8 Ways to mitigate proposal post-production and lessons-learned risks

At the 2011 APMP International Conference, Lohfeld Consulting Group’s Managing Director Brenda Crist presented an informative session on mitigating proposal risks. Here are Brenda’s identified Proposal Post-production and Lessons-learned Risks and recommended Mitigation Strategies:

1. Copies of the proposal not securely filed in a final production area, and proposal manager inadvertently uses wrong version to respond to post-production questions or clarifications. Copy the final files into a secure folder or area on the server and lock access to the proposal to a limited few.
2. Instructions for responding to questions or clarifications not followed. Compliance check your responses to customer questions or clarifications.
3. During negotiations, customer asks for benefits or concessions your company is unable to provide. Require company executives to determine if they will comply with the customer’s requests and how the requests affect the technical and business solutions.
4. Lessons-learned session not held after proposal submission and after receiving customer debrief. Include a lessons-learned session in the original proposal schedule.
5. Lessons-learned session not supported by executives, so staff participate sporadically in the process. Acquire executive support. Clearly state why documenting lessons learned is important and how the proposal process will benefit.
6. Lessons learned not integrated into process improvements. Review your processes to determine how lessons learned could improve productivity, quality, and morale.
7. Lessons learned not communicated within your company. Create a tool and method for communicating lessons learned within your company.
8. Lesson learned not monitored to verify they accomplish intended results. Monitor implemented recommendations to verify they have helped improve productivity, quality, and morale. If they have not improved, eliminate or revise the recommendations.