2. Copyright Š MCCCF VIP, 2
How to Grow Business Value
Mike is an investor, advisor, and coach with 20+ years of experience in technology and
business roles serving the Federal Government.
Mike served as SAICâs Director of IT Strategy and Architecture from July 2021 through
June 2022, leading technology strategy and transformation activities across several
domains, with a current focus on enterprise cloud transformation.
Before SAICâs acquisition of Halfaker and Associates in July 2021, Mike was an executive at
Halfaker and Associates, serving in a series of critical roles over a 13-year period,
including COO overseeing service delivery, then CTO with a focus on customer-facing
solutions, and most recently as CIO/CISO with a focus on enterprise technology, process
framework engineering, and cyber security.
Prior to Halfaker, Michael supported Lockheed Martin for 5 years, with a focus on cyber
and physical security in their Critical Infrastructure Protection group. Michael holds a
Bachelorâs in Computer Engineering from the University of Virginia and a Masterâs in
Information Systems and Technology from Johns Hopkins University, and has held several
certifications including PMP, PMI-ACP, SAFe SA, and ITIL-F.
Lessons Learned
Mike King
Insert Instructor
Headshot here.
3. Copyright Š MCCCF VIP, 3
Iâm not an investment banker, lawyer, or serial M&A expert. I am not speaking on behalf of any other
organization, company, or customer â these are my personal thoughts.
Disclaimers
Lessons Learned
Agenda
ď§ Play the Game Well
ď§ Operational Maturity
Components
ď§ Components by
Domain (Lead, Plan,
Do, Monitor)
Questions?
ď§ Understand the
Game
ď§ Know Your Value
Drivers
ď§ Decompose Value
Metrics
ď§ Surround Yourself
with Mentors and
Peers
ď§ Halfaker's Story
ď§ Mechanics of Broker-
based Selling
ď§ Confidential
Information
Presentation (CIP)
ď§ Two Linchpins to
Growing Value
How to Grow Business Value
4. Copyright Š MCCCF VIP, 4
ď§ Halfaker and Associates (Halfaker) was founded in
2006 by Dawn Halfaker, West Point graduate and
Army Military Policy Officer
ď§ SAIC acquired Halfaker in July 2021
Halfakerâs Story
Lessons Learned
Acquisition
and
Transition
â˘2021 â SAIC Acquired
Halfaker in July
Scale Up
â˘2018 â Opened Agile
Delivery Center in FL
â˘2019-2020 â Awards in
several new capability
areas
â˘2020 â ISO 27001
â˘2020 â 500+ employees
â˘2021 â ISO 20001
Step on the
Gas
â˘2016 â Halfaker wins
T4NG ($23B IDIQ)
â˘2016 â Halfaker wins
CMS SPARC IDIQ
â˘2017 â 200+ employees
â˘2016-2018 â Several
key, prime awards in
key capability areas
Invest in
Process
Maturity
â˘2014 â CMMI ML2 and
ISO 9001
â˘2015 â Halfaker wins
prime IT SA BPA
â˘2015 â CMMI ML3
Foundation
â˘2006 - Founded
â˘2009 â Halfaker wins
50+ FTE prime contract
with IT scope
â˘2012 â Shift strategy to
focus on IT solutions
over professional
services
How to Grow Business Value
5. Copyright Š MCCCF VIP, 5
Mechanics of Broker-based Selling
Lessons Learned
Investment Bankers
Circulate
Anonymous One-
Pager
â˘Collect interest
anonymously, not
sharing the selling
companyâs name
Incoming Interest
â˘Investment Bankers
receive interest
â˘Potential bidders sign
NDA
â˘Potential bidders are
qualified/approved
Confidential
Information
Presentation (CIP)
â˘Seller presents multi-
hour presentation about
company, such as value
proposition/key
highlights, key
capabilities/customers,
operations approach,
financial summary
Due Diligence
â˘Work through a few
weeks of follow-up
questions, data requests
(through data room),
and follow-up
discussions
Negotiate, Close,
and Transition
â˘Buyer and seller work
through nailing down all
the details
â˘Work through the
transition approach and
timing, including
compliance and
communication actions
Increase
Value
Clarify Value
Proposition
Ensure
Financial
Maturity
How to Grow Business Value
6. Copyright Š MCCCF VIP, 6
ď§ The CIP serves as the central marketing document to show your organizationâs value
to potential buyers, often presented by top executives (not just CEO) during a
