It Must Be September!

When we first got into helping FSOs man- age their day-to-day FSO tasks, administration, and goals, I used to worry and say “If the government ever de-regulates this industry, I guess we will have to go into a different business. “ Ah…that was cute.

I think we can all agree at this point—there is no diminishing requirements for what FSOs do.

“This used to be much easier!” said one our FSO PRO members on the phone this week, as I helped prepare her for an upcoming CME call with DCSA. It is true, but on the bright side, we get to learn and grow in a profession that is becoming more valuable to companies and essential to our country!

DON’T PANIC—You Got This

With a little planning once a month or week, and a few dedicated minutes each day, you can manage this while dealing with all the usual headaches you have in your job. “What do you mean you don’t see the VAR in DISS – I am looking at it!”

Your 5 Step Action Plan for Making this a Great Fall Security Season!

1) Refocus your Focus

What is it that you actually want to achieve? Inspection Prep readiness at any moment? To be an FSO subject matter expert? To help other FSOs? To have more suspicious con- tacts than last year? To get security certifications? To just complete all the baseline standards? Get clear on your organization’s security goals and mission so you know where you are heading!

2) Plan to Succeed

As I type this, DCSA has been emailing the changes for Security Reviews, Self- Inspections, new ratings systems, and changes with VROC. Proper planning is essential with any goal and there are times when your usual planning methods need to be upgraded!

Shameless plug:

With our FSO Pro Membership, we offer monthly resources for these changes like new foreign travel cheat-sheets, answer questions (such as “what does the deferred date in CE mean?” and things to help for CM calls (see page 1) or prep for any meeting with DCSA. We provide to-do templates, planners, and checklists so you can take a few moments each month and map out your success. To join the “FSO Super- Hero” club go to: https://thefsopro.comshop/.

We also recommend planning tools and apps such as Trello, Google tools, Outlook calendars, and project schedulers.

From a real FSO: “For me, what works best is planning out the month at the beginning but looking at the next month too, in case I need to task out items the last week. I put both the due dates and the dates that I need to work on it. I start an hour or two ahead of the day (this doesn’t work for every- one) and knock out the “worst first” (usually courtesy reminders or research for a new security process) then close out my day with an updated priority list for the next morning. That’s just me.”

3) Get Educated!

It would be nice if someone could just tell us exactly what to do each day. That worked really well in grade school. FSO work is not a one-size-fits-all situation, so you will, as an FSO, have to take a few moments each day to educate yourself.

• DCSA offers workshops, “Industry” events, and Summits to get a ton of information and resources in one day.
• CDSE offers all sorts of web training, study guides, and job aids.
• NCMS offers brown bags and annual conferences.
• FSO PRO offers newsletters, video training, one-on-one training, Security Review and Self Inspection Prep, and process booklets.

The problem is not the material – it is out there.

The problem is making it a real priority. Give yourself 10 minutes a day to learn a bit about the FSO work you do. If you have read this far— you already nailed it for today!

“Education is the most powerful weapon you have to change the world.” – Nelson Mandela

4) Clean House

“If You Have a Moment, I would like to Talk with You About Our Government – Required Training.”

That is how I feel each year when I send out the Annual Refresher Briefing – like some sort of un- wanted sales rep! Folks are busy, they have done this before, they just did a training with someone else, blah, blah, blah.

I can promise you this: when you are sitting with an auditor (DCSA, ISO if you have that, Contracting…) and they say “show me Janet’s Annual Refresher from last year” or “why is Eric’s PR still pending?” and you can- not locate it – it is a VERY un- comfortable feeling. (One job, Janet!)

We know from experience, you have to stay on top of personnel record keeping!

Tips!

Here are some tips for how you can ensure your training is complete for your cleared personnel:

Make a chart with all your cleared personnel and all their required training. We are updating this now for our Members!

Review the training in the NEW Federal Rule and SEAD ISL

• Initial Overview
• Annual Refresher
• Annual Insider Threat
• CUI
• Debriefing

Now locate Special Briefings, if any, on your DD254 and in the contract Statement of Work (SOW).

• NATO
• COMSEC
• SCI
• OPSEC
• CyberChallenge, etc.

Combine the Federal requirements as much as you can.
into one with a very extensive acknowledgement sheet to ensure we cover all required topics.

Audit your personnel records to make sure you are not missing anything! (JANET!)

Send “courtesy reminders”, send notes to their supervisors, keep at them until you get 100% of all the required training. (I will come to your house, Janet!)

5) Make October a Security “Event” Month!

Over the next few weeks, people will begin to feel festive. Take advantage of that (and National Cyber Security Awareness Month) to get some security events going!

Ideas to make training fun and creative.

• Competition – get your groups (Programs, departments, etc.) to see who can get it done first. I will tell you right now – HR and Finance take that seriously!
• Have an “event” training. Do it all at once with a company pot-luck or barbecue.
• Give it a theme and promote it for weeks with posters, candy, and reminders.
• Have prizes! Yes, you should not have to bribe anyone to do their job but if it cuts down on your reminders, it may be worth a Starbucks card or two.
• Go to CDSE for ways to update your training or use the posters, handouts, and video shorts to add to your education program.

Need more explanation or assistance with any items mentioned this month? Contact FSO PRO!

FSO PRO thanks all the FSOs out there for everything you do to keep the warfighter safe. Even the smallest task is designed to keep our nation’s information out of the hands of those who would do harm. We, as FSOs, are doing our part to stay vigilant and determined to protect those who protect us, even in our own small way.

That is why we say how awesome you are. And thank you.