“We’re all in this together.” High School Musical
Bid teams work hard to create proposals set on a stage of logical reasons explaining why theirs is the best show in town. They often recruit freelance team members able to integrate seamlessly. Before joining civil infrastructure and building bid teams, I ask key questions to ensure I work effectively from day one:
What’s the big picture? Engineers are naturally drawn to the ‘weeds’ (technical details). This is usually essential, but only with sound understanding of higher levels, e.g. the client’s required business outcomes and overall project delivery strategy. Useful early information for me includes the:
- Procuring client’s vision, mission, and values
- Design and Access Statement (a report accompanying the planning application)
- Logistics Plan (including the site layout and traffic management routes)
- List of key stakeholders and constraints imposed by their requirements
These give me a feel for the project environment before I delve into specific topics with subject matter experts. Armed with the ‘big picture’, I have a better idea of why the bid questions are being asked and what matters to the end client. We contribute more effectively to projects when we see them in the mind’s eye. The capture plan is obviously also a great place to start (if one is available) in the bid context.
What’s happened before? I spend much of my working time writing and planning bid responses with the team. Before leading planning workshops and related meetings, I ask what’s already been done (e.g. existing collateral) to avoid rework. We also recap lessons learned from past sessions; I ask others for theirs and share mine. This matters because successfully integrating into teams relies heavily on using team members’ usually limited time efficiently.
What’s the team’s workflow? Best practice in any topic needs adapting for implementation within an organisation’s management system, including the types and timings of bid reviews. When I’m not required to propose them, I must understand how the team structures its reviews and proposal development in general. This is essential for delivering on team and individual performance expectations and keeping to programme. Clear understanding of deliverables deadlines is central to effective integration into a team. The point applies even at topic level such as deadlines for actions from meetings.
This all boils down to most effectively applying our respective time and capabilities so we achieve great things. After all, we’re all in this together.
Holger Garden
Holger is a bid manager and writer, and a personal/ team performance coach. He spends most of his time supporting construction clients bidding for civil infrastructure and building projects, but his transferable skills have led to his work in the medical, charity and security arenas also. He works with businesses of all sizes to help them win more work.