significant time block (e.g., 4 hours) â hereâs an example outline:
Confidential Information Presentation (CIP)
Lessons Learned
How to Grow Business Value
Section Notes
Executive Summary
Approximately 5 slides that highlight the key value drivers of your organization, such as
mission/vision statement, leaders, capabilities, history, financial overview, and company
metrics
Investment Highlights
List and explain the most impactful reasons your business is valuable, and then
presentation an overview of each
Key Products or
Programs
Provide information about core products and/or programs, and additional information
(e.g., case studies on successes in support of big clients)
Operations Overview Information re: talent (e.g., location, count by org chart category, certifications), offices
Financial Summary
A handful of slides providing an overview of financial history (e.g., historical financial
performance, contract waterfall, forecasting approach/assumptions, income statement)
Appendices
Additional areas you want to highlight as value drives for your business, such as
proprietary techniques or information about the organizationâs leaders
7. Copyright Š MCCCF VIP, 7
Two Linchpins to Growing Value
Lessons Learned
Understand the
Game
Play the Game Well
1 2
How to Grow Business Value
8. Copyright Š MCCCF VIP, 8
ď§ To efficiently grow your business, itâs
important to understand the game you
are playing (what to optimize):
ď§ For your type of business, where
are the levers of value?
ď§ Are you trying to optimize top line?
Bottom line? Prime contracts?
Full and open contracts?
Concentration with a specific
customer? Within a market?
Diversification of customers?
Lessons Learned
Understand the
Game
How to Grow Business Value
1
9. Copyright Š MCCCF VIP, 9
ď§ Do NOT assume you know what is important to buyers of companies likes yours.
Ask investment bankers and entrepreneurs who have made successful exits!
ď§ Donât be overly optimistic â really drive to what a buyer would see in your org!
ď§ Consider possible value drivers such as:
Know Your Value Drivers
Lessons Learned
Vehicles (IDIQs,
BPAs, GWACs)
Current Customers
/ Markets
Expertise / Talent
Specific, Visible
Programs
IP (e.g., Patents)
Channels they can
Sell Into
Products they can
Sell to their
Customers
Process
Frameworks /
Operational
Efficiencies
How to Grow Business Value
10. Copyright Š MCCCF VIP, 10
ď§ Identify key value drivers, decompose them, and then identify key metrics to
measure and drive value, such as:
Decompose Value Metrics
Lessons Learned
Vehicles (IDIQs, BPAs, GWACs)
â˘# Prime Vehicles
â˘Vehicle TO Revenue $
â˘Vehicle TO Pwin
Current Customers / Markets
â˘Composition of your Customer
Revenue/Concentration
Expertise / Talent
â˘# Employees in Specific Roles (e.g.,
Cloud Architects)
â˘# of Employee Certifications
â˘# Industry Innovation Awards
Specific, Visible Programs
IP (e.g., Patents)
â˘# Patents
â˘âDefensible moatsâ of how you
work
Channels they can Sell Into
â˘Previous success bringing new
products/solutions to your
customers
â˘Demographics of your customers
Products they can Sell to their
Customers
â˘Previous success bringing your
offerings to new customer spaces
Process Frameworks / Operational
Efficiencies
â˘External credibility (e.g., ISO27)
â˘ConOps Graphics explaining
Process Frameworks
â˘Stories re: velocity and risk
reduction
How to Grow Business Value
11. Copyright Š MCCCF VIP, 11
ď§ Invest in relationships with
mentors and peers, so you can
discuss trends, practices, and
approaches
ď§ Help your mentors and peers
when you can
Surround
Yourself with
Mentors and
Peers
Lessons Learned
How to Grow Business Value
12. Copyright Š MCCCF VIP, 12
ď§ To grow your business, itâs
important to prioritize
maturing your business, where
you are not relying on
heroes/firefighters to keep
your company running
ď§ Define your growth approach â
are you trying to rush to a
specific inflection point
(timing) and sell right at the
âpeakâ value? Or trying to
incrementally build a resilient,
valuable company?
