Fort Belvoir, Va. –
The Coastal Branch Office, located near Greensboro, NC, conducted a virtual staff conference to provide refresher training to their workforce. With a majority of the staff teleworking, the pre-COVID process of conducting several short afternoon training sessions was not possible; therefore, the sessions were combined into a three-day virtual event. Presenters, both internal and external to the office, provided instruction on seven different topics.
Internal speakers focused on subjects ranging from scope limitations to computer based data, to name a few. External speakers included a member of the Financial Liaison Advisors (FLA) group who discussed the liaison services FLAs provide to connect contractors and field audit offices to improve coordination and communication. A regional specialist in Data Analytics provided techniques and examples where efficiencies can be gained by the use of Data Analytics. Finally, a presenter from the office’s primary contractor gave insights into the contractor’s business processes, which will help the auditors in future audits.
The last section of the conference was dedicated to reviewing the office’s results from their quality review and addressing actions to improve areas of concern. The conference concluded with a discussion of the regional performance goals and ways the office contributes to their attainment.
Even though there were a few glitches with technology, the participants felt the conference was informative, the topics were timely, and the presenters were engaging; plus it gave everyone a chance to reconnect and built teamwork.