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Articles tagged with: proposal schedule
Pressing commitments – how to be “fair” as proposal manager?
Dear Proposal Doctor,
I am running a big proposal. Several people on the team are critical to the effort because of how much they know. Each seems to have some kind of personal commitment that cuts into their day several times a week. It’s either kids, medical appointments, other professional commitments, a sick relative, a household repair, or something else.
I don’t want to have one standard for most of the team (you need to be in the office) and another standard for a select…
Beyond proposal burnout – what to do?
Dear Proposal Doctor,
With only 2 weeks before a major proposal submittal, the key people on my team are in an advanced state of burn out. Some are sleeping on couches in the office rather than going home. Others come in to work not having slept at all.
It’s impossible to move any deadlines and still get the proposal done, and it’s going to be impossible to meet the deadlines given the level of exhaustion. Because of multiple proposal extensions, this situation has been intensifying…
Proposal Doctor: Stop the madness
Dear Proposal Doctor,
The company I work for is bidding on a large government contract, and the proposal is a huge undertaking. My team consists of more than 50 people, and my MS Project schedule has hundreds of lines. It’s a challenge, which is to be expected. I was excited and optimistic when we started, but now I have a boatload of senior executives breathing down my neck. All the time! I spend at least half of every day explaining and justifying what we…
Audio Tip: Tips for Building Effective Proposal Schedules
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This month, proposal development expert Beth Wingate, APMP Fellow, offers tips to help you build effective proposal schedules—whether you’re scheduling a month-long effort or a 5-day quick-turnaround task-order (TO) response.
Develop proposal schedule templates that you keep in your “proposal toolbox” so you can quickly pull out, tweak, vet, and publish your proposal schedule upon RFP receipt (create draft schedules using those templates during the pre-RFP preparation phase and then finalize them upon RFP release). Maintain templates for 5-, 10-, 15-, and 30-day responses. Come up with a set of schedule…
Creating a Winning Task Order Proposal Process
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Faking Deadlines Foils Confidence in Proposal Team
Dear Proposal Doctor,
How can I get my clients to communicate the schedule accurately?
We provide print and graphic services, so we are just one part of the proposal machine. Often the clients don’t communicate when there are extensions and leave us waiting for information. Or they give fake deadlines — I believe their intent is to get the product back faster or instill a greater sense of urgency. What actually happens is chaos, which prevents accurate scheduling.
My staff cannot prioritize without accurate deadlines for multiple projects….