Play the
Game Well
Lessons Learned
How to Grow Business Value
2
13. Copyright Š MCCCF VIP, 13
ď§ The next slides include several organizational architectural components to consider
ď§ Be intentional with where you invest in maturity â donât over-engineer a stable piece if
another piece is very weak, and donât use a component that doesnât align with your culture
Operational Maturity Components
Lessons Learned
How to Grow Business Value
Lead
⢠Define Culture
⢠Model and
Teach
Leadership
⢠Design your
Organizationâs
Operating
System
Plan
⢠Strategic
Planning
⢠Metric-driven
Strategy
Reviews
⢠Operational
Design
⢠Weekly Priority
Planning
Do
⢠App and Tools
⢠Task Tracking
⢠Track Recurring
Activities
⢠Team and
Personal
Productivity
Monitor
⢠Clear
Ownership
enables
Accountability
⢠Quality
⢠Compliance
14. Copyright Š MCCCF VIP, 14
ď§ Donât let culture happen to you â invest energy in shaping it!
ď§ Are you trying to establish and maintain a consistent, âopinionatedâ
culture on how things are done?
ď§ Are you emphasizing flexibility? Excellence? Entrepreneurial thinking?
ď§ Donât try to make a culture that you think is valuable to sellers â
instead, establish a culture you are proud of, and be disciplined in
pursuing it
ď§ Are you incentivizing the right behaviors, such as prioritizing BD
relationships over web searches, or BD wins over âlooking busyâ?
Define Culture
Lessons Learned
How to Grow Business Value
Lead Plan Do Monitor
15. Copyright Š MCCCF VIP, 15
ď§ To scale as a leader, you must effectively
delegate
ď§ To delegate effectively, you must get actions off
of you and onto to your leaders, so you can
scale (donât let yourself be the bottleneck â see
the great HBR article Whoâs Got the Monkey?)
ď§ See some of the key concepts on the right of
Druckerâs Effective Executive (valuable article
and book) â to evolve into this role, you must
stop doing and instead cast vision, design,
delegate, and hold people accountable
ď§ Accountability requires clear responsibilities
and expectations, which weâll discuss more later
ď§ To continue to scale, you must teach your
colleagues how to lead effectively
Model and Teach
Leadership
Lessons Learned
How to Grow Business Value
Lead Plan Do Monitor
16. Copyright Š MCCCF VIP, 16
ď§ To mature, the CEO must work on the
business not in the business
ď§ Mike Michalowicz has a great concept in his
book Clockwork of shifting how senior leaders
invest time, from doing the work to
eventually designing the work (he uses the
metaphor of shifting to be coach not player)
ď§ There are many great frameworks on ways to
design how your organization runs, and many
places to pull great ideas from (e.g., ISO
standards) â donât force pieces that donât
align with your culture
Design Your Organizationâs Operating System
Lessons Learned
How to Grow Business Value
Do
Delegate
Decide
Design
Lead Plan Do Monitor
17. Copyright Š MCCCF VIP, 17
ď§ Donât jump to what to do â
start with analysis, such as
Strengths, Weaknesses,
Opportunities, and Threats
(SWOT)
ď§ Donât consider only
financial goals
ď§ Then brainstorm and refine
objectives, and then
decompose them into key
results (measures)
ď§ Establish a recurring
cadence for strategic
planning and monitoring
(see example)
ď§ Establish cadence to
monitor metrics progress
Strategic Planning
Lessons Learned
How to Grow Business Value
Note: Balanced Scorecard image from Wevalgo article on Operational Excellence
Sept
â˘Identify
strategic
issues
â˘Conduct
SWOT analysis
â˘Conduct
market
analysis
Oct
â˘Review
organizationâs
core
mission/vision
statements
â˘Review
current
capability
statements
Nov
â˘Review brand
positioning
and
experience
scores (EX, CX)
â˘Draft 3-year
financial
projection
Dec
â˘Decompose
annual goals
into measures
with owners
â˘Align next
yearâs budget
with strategy
Jan
â˘Present new
annual
strategy to all
employees
Lead Plan Do Monitor
18. Copyright Š MCCCF VIP, 18
ď§ Being able to communicate your strategy in a short, impactful elevator pitch is critical to
not being a company that âdoes anything people will pay forâ
ď§ Hereâs an example âelevator pitchâ 1-sentence value proposition, focusing on what
potential customers care about, not employee or your perspective:
ď§ Whatâs your 1-sentence, concise, clear, unique elevator pitch?
