Writing good

accomplishment statements

ESCG Contract Sensitive

Why spend time on this?

 Communicating our accomplishments is an

important part of how we get our scores and set our
customer impressions.
– Individual accomplishments → project accomplishments →
SEAS accomplishments → PEB evaluations → award fee
scores → bonuses for individuals
 It’s a great way to build a solid personal and team
reputation.
 It’s a big component of status reporting, which we do
regularly
– Therefore it consumes a good bit of time, all the way up the
organization

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Status vs. accomplishments

 Status is for on-going activities

– Working on…
– Continuing…
– Planning…
 Accomplishments are for things that have been
completed
– Finished
– Delivered
– Concluded
 Accomplishments have a clear benefit
 Reporting status is important also, just need to keep
them distinct

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Status vs. accomplishments, examples

 Status: Performance testing is 80% complete.

 Accomplishment: Performance testing completed on
schedule.

 Status: Preparing for SRR.

 Accomplishment: SRR complete, 3 RID’s require
disposition.

 Status: Anticipate completion of analysis by May 1.

 Accomplishment: Analysis delivered, accepted by
customer.

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Structure of an accomplishment
 First, statement of how the accomplishment is of benefit to the
customer
– Always in first sentence
– Emphatically answers the question of “why does the NASA
customer care about this accomplishment”
– Shows an achievement
 Next, give ESCG’s direct involvement
– Specifically what did ESCG personnel do to accomplish the benefit
to the customer
 Finally, details
– Be specific
– Include dates, documents produced, if applicable
– Include brag items – early, under cost, exceptional quality,
customer recognition
– For roll-ups, provide the names of the people who did the work

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Additional rules

 Avoid the following passive words:

– Support (unless specifically mission support)
– Help
– Participate
– Attend
– Assist
– Coordinate
– Visited
– Reacted (okay to change to “Responded”)
 If all we did was one of those things, it wasn’t an
accomplishment. Find a way to state a clear benefit.
 Use ESCG instead of the first person plural or “the
contractor.”

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Templates for accomplishments

 What is a template?
– Certain types of accomplishment happen frequently on the
ESCG contract
– It’s likely that certain information will be useful and
interesting every time one of these accomplishment types
occurs
– A template describes the information likely to be of interest
for a given type of accomplishment
 Templates follow to assist in writing an
accomplishment statement for some of the most
common types of accomplishments

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Giving a demonstration or conducting a training course:

 Content/subject matter of the demonstration/training

 How many people attended
 For training, was this for ESCG, NASA, other contractors,
or a combination?
– Is there a plan to bring this training to the greater ESCG
community?
 On what date(s) was the demonstration/training
conducted
 Indicate any specific groups or high profile individuals
(and their position) who attended
 Was there a specific reason that this demonstration or
training was needed?

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Simulation/software modules and upgrades

 What task this software/simulation performs

 The importance of the software to the greater system
– Any new capabilities the software provides
 Reasons why this module is needed
 For upgrades: any quantifiable performance
improvement
 Date software was delivered
 Was this delivery on time or early? How many
days/weeks early?

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Analysis

 Date of analysis delivery

 Document number for analysis
 Why the analysis was performed. What is the analysis
supposed to determine?
 General result of the analysis
 Did this analysis lead to any decisions or other work?

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Hardware delivery

 Date of delivery
 Flight that the hardware will fly on (if flight hardware)
 Delivered early?
 Quantities delivered
 For spares and replacement hardware: was this item
produced in response to a failure?
 Was this a short turn around product?
 What is its general function?

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Milestone reviews (PDR, CDR, SAR, etc.)

 Date review was completed

 Number of RIDs
 Are there any other forward actions? (ex. Open issues on
a project that will be closed via sustaining task)
 Customer feedback

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Completion of Testing

 Date testing was completed

 What hardware / software / system was tested
 Was the testing completed for all items of this type? If
not, provide the number compared to the total number
(ex. Completed thermal vacuum testing for 2 of the 4
GPS antenna assemblies…)

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Examples

 Examples follow, some good, some bad

 Please note that for the bad examples, edits (some
including non-existent items) have been made to protect
the guilty.

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Good examples

 Completed LCRR for delta-CDR on 11/4 on schedule.

Team is ready to brief stakeholders on the design
resolution to the packed bed issue. The recent failure at
WSTF may delay the delta-CDR. (Smith, Jones)
 Delivered Velocicalc for flight on STS-133 two days early.
Tight schedule due to logistics of sending unit back to
vendor for recalibration and delivering as close to launch
date to preserve calibration shelf life. (Kent)

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Bad examples

 Facilitated, participated in, supported, and documented

the project proceedings in Readiness Review.

 The participation may have been vital but as written – it

reads as “took notes.” That may be fine, but is it an
accomplishment?

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Good examples

 Completed the STS-133 Space Network

Verification/Validation Test. This Space Network (SN)
Verification/Validation is to verify and validate that the SN
is capable of supporting the upcoming STS-133 flight.
The GSFC Test Director (GTD) declared that all test
objectives were accomplished and the Network is ready
for mission support. This activity required the participation
of the ESTL to provide Shuttle communications interfaces
at S-Band and Ku-Band frequencies. Participants in this
test were Mission Control Center, Houston (MCC-H),
White Sands Complex (WSC), and the Goddard Space
Flight Center (GSFC). (Wayne, Parker)

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Bad examples

 Disney discovered a mathematical error in the thermal

load analysis concerning the MDR bolts. This correction
changed the Ares MDR bolt heat from 70 C to 280 C.
Crucial hardware is mounted near these bolts and
needed to be analyzed for the updated thermal loads.
Certification thermal test levels were given to Disney.
Using this data Disney analysis cleared these items for
the higher thermal load.

 Did ESCG do anything? What’s the accomplishment?

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Bad examples

 ESCG personnel successfully completed the final

software integration test in the XYZ laboratory. The
upgrade of the software in the lab was successfully
completed and the new system is now being used for
training.

 Why was this important? Was it on-time? Working well?

It’s a most likely a good accomplishment, but more details
are needed.

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Good examples

 Systems Engineering Simulator (SES) personnel

provided key expertise to Discovery Channel media
personnel and Shuttle crew instructors, Linda Snider and
Jorge Frank, filming a documentary highlighting astronaut
training. Discovery Channel personnel filmed the
astronauts and instructors during a simulation session
inside the SES Alpha Dome. The Space Transportation
System (STS)-134 Scenario was used for a portion of the
survey of the Thermal Protection System (TPS) with the
Shuttle’s robotic arm and the Orbiter Boom Sensor
System (OBSS). A 30 foot Shuttle approach to the
International Space Station (ISS) and docking lesson was
also shown. (Picard, LaForge)

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Review: Structure of an accomplishment
 First, statement of how the accomplishment is of benefit to the
customer
– Always in first sentence
– Emphatically answers the question of “why does the NASA
customer care about this accomplishment”
– Shows an achievement
 Next, give ESCG’s direct involvement
– Specifically what did ESCG personnel do to accomplish the benefit
to the customer
 Finally, details
– Be specific
– Include dates, documents produced, if applicable
– Include brag items – early, under cost, exceptional quality,
customer recognition
– For roll-ups, provide the names of the people who did the work

ESCG Contract Sensitive

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Remember

 Distinguish between statuses and accomplishments

 Use the basic structure of an accomplishment
 Refer to the provided templates

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Done!

 Thanks for your attention!

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