No 1. Allow time and make a plan
Following
from my previous blog (link) I promised some more detail on the mistakes that I
see most frequently either whilst helping companies to improve their bids, or
evaluating submissions on behalf of clients as part of the procurement process.
These days
it seems that despite the numerous time saving devices and technological
advances, people have less time than ever to do their day to day job. Having recently delivered several Time
Management seminars, I noted that one of the main issues seemed to be managing
other peoples’ problems, but basically there just doesn’t seem to be enough
seconds, minutes and hours in the day for us.
This seems particularly true of construction people. They never have enough time in the day to put
out all the fires they seem to be contending with.
Unfortunately
this means that proactive ‘wining work’ activities tend to be put at the bottom
of the priority list, so that the PQQ/ITT is completed at the last minute and
without enough resource being ploughed into it.
So I will
tell you the secret to time management – change
things.
The only way
to get better at managing time is to do things differently, it’s all about
forming good habits. After all, the old
adage goes – always do what you’ve always done and you’ll always get what you
always got! Construction is all about
good project management, so treat your PQQs and ITTs in the same way. Winning the next job should be one of the
most important things you do – make some time, assign resource and plan
to do it properly. Here are some quick
and easy steps to follow before you start a PQQ/ITT:
·
Dependent
on the size, complexity and importance of the bid you will need to involve
other members of the team/company in the planning process – this is not a one
man/woman show.
·
Consider
three key questions:
1. What is the client looking for, what
are their key drivers and measures of success?
2. What are my company’s key selling
points? What story should I be telling the client?
3. What evidence can I provide to prove
the above?
·
Set
out a programme for completing the PQQ/ITT – make sure you plan to have the
final draft completed at least 24 hours before submission, sooner if it needs
to go to an external printer.
·
Include
time in the plan for a proof read, preferably by an external/independent
person.
Work through
this process a few times and it will start to become second nature, and will
take up less time.
For help in
putting this process into place at your company contact me –
katy.harris@room4consulting.co.uk
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