In fiscal year 2023, our agency played a pivotal role in addressing the wildfire crisis and other priority work in our landscapes. This crucial work has been instrumental in protecting communities, preserving natural resources and improving the resilience of America’s forests. Much of this work was accomplished using contracts and partnerships, work performed by our dedicated professionals in Procurement and Property Services and the Office of Grants & Agreements.

Now, it's time for us to come together and reflect on our accomplishments and challenges. We believe that the best way to improve our business processes is by hearing feedback from those who have directly engaged with our services. Those services are focused on procurement, administration of grants or development of agreements with partners. Your insights and experiences are valuable to us as we strive for continuous improvement. Therefore, we plan to hold several after-action reviews to seek your feedback, input and thoughts for improving our service delivery in mid-November/early December.  

During these sessions, you will have the opportunity to:

• Share your insights: Discuss your experiences and provide feedback on the contracting-related and/or grants and agreements-related services you used in fiscal year 2023.
• Collaborate: Engage in open and constructive discussions with your colleagues from Procurement and Property Services and the Office of Grants and Agreements. When you share your perspectives, we can identify common challenges and opportunities for improvement.
• Shape the future: Your input will directly inform our efforts to enhance our business processes, ensuring that we continue to excel in our mission-critical work, which will ultimately benefit you and the on-the-ground work you’re trying to accomplish.

Your participation in the after-action review is crucial to our collective success. We are committed to fostering an environment of collaboration and continuous improvement. Together, we can drive positive change that benefits not only our staff areas but also the communities, landscapes and people we serve.

If you worked with the Procurement and Property Services or Office of Grants and Agreements staff on any contracts, grants or agreements in 2023, you’ll soon receive an email asking you to RSVP for an after-action session.  

After we receive RSVPs, we will use the responses to solidify meeting dates and send calendar invites out to participants.

If you have any questions or suggestions in advance of the session, please contact Michelle Clomax.

Let's come together, learn from one another and embark on a journey of improvement. Your dedication and expertise are what make our organization exceptional, and I look forward to hearing your valuable insights during these sessions.

Editor's Note: Provide feedback about this column, submit questions or suggest topics for future columns through the FS-Employee Feedback inbox.