Bid Writing Productivity: Five Festive Reminders from Gingerbread Construction (almost as tenuous as it sounds...) ????

I've always admired my wife as being a powerhouse of productivity. And one weekend per year, I get to see up close (and help with) a phenomenon that completely transforms our house. Yes, as grown adults, we take 1 weekend per year to build a gingerbread house. It's a tense time, largely due to the deadline (something we bid writers may be used to ????). But to be fair, the end result is pretty epic and way beyond my own baking skills...?

Perhaps I've been exposed to too much cinnamon over the weekend, but seeing lessons from many years of gingerbread construction being applied into a hectic construction programme, it's clear that there is an analogy for all of us working on those tight turnaround January deadlines!?So how can we all apply these to our own work?

1) Do it right, do it once. What might include drawing proper designs and measuring everything precisely in Gingerbread world mirrors into bid writing. As would be the case in the Great British Bake Off, if you're having to re-bake, it's going to have a drastic impact on your timescales later on. The same is true for us in bidding, where taking time to properly storyboard/answer plan, think about word limits and doing the necessary research will minimise the amount of re-work later (which is otherwise likely to come at a much more stressful point in the process).?This is a key source of inefficiency for bid teams and per APMP's advice, it's important to try and front-load the writing process to avoid a heavy review.

2) Planning is key: Like building a bid, gingerbread construction requires a carefully set out project plan. Whilst Molly's plan was written onto some greaseproof paper, it did ensure that all the critical path stuff (baking and decoration) was fully done before assembly. Again, if we do compare to the world of bids and tenders, we've probably all been there trying to add information into a tight page limit at the eleventh hour - the equivalent of trying to pipe icing onto a wobbly structure... All avoidable if we take time to reach out to the right people at the very start to manage our dependencies.

3) Look after yourself: Gingerbread burnout is real (just like bid burnout). When the task allows, put some music on. Take regular short breaks to keep your mind fresh, including building some exercise into the day (doubly important if you are snacking on gingerbread offcuts all day ??). The correlation between poor quality work and being able to maintain good focus time is significant. So also giving yourself quality time to work on the bid is essential.?And eliminate those distractions, whether it be the time soak of social media or too many plates spinning, there are too many ways our attention can be divided in the modern world.

4) Work as a team: Team working is so important for how we work on bids at Thornton & Lowe. In a gingerbread context, I was a less useful contributor... I did of course provide snacks, drinks and moral support as well as helping with other things at a busy time of year but was also able to hold certain structures in place and offer a vital 2nd perspective to certain ideas (No Molly, we don't have time to build a fence, its 8pm on Sunday). But in bidding, this is even more important - allowing us to share work, get support with or delegate some tasks that allow us to inject more time to the bid. And possibly some extra insight, ideas and research we wouldn't have time to do.?

5) Give yourself the tools: After 10+ years of baking gingerbread houses, Molly does have quite the arsenal of piping bags, cookie cutters, and now even a Lazy Susan! But the bid process also benefits from an investment of time and sometimes money to equip our bid writers. It's super important for productivity that we have a good bid library (our Tender Library platform is a lifesaver - watch this space), proofreading tools, good project planning/management tools, research tools and templates for key information, evidence and ideas.?AI is certainly not there yet in terms of writing a bid submission, but it can also speed up key parts of the process and when it comes to e.g. answer planning or research can be a massive productivity booster. Gingerbread