How can you manage multiple proposals effectively?

More than proposal management software, I think we should start using project management tools. In one of the companies I worked with, we used to use Jira to track proposals to completion and it was pretty effective. Yes, proposal management tools can help, but only in cases of standard response proposals because they save that time. When we are custom-developing proposals, collaboration tools that are standard in every organization are as effective as they get. Project Management tools, however, allow you to get into the nitty-gritty details of each solution component, compliance requirement, and proposal section.

This you would do on every single proposal. What is important for a proposal writer to do is to compare and contrast the different proposals they are working on. This way they can cannibalize or symbiotically work with architects and SMEs to reduce the amount of effort required for the bulk of proposals they are working on simultaneously. What stakeholders need to provide as support is first reading the RFP thoroughly and with some soul searching done beforehand, identify what is a standard response and what absolutely isn't.

Rather than "prioritize", I would way arrange your proposals - like a bouquet of sorts. I have often found that working on just one proposal can be both monotonous and create white noise. Taking a break from one proposal to work on another can clear your mind and allow you to think clearly. More often than not, I have gotten ideas to illustrate experience, capabilities, and value drivers when I have been working on something else.

Well, you'd communicate with them anyway! Each proposal has its communication cadence, deadlines, and review cycles. What you need is perhaps trust with stakeholders. There are times when I have requested stakeholders of one of the proposals to give me a couple of days to think about what I am going to write. In my initial days as a proposal writer, it used to be very difficult - I always conduct working sessions with bid managers and sales personnel to show them how quick the writing can be, when the task is well understood. This, in turn, builds trust, so when I say, "I'm going to take a break from this proposal and work on the other on Thursday and Friday," they are not alarmed.

Again, this is something that would be alarming if not done on every single proposal, whether or not you are working on multiple proposals. One must evaluate the difference in timelines, challenges faced, and overall quality when you're working on fewer concurrent proposals. This way, you can identify your threshold for the number of proposals you can work on simultaneously.

- The Proposal Team Lead needs to assess capacity and capability across their team rather than each individual's workload in isolation. There are often great opportunities for junior resources to shadow senior resources. You can consider stretch assignments (with appropriate support and coaching). You can assign different types of support (e.g., end-to-end proposal management/writing, a QA review, template creation) based on the $ value, complexity and PWin of the opportunity.

Using a proposal management software or even creating your own trackers is a great way to keep track of what all is due. I personally used a color coding to highlight proposals that were close to due date. Additionally, having a proposal lead manage workload throughout the team, based on capacity, expertise needed for different proposal types (depending on complexity) and alignment with clients is a great way to ensure that multiple proposals get managed effectively. However, over and above everything, communication is key. Having those discussions with stakeholders early on with regards to resource availability, and overlapping priorities can further help to quickly organise proposals from highest importance to least and work accordingly.

For me, I'll review the RFPs right away to create an outline, determine complexity, identify information that is going to take longer to scrounge up, etc. I'll send emails delegating tasks and getting individuals started on necessary materials right away. Everyone wants and needs the longest possible lead time! Only after that initial review will I set up a proposal kickoff call (if warranted). When it comes to tasks that I will need to take on myself, I typically do them in logical order (I e., gotta set up document shells before I start inputting info!) And then tackle the hardest and most time consuming items first.

The methods used will depend on the size of the company. I worked for a small business where I was one of two proposal writers and I had to juggle at least 2-3 proposals a month with very close due dates. This was for an engineering firm so writing a proposal often required working with subconsulting firms, multiple SME's, carefully tailored SOWs and tons of forms to be completed, signed and notarized. There was no proposal management software so I leaned on my administrative skills and created my own system. It worked, and I'm proud that I never missed a deadline and won the contract.

As a team, the proposal management function must work with the sales enablement and reporting teams to figure out: 1. What is the pipeline like? Which proposals are going to get kicked off, and when? There is always visibility into the pipeline from the CRM system. 2. We must pre-analyze the upcoming proposals for what skillset is required, so , efforts can be put in to get the prerequisites in order. 3. Knowledge Management and Proposal Automation. It is infeasible to ask for Knowledge Managers to be the whole and sole custodian of reusable content. Proposal Writers must contribute to update, cleanse, and tag harvested content. 4. We must understand the different skillsets in the team to assign proposals to each by the skills required.