately determine and implement corrective actions to eliminate it. Total Technology promotes employee creativity and initiative in solving problems, while simultaneously stressing teamwork. We support our employees in their efforts by encouraging them to bring their ideas, suggestions, questions or concerns to the Project Leader for action or feedback. Once we begin to implement a solution, the Project Leader and project personnel meet weekly to ensure that the situation is improving and that the selected corrective action is resolving the problem. This standardized review process has proved highly successful in preventing cost, schedule and technical performance problems on other government contracts and task orders.