Strategic Planning: Elevator Pitch
Lessons Learned
ABC Inc. is a trusted IT managed services
provider that combines modern technologies
and proven processes to provide dependable
and secure IT support services Government
agencies focused on reducing IT costs.
How to Grow Business Value
Lead Plan Do Monitor
19. Copyright Š MCCCF VIP, 19
ď§ Invest in recurring strategic reviews throughout the
calendar year to keep employees synchronized on
progress and priorities, as well as holding leaders
accountable
ď§ Goal and metric owners should understand how their
metrics are calculated (data source, equation,
assumptions)
ď§ An example cadence would be quarterly reviews with all
employees (e.g., town halls) or every leader, and monthly
reviews with executives
ď§ Focus on goals that have clear success criteria (Whatâs
the finish line?), and show quantifiable progress against
those criteria
ď§ Select a handful of metrics to measure and drive
business value and driving those with recurring meetings
-- donât drown yourself in too many numbers!
ď§ As you grow, mature how you develop, flesh out
(decompose), track, and communicate goals â a great
model is Objectives and Key Results (OKRs), where
objectives are broken down into metrics (key results),
and are flowed down the org chart to employees, so
priorities are traceable up and down the org chart
Metric-driven Strategic Reviews
Lessons Learned
Key Performance Indicators YTD
Revenue 11mm
Profit 6%
Company-wide Utilization 85%
Qualified Pipeline 2.6mm
Bookings (Total Contract Funded) 3.4mm
Recompete Win Rate 100%
Voluntary Retention Rate (Trailing 12 mo.) 89%
Stability Index 2.1 yrs.
Employee Experience (Net Promoter Score) 40
% CPARS Very Good or Higher (Trilng. 12 mo.) 88%
How to Grow Business Value
Lead Plan Do Monitor
20. Copyright Š MCCCF VIP, 20
ď§ Org Design is often an afterthought, even though the impacts of the
structure has enormous implications to culture, incentives, behavior, and
success
ď§ Realize that there are many different structures, and leadership titles have
very different meanings across different organizations (e.g., Does the COO
own service delivery? Or back-office operations? Or is the COO a deputy to
the CEO/President?)
