A-8 Conducting the Debriefing

Handling Questions

 You may request that questions from the offeror’s personnel be funneled through their main spokesperson (this facilitates the orderly conduct of the debriefing).

 As a general rule, do not answer questions “on the fly”.

 Hold a government caucus to formulate a response before providing an answer (maintain source selection materials in caucus room for reference, if needed).

 Government participants should only speak when requested by the PCO with discussions tightly controlled.

 Additional questions may be answered during the debrief. DFARS Subpart 215.506-70 and DoD Source Selection Procedures Appendix A both provide specific guidance and timeframes for handling questions received during or following the debrief of offerors. Note: When providing a required postaward debriefing to successful and unsuccessful offerors, pay careful attention to the procedures and timeframes in DFARS 215.506-70. The number of days for these actions are in business days, not calendar days.

 The postaward debriefing is NOT considered concluded until all criteria specified in the DFARS and DoD Source Selection Guide has been properly met or performed.

 Ensure redacted SSDD is legally sufficient, as applicable, and all actions are performed timely per DFARS and DoD Source Selection Procedures.

The Post Debriefing Memorandum

 The PCO must include a summary of each debriefing as a record in the contract file. This post-debriefing memorandum should include, at a minimum:

o A list of all debriefing attendees;

o A summary of the information disclosed during the debriefing. (The most efficient means for doing this is to attach the debriefing slides to the memorandum.);

o The offeror’s request for a debriefing, if any;

o The substance of all questions and answers discussed at, or provided subsequent to, the debriefing. This includes previously submitted questions, any hand-outs, and a list of written questions/answers;

o Any other relevant documents.