Use of PowerPoint to Document Source Selection

I have used the Power Point software to summarize recommended decisions and the contents of documents supporting recommended decisions. I do not use it as the sole means to document them.

The Power Point presentation is a communications medium. Its use does not modify or obviate the need to develop documentation supporting a decision contemporaneous with the decision. Failure to fulfill the need jeopardizes your ability to defend your decision against a protest.

Very recently, I heard Mr. DPAP describe a procurement involving the use of 2 Power Point slides to summarize and support a source selection decision. The slides were presented as part of a 25 minute narrative supporting the decision. The vast majority of the narrative?s substance was not reflected on the slides or in other written documentation.

Mr. DPAP was not happy with the lack of documentation.

Lack of contemporaneous documentation supporting decisions is always an issue at GAO and COFC. Recent discussions tell me that DPAP has an issue with the notion that the use of Power Point versus Word to document decisions relieves an Agency of the responsibility to document adequately its decisions.

I think a decision brief, in a Power Point format or not, can easily work especially for many less complex acquisitions. The key point is showing and documenting the decision process used and the associated supporting information used at arriving at the decision.

The fear of sustained protests as a result of incomplete documentation seems to drive many people/organizations to think more language is better. I recently saw a source selection decision document that was more than 50 pages in length. This was for a fairly simple acquisition where three proposals were submitted. The CO said he needed everything spelled out in detail in event of a protest. In reality there was so much wording, someone could easily find many statements that might conflict and weaken the decision acse.

I recently got a debriefing --

yes, I did not win --

and the PowerPoint presentation had a different evaluation scheme than the solicitation.

folks, go ahead and copy stuff from your peers,

but please tailor it to your own case.

and the PowerPoint presentation had a different evaluation scheme than the solicitation.

I was looking at some GAO decisions and this one issue came up over and over. It's amazing how we keep making the same mistakes and don't learn from them.

In my agency PowerPoint presentations are used for the debriefing, but not to document the Source Selection decision which is contained in the board reports & SSA decision itself. The debriefing should mirror the source selection criteria of the RFP and Source Selection Plan, and contain what is required by FAR Subpart 15.5.

The content of the decision documentation is what matters, not the presentation medium or format, or the number of words used. Presentation in PowerPoint is fine if the presentation contains enough information to show that the decision was reasonable and consistent with the evaluation factors in the RFP.