Proposal Land

Better RFP Responses & Management
 
Proposal Land

Life-long Learning

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On my last, last-ever proposal, I learned how to use Mural, Loom, and Microsoft’s snipping tool. With no ongoing need to herd cats, I’ll probably never use Mural again, but Loom has other possible applications, and I’ve already been snipping up a storm.

Learning new things is a benefit that at least partially offsets the cost of working with other people. In an ideal world, employers would formalize or at least foster this process. In the world we’re in, each of us can consciously seek out new skills when we’re in unavoidable groups.

I mean, snipping: Too cool.

Seth and Me

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Yup.  We’re like that <<insert image of two side-by-each fingers>>.

Seth:  Write Something.

Then improve it.
Then write something else.
Repeat this process until you have a post.
Then post it.
Then repeat this process.
There’s no such thing as writer’s block. There’s simply a fear of bad writing. Do enough bad writing and some good writing is bound to show up.
And along the way, you will clarify your thinking and strengthen your point of view.
But it begins by simply writing something.

Me: Buddy & Me – I have writer’s block.

Electioneering in Proposal Land

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Warren Kinsella is a former Liberal political operative, now a liberal political operative in Canada. Here’s a snip from his recent op-ed in the Ottawa Sun (underlining added by my correspondent):

What does this have to do with Proposal Land? Just this. Proposal geeks talk about storyboarding; executives talk about finding the “Wow!” factor. It sounds more impressive and more difficult than it is.

Your aim? A single sheet of paper (actual or virtual) that lists the message of each section.

Your method? Starting high – with the major sections that will/would be tabbed in the hard-copy submission and moving to sub-sections as time allows – do these four things:

#1 – Identify two messages for each section:

  • What benefit(s) will your solution deliver to the client?
  • Why should the reader believe you? That is, what specific experience and accomplishments in similar work can you point to?

#2 – Turn it into clear, non-jargony, non-fluffy English.

#3 – Tell writers to incorporate these plain-language messages in their sections.

#4 – Ask reviewers what message they received. If they didn’t receive what you intended to transmit, fix that.

 

Just Like Families

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From the definition:

Proposal team: the group of people assigned to produce a proposal in response to a specific RFP.

Always overworked; often overwhelmed; frequently underappreciated.

Hahaha. True, but missing a few salient points. Here’s one.

Proposal teams are just like families:
They’re all dysfunctional.

Proposal teams are usually (always, in my experience) ad hoc teams of people lacking established group norms and accepted reporting/supervisory structures. By any reasonable measure, the work of the response is more than can be accomplished in the time available: Creating a functional team is way more than a bridge too far.

As a result, the behaviour that emerges is either the natural behaviour of the individuals or the corporate culture of smaller sub-groups on the team. Is the team task- or status-focused? Welcoming or hostile to new people? Cooperative or snippy? Open to new ways of doing things or entrenched in previous processes? Interested in new approaches or dismissive thereof? Good communicators or idiots?

Oh, sorry, that last was my outside voice.

As a manager, it’s worth some time (preferably between proposals) to identify what dysfunctions your teams are exhibiting and how to minimize their impact. Training? Coaching? Supervision? Threats? Reassignments? Firings?

As a proposal conscript, it’s worth some time (preferably at the start of a proposal) to think about what behaviours you want to model, what contribution you can make and want to make to a happy, healthy, and effective team.

Good teamwork doesn’t fall from Heaven: It’s built, bit by bit, from the ground up. And many hands make light work.

 

Term: War Room

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The room in which the proposal team works or has its big meetings.

Often used as a command centre, with schedules and other control tools posted on the wall.

Less used now as more proposal teams work in distributed mode, with no central location.