How do you balance speed and quality when working on tight proposal deadlines?

- Prioritize Key Sections: Identify the most critical parts of the proposal and focus on these first. - Set Clear Goals: Define specific objectives and timelines for each section. - Use Templates and Checklists: Leverage pre-existing templates and checklists to save time and ensure consistency. - Delegate Tasks: Assign tasks based on team strengths to increase efficiency. - Stay Organized: Keep all materials and documents well-organized for easy access. - Review Iteratively: Perform quick, iterative reviews rather than waiting until the end. - Communicate Effectively: Maintain clear, constant communication with your team to stay aligned and address issues promptly.

To do this, take the time to closely read the RFP and develop a compliance list that aligns requirements and evaluation criteria. The team uses this as a guide to develop responses and reviewers use it to ensure compliance.

More specifically, the team should read the RFP as a group, decide and document how your offering addresses each requirement and assign a response to each requirement to one or more sections and specific authors. More generally, the proposal Manager should document the “win themes” that illustrate compliance and differentiation for all authors to use i. Their respective responses.

Defining 𝗾𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗰𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗮 is the cornerstone of balancing speed and quality. When you are under tight proposal deadlines, here are the most important tips: • Establish 𝗰𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿 quality benchmarks. • Communicate criteria to the 𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗺. • 𝗘𝗻𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 and understanding of expectations.

Start early. If the bid is targeted then that's easy. You can research the prospect and often second-guess what their requirements are likely to be. Start drafting responses that address the likely requirements and basic risks. Get a good understanding of all the constraints and how you will deliver within them. Take time to form strong alliances with your supply chain (if necessary) and get ideas from them.

The full “color team” review process is valuable if time permits, but be prepared to tailor the process to the schedule and proposal complexity. At the very least, every section should have an independent review from outside the proposal team.

Planning QA activities is 𝗰𝗿𝘂𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 for 𝗺𝗮𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗾𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁y under tight deadlines. Here’s what I recommend: • Schedule regular check-ins and reviews. • Implement peer and final reviews. • Set milestones to track progress and catch errors early.

One of the use cases I'm finding more useful in proposals is to serve as a virtual quality assistant who can play the role of a reviewer at any stage of the proposal process. Give one of these tools to everyone on your team so that getting feedback becomes part of their processes naturally. The specific uses are very broad: check for compliance, check for responsiveness, check for style improvements, check for technical inconsistencies, etc.

Templates are useful for the “form” of the proposal, but can also significantly speed up developing the “substance”. Have templates and prior examples on hand of WBS and estimating documents, statements of work, and deliverable descriptions. Starting from an existing good product (estimate, write-up, etc.) is better than a blank sheet. It also benefits from being previously reviewed and approved as an acceptable basis for a proposal.

Feedback loops 𝗲𝗻𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗻𝘂𝗼𝘂𝘀 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 and 𝗵𝗶𝗴𝗵-𝗾𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗮𝗹𝘀. Based on my experience, here’s what works best: • Regularly solicit feedback from team members and stakeholders. • Make iterative enhancements based on feedback. • Focus on refining and aligning proposals with client needs.

The best things you can do to keep your content updated are: - Following a content update schedule that is non-negotiable. - Updating content after you get customer or internal feedback, so your content is always getting better. - Updating content whenever you learn new things about your competitors that you can differentiate in your own content. - Have the right SMEs reviewing content for accuracy and messaging.

Post submission, make sure to get bid tabulations and always ask for written de-briefs on matters other than pricing. Primarily applicable for public agency RFPs.

If you’re working on a tight timeline, all proposal participants need to come to terms with that. Involve your team as much as possible and disperse the responsibilities evenly. Focus on getting the basics done very well, and when it’s complete, accept that you did the best you could in the allocated time. A proposal can be iterated until the cows come home, but at some point, we need to accept what we’ve submitted and be happy with our efforts!

Monitoring and controlling quality is an ongoing process that requires vigilance and adaptability. 𝗨𝘀𝗲 𝗸𝗲𝘆 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀 (𝗞𝗣𝗜𝘀) to track quality metrics and make adjustments as needed. In my career, having a robust monitoring system has allowed me to quickly identify and rectify issues, ensuring that the final proposal meets the defined quality standards.