ď§ As your organization grows, reflect on getting great leaders into your
organization and hiring to complement them (and not assuming âoutside
expert hiresâ as needed for success)
ď§ Below are a few core functions to consider
Operational Design: Org Chart
Lessons Learned
CEO
Finance HR Sales Operations Marketing IT / Cyber
Contracts /
Legal
Donât let talented
jerks poison your
culture
How to Grow Business Value
Lead Plan Do Monitor
21. Copyright Š MCCCF VIP, 21
ď§ Establish a consistent
operational cadence to keep
the business running
smoothly
ď§ Continuously tune your
enterprise cadence to be
effective (in alignment with
current maturity)
ď§ Pull great ideas from
operational frameworks
Operational Design: Cadence
Lessons Learned
Meeting Owner Purpose Frequency Attendees Documents
Annual Strategy CEO Strategic Annually
Executive Team,
PMs
Strategic Plan
Strategy
Review
CEO
Review Strategic
Plan and Company
Performance
Quarterly
Executive Team,
PMs
Quarterly
Quality Audits /
PIT Meetings
Quality
Manager
Review EPMF and
CMMI Compliance
Monthly
PMs, Quality
Committee
Quality Audit
Template
Project ISRs COO
Outline Project
Status
Monthly
PMs, Executive
Team
Monthly ISR
Template
Business and
Performance
Review
CSO
Review Finance,
Performance,
Budget, Rates, and
Metrics
Monthly
Executive Team,
PMs
Monthly
Performance
Briefing
Template
Operations
Meeting
COO
Outline PMs
Weekly Top 5
Weekly Ops Team
Weekly
Download and
Top 5 Template
Resource
Planning
Meeting
EVP, HR
Review all open
positions and
reprioritize Top 5s
Weekly
Executive Team,
HR, and
Recruiting
Resource
Planning Key
Metrics Template
Executive
Meeting
CSO
Outline Executive
Team Weekly Top
5
Weekly Executive Team
Weekly
Download and
Top 5 Template
BD and Pipeline
(Gate Reviews
and Bid / No-
Bid)
CGO Review BD Pipeline Weekly BD Team
Pipeline Tracker
and BD Notes
How to Grow Business Value
Lead Plan Do Monitor
22. Copyright Š MCCCF VIP, 22
ď§ Donât accumulate scattered policies and processes for different
standards/requirements â establish a single enterprise process asset library (e.g.,
Manuals, Policies, Processes, Templates, Forms, Training), and a controlled process
for any additions/changes to this process asset library
ď§ Instead of being overwhelmed, make dents in documenting expectations and
approaches (a one paragraph policy can be incredibly valuable) â over time, it will
evolve into an incredibly valuable repository
ď§ Define relationships among policies and processes, with a section in your template
for relevant governing documents
ď§ Invest energy in process improvement â gather key leaders every 1-3 months to
discuss, process breakdowns and frustrations and who will improve that
ď§ Leverage maturity frameworks (e.g., CMMC, CMMI, ISO 9001, ISO 20001, ISO
27001, Professional Services Maturity Model, CIS Top 5, Gartner IT Score surveys,
InfoTech), even if you wonât pursue the certification â they are valuable ways to
illuminate the path
ď§ Consider buying policy/process templates (e.g., CertiKit, ComplianceForge) to jump
start efforts, but keep your processes lean, easy to read, and in your companyâs
language
Op Design: Policies and Processes
Lessons Learned
Firefighting doesnât
scale
Teach leaders how
to identify when
working harder
wonât get you there
How to Grow Business Value
Lead Plan Do Monitor
23. Copyright Š MCCCF VIP, 23
ď§ Welcoming and orienting new employees well is critical to engagement and retention
ď§ Consider setting a baseline/standardized structure for all employees, to reduce the risk of a poor
initial experience
Op Design: Employee Onboarding Process Tip
Lessons Learned
Interview
â˘Brand Reputation
â˘Phone Screens
â˘Interviews
â˘Speed of Process
Orientation (Day 1)
â˘Welcome from senior
leader
â˘Cultural History and
Expectations
â˘Structure
â˘What we do?
â˘Nuts and Bolts: IT, HR,
Timecard, etc.
â˘Company Cadence
Meet with
Supervisor
â˘Consider a standard
âInitial Welcomeâ doc
template, to cover
things like Job Title,
Employee #, Welcome
message from CEO,
Welcome message
from Supervisor, Core
Values, Role
Expectations, Initial
Goals with Dates
Initial Experience
Dimensions
â˘IT
â˘HR
â˘How to request things?
