Proposal Land

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Proposal Land

Advice to Proposal Professionals: Ask if It isn’t Clear

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The technical plan shall explain
how it will address each element of the SOW.

Does this submission requirement mean that writers have to respond (in some way) to every SOW line item?

Who knows?

A SOW “element” is not a defined term in Proposal Land.

An “element” could be one of the distinct service areas being contracted out – usually countable on no more than two hands. For example:

  • In site services the “elements” might be facilities maintenance, fleet maintenance, O&M of utility plants, waste management, roads & grounds maintenance, and aerodrome maintenance.
  • In administrative services for benefits programs for client employees the “elements” might be website development, individual counselling, group presentations, financial controls, and reporting.

An “element” could be one of the four to seven major activities within each service area – often countable on one hand. For example:

  • In aerodrome maintenance the “elements” might be electrical/electronic maintenance (navaids, radar, weather observation equipment), snow removal in winter, wildlife management, prevention of foreign-object damage.
  • In reporting the “elements” might be financial reporting, performance reporting, and customer-satisfaction reporting.

And “elements” could, indeed, be every last numbered line item in the SOW – always too high a number to count.

There are likely other possibilities, but that doesn’t change the point. If the level of the requirement is not stated clearly, you should ask for clarification. Early. Clients aren’t trying to trick you: They just don’t know that such language is unclear.

Short of asking, the only safe alternative is to assume they mean every numbered line item, and to write a response to every line item. That’s a lot of work for something the client might not even want. Might, even, actively not want.

So while contracts experts read the draft contract looking for unclear or unacceptable business terms, and technical experts read the SOW looking for unclear or impossible-to-meet work requirements, assign some proposal experts to read the response instructions looking for unclear submission requirements, especially potentially onerous ones. Assign people who understand the implications of vague instructions and who know a vague term when they see one.

And. Then. Ask.

Early.

Related Post: Advice to Procurement Professionals: Be Clear

 

There Can Be Only One

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So, like, The Highlander movies are about the opposite of teamwork: After all, at the end of the eons, there can be only One. Am I showing my age? Does anyone under 50 even know about these movies?  I only saw the first one, but I remember this scene vividly.

Anyway. Too often, proposal teams are not big believers in The Power of One. Too often, every One tries to do everything and so, perhaps counter-intuitively, some things don’t get done at all.

It’s worth looking at a better way to work together: Trust, but verify. Or, in Proposal Land terms . . .

Assign responsibility.

Check output.

Today I’m thinking particularly about photos. Stories. Kudos. Everyone knows they add value to a proposal; no one has time to dig them out. What to do?

Assign responsibility. Get the holder of the budget to give you one “extra” person to get photos, stories and kudos:

  • To relieve the tedium of the average proposal page with at least one project photo in every section
  • To highlight your successes with client kudos and stories about your above-and-beyond moments

Of course you really really want stories that are targeted precisely to the work you’re bidding on, but even stories that illustrate a desirable characteristic in a different context are worthwhile.

Like taking an owner’s interest . . .

On our own initiative, we investigated why the client’s water bills had not decreased, even with a large drop in end-user numbers. Our technicians discovered that the valve meant to shut-off water flow to an underground holding tank was broken: It was like having the world’s largest running toilet. Its repair saved our client $20,000. Every year. And contributed to their sustainability goals.

Like delivering outstanding customer service . . .

We took over operations responsibility for a new building on schedule but before all systems had been finally commissioned: The elevators weren’t running. But high-profile clients were determined to move into their offices on schedule, so our staff worked the weekend, carrying client boxes up the stairs. Twenty flights of stairs.

Both are true stories.

You get the idea. And so will the evaluators.

Check the output. Don’t wait until Red Team to look for these. Post them on the wall as soon as they’re developed so you can see them.

Not convinced? Trust me: Your operational staff know these stories. They just need some One to tell them to. Because you can trust me on this, too: Most operational staff won’t take the time to write these down.

And remember that you don’t likely need this extra One for the whole proposal. A dedicated One — unencumbered by other solution-development or writing tasks — can do an amazing amount in two or three weeks

Convinced and want to do even better? Assign some One in the permanent organization the task of collecting, polishing, and hash-tagging these stories throughout the year. That way, you don’t have to add this effort to an overloaded proposal schedule.

 

Term: Rules of Engagement

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The expected behaviours within a proposal team setting or meeting; for example:

  • Limiting the scope of a review (for example, “Don’t check spelling; review the content.”)
  • Defining the style of allowable personal interactions (for example, “No yelling. Well, except at Joe.”)
  • Establishing rules for version control

Acronymized as ROE; pronounced by spelling it out. R-O-E.

Comes from military usage, in which application it defines how a fighting force may “contact” the enemy (that is, whether lethal force may be used). Note that proposal ROE never extend to lethal force, although it is often tempting.

What Do You Mean?

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We will follow the Project Management Plan . . .

What? What are you going to do after developing this Plan?

We will follow the ISO standard . . .

What? What has supplanted the latest ISO standard for quality or environmental management?

We will follow the results . . .

What? What happens next?

In Proposal Land, “follow” can reasonably mean “to happen after” or  “to adhere to” or “to monitor.” Why not just say what we mean?

After developing the Project Management Plan,
we will write the associated SOPs.

To maintain consistency
we will adhere to the ISO standard.

By monitoring performance results,
we will learn how to improve them.

It’s a small point, but it illustrates one of the challenges of writing clearly: Words have multiple meanings. So choose your words as precisely as you can, as “least prone to momentary misinterpretation” as you can find: The person trying to understand them is not you.

Or think of it this way: The person evaluating them is not you.

Following me now?

 

Term: Shalls

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Shorthand for Work required from the contractor as in, “The Contractor shall . . . ”

The “shalls” may specify a product, service, information, schedule, or performance standard and appear in the RFP, draft contract, and Statement of Work.

Not generally used when referring to mandatory submission requirements: It seems to be limited to the Work.