â˘Flexibility
How to Grow Business Value
Lead Plan Do Monitor
24. Copyright Š MCCCF VIP, 24
ď§ Invest in curating knowledge, both to welcome new employees well,
and to help current employees find information quickly
ď§ Consider a centralized wiki, where leaders publish information relevant
to their department, group, or team, such as:
Op Design: Knowledge Management
Lessons Learned
Great KM improves
employee
experience, not just
resilience
ď§ Welcome sentence(s) from leader
ď§ Department/group/team purpose/scope statements
ď§ Summary of Strategic Priorities (e.g., War Cry, OKRs)
ď§ Key Processes (e.g., How and when to submit timecard, How to ask for
IT help)
ď§ Organization Cadence (Key, Recurring Meetings/Events)
ď§ Key Tools/Links
ď§ List defining vocabulary, including acronyms
ď§ Suggesting reading (e.g., Recent Agile Planning book leadership has
been reading)
How to Grow Business Value
Lead Plan Do Monitor
25. Copyright Š MCCCF VIP, 25
ď§ Effectively decomposing from annual strategic planning into weekly planning is critical to not get to the end of
the year and see a lot of unfinished goals â otherwise annual strategic planning is a waste of time
ď§ A powerful technique to drive accountable progress is to require every employee to send a Weekly Priorities
email (5 is a great number of target goals) to their supervisor every Friday with their top priorities for next week
(SMART goals for next week, in priority order with clear finish lines) along with the status of their goals from last
week
ď§ Hereâs an example:
Weekly Priority Planning
Lessons Learned
How to Grow Business Value
Subject: Weekly Priorities
Body:
Hey Jess,
My priorities for this week are:
1. Draft internal kickoff deck, and send out to team for feedback, for Project ABC
2. Meet with Customers X and Y to understand how they perceive the team is doing
3. Complete my two writing sections for the XYZ proposal pink team draft
Significant announcements/news/client feedback:
⢠None this week
Update from Last Weekâs Priorities:
Priority Progress
1. Draft detailed outlines for XYZ proposal sections Complete
2. Review draft CPARS content for projects K and Y Partially complete (additional revisions needed)
3. Send proposal plan to COO on next quarterâs client
visit approach
Complete
Lead Plan Do Monitor
26. Copyright Š MCCCF VIP, 26
ď§ Itâs tempting, early on as your organization scales, to defer to leaders and
teams to pick any tools they want to do work, and get the job done, but
that leads to very fragmented data
ď§ Consider establishing core, collaboration tools to share enterprise-wide
(e.g., Email/Chat (Google Workspace vs. Office 365), Agile Planning (e.g.,
Jira, VersionOne), Wiki (e.g., Confluence, SharePoint))
ď§ Consider establishing enterprise-wide expectations, such as âWe track
strategic goals in this tool, this wayâ or âWe track every customer
compliment in this systemâ
Apps and Tools
Lessons Learned
Avoiding fragmented
technology pays
huge dividends as
you grow
Intentionally pick where your
organization is on this spectrum
Opinionated vs. Self-Organizing Spectrum
Agile, self-organizing
teams
Top-down,
prescriptive
management
How to Grow Business Value
Lead Plan Do Monitor
27. Copyright Š MCCCF VIP, 27
ď§ A valuable investment as your organization scales is
a tool to get requests and their approvals out of
email and into a workflow system
ď§ You could use an expensive platform like Salesforce
or Appian, but there are many lost cost approaches
to manage simple workflows, approaches such as:
Microsoft Power Platform, Google AppSheet,
Bubble.io, Screendragon, Jotform, or maybe
another tool you already have, such as your
HRIS/HCM Platform
ď§ Some example workflows to consider: Employee
Change Request (e.g., Title, Supervisor, Salary),
New Hire, Training Request, Software Request,
Partner Evaluation)
Apps Tip: Managing Approvals
Lessons Learned
How to Grow Business Value
Lead Plan Do Monitor
28. Copyright Š MCCCF VIP, 28
ď§ As you scale, itâs powerful to get tasks/actions out of
emails and notes, and instead a centralized task
tracking tool
ď§ Some tools to consider: Atlassian Jira, Trello,
Basecamp, Monday.com, Microsoft Planner
ď§ Eventually, you can start to make enterprise
standards of task/ticket types or boards, to use these
types of tools to track types of information, such as:
ď§ Contract Deliverables, Milestones,
Requirements, and/or Performance Metrics
ď§ Risks and Issues
ď§ Customer Complaints
ď§ Customer Compliments
ď§ Success Stories
ď§ Lessons Learned
Task Tracking
Lessons Learned
How to Grow Business Value
Lead Plan Do Monitor
29. Copyright Š MCCCF VIP, 29
ď§ As your organization scales, there will be many recurring activities to keep
track of, such as reviewing upcoming subscription/contract renewals,
maintaining Government system information â consider establishing an
expectation for where and how teams will track these, to avoid sticky notes
and calendar reminders causing big problems
ď§ Recommendations:
1. Create a table that defines these recurring items in a spreadsheet or
wiki page
2. Operationalize this actions with a central shared calendar (instead of
a single employee who may leave your organization some day), use a
service like SendRecurring.com, or use a task tracking system (e.g.,
Trello)
Track Recurring Activities
Lessons Learned
How to Grow Business Value
Owning
Role/Team
Task Name Associated
Process /
Checklist
Frequency
(e.g., Weekly)
Trigger
Day/Time
Director HR Draft and
Submit EEO
Report
HRâ123 EEO
Reporting
Annual April 30
Lead Plan Do Monitor
30. Copyright Š MCCCF VIP, 30
ď§ Your personal productivity system is important to refine over time as you grow
and scale
ď§ Consider how you manage your email inbox (Do you use flags, folders, and/or
stars?) to ensure you have a resilient system
ď§ Consider how you manage your calendar â how do you block recurring tasks?
Multi-day events?
ď§ Cal Newport, in A World Without Email, talks about the value of defining
processes to get out of a collaboration approach of what he calls Hyperactive Hive
Mind (where someone starts an email thread with several people to figure
something out, that could be a web form or a short meeting if it was planned out
well, but instead turns into a reply-all email thread with a bunch of people on it,
sucking up so many peopleâs time and attention)
ď§ Time Block Planning is a powerful way to plan how youâll spend your day, outside
of meeting times, where you consider how to prioritize your work for your time
outside of meetings (see timeblockplanner.com)
ď§ Consider the metaphor of â this can be powerful way to ensure youâre advancing
the big stuff and not getting lost in the weeks (rocks vs. sand)
ď§ Pomodoro Technique is the idea of having 25 minutes intense, single-task
pomodoro sessions, then take 5 minutes off, and after 4 pomodoros, take a 15+
minute break to reenergize
Team and Personal Productivity
Lessons Learned
How to Grow Business Value
âAre you spending all your time and
exhausting all your energy catching
field mice? In the short term it
might give you a nice, rewarding
feeling. But in the long run youâre
going to die. So ask yourself at the
end of the day, âDid I spend today
chasing mice or hunting antelope?â
If youâre honest with yourself and
the answer is mice, youâd better
reassess your focus, get back to the
strategic core and get your butt on
the trail of an antelope.â
- James Carville
Lead Plan Do Monitor
31. Copyright Š MCCCF VIP, 31
ď§ Job descriptions are helpful when recruiting a hire, but they quickly become out of date with
ongoing responsibilities
ď§ Consider maintaining a responsibility table (e.g., Roles, Responsibilities, and Authority Matrix)
that is a central place for your organization on who does what and who is authorized to do what â
donât use job titles as roles, instead use smaller roles, so you can move roles to different people
as you grow
ď§ This can help clarify things like who is authorized to sign a contract on behalf of the company
(Recommendation: Only the CEO and select trusted people with contracts expertise)
ď§ Set employees up for success by clearing sharing expectations during interviews and
onboarding, not after they disappoint you
ď§ Donât wait on holding employees accountable when they are not performing â it doesnât get
better
ď§ An example table format is:
Clear Ownership enables Accountability
Lessons Learned
How to Grow Business Value
Dept / Group Role Owner (Job Title
(Name if multiple))
Responsibilities Authority
Contracts EEO Report Lead Director HR ⢠Draft report
⢠Submit after CEO
approval
⢠None
Lead Plan Do Monitor
32. Copyright Š MCCCF VIP, 32
ď§ Quality Management isnât glamorous, and itâs easy to
avoid prioritizing it, but as you scale, you should
consider where you want to invest in mitigating risk
ď§ Identity critical processes that should be double-
checked on a schedule, to ensure key steps arenât being
missed
ď§ Are there critical processes where a double-check
should be added for every instance (e.g., Should your
Contracts Team track deliverables, in addition to your
Project Teams?)
ď§ Donât just consider process quality (did people do the
right steps?), but also product quality (Did they make a
valuable work product?)
ď§ Even if youâre not ready to pursue ISO 9001 certification,
consider reviewing some of the requirements to align
with best practices
Quality
Lessons Learned
Where do you need a
safety, not just a
cornerback?
Process
Assets
(e.g.,
Guidelines,
Policies,
Processes,
Templates,
Training
Modules)
Internal
Audit
Checklist
Findings Report and
Non-Compliance Tix
Recurring
Internal
Audits
How to Grow Business Value
Lead Plan Do Monitor
33. Copyright Š MCCCF VIP, 33
ď§ If you are a service delivery company, then establishing a
quality program for ensuring excellence service should be
a high priority
ď§ Define cultural norms for your organization related to
quality â is your goal to get 5s on every CPARS? Or 3s and
above?
ď§ Systematize things you want to ensure, such as semi-
annual executive customer visits
ď§ On the right are some examples of service delivery quality
program components
Quality: Service Delivery
Lessons Learned
How to Grow Business Value
Set Quality Culture
(CPAR 5s?)
Internal and
Customer Project
Kickoff Templates
Recurring Executive
Customer Visits
Proactively Draft
CPARS Content
Quarterly Customer
Satisfaction Surveys
Enterprise
spreadsheet/DB to
track Contract
Deliverables
Lead Plan Do Monitor
34. Copyright Š MCCCF VIP, 34
ď§ Donât be intimidated when starting to build your process asset (e.g.,
policies, processes)
ď§ Consider starting with a simple template, and refining it over time
ď§ Some information to consider for your template:
Quality: Process Asset Template
Lessons Learned
ď§ Document ID (e.g., HR-102)
ď§ Process Asset Name (e.g.,
Employee Handbook)
ď§ Purpose
ď§ Scope
ď§ Roles and Responsibilities
ď§ Definitions
ď§ Prerequisites
ď§ Process Steps
ď§ Related Documents
ď§ Internal Audit Checkpoints
How to Grow Business Value
Lead Plan Do Monitor
35. Copyright Š MCCCF VIP, 35
ď§ Itâs not exciting, but if you donât invest in simple tools like
a spreadsheet showing which clauses are in which
contracts, and who âownsâ complying with those clauses,
and making sure they are aware of that, bad things can
happen
ď§ Thereâs significant risk in the nuances of contracts and
subcontracts â you need to understand, and negotiate,
the terms to manage risk and expectations (e.g., Shouldnât
the DFARS 7012 clause in your draft subcontract be
removed if your IT systems wonât be touching CUI on this
contract?)
ď§ Donât put your head in the sand regarding newer
compliance expectations like NIST SP 800-171, CMMC, and
GDPR
ď§ Donât forget customer-specific standards (e.g., VA 6500,
CMS ARS 3.1), not just Government wide ones
Compliance
Lessons Learned
Know your Contracts!
How to Grow Business Value
Lead Plan Do Monitor
36. Copyright Š MCCCF VIP, 36
ď§ Want to follow up? Please
email me at
mike@mikehking.com or
find me on LinkedIn at
linkedin.com/in/mikehking
Questions?
Lessons Learned
How to Grow Business Value
37. Copyright Š MCCCF VIP, 37
Copyright Š MCCCF VIP, 37
51 Monroe Street, Suite 1800
Rockville, MD 20850
P 301-738-0015 / F 301-738-8792
NationalVIP.org
Arming Vets to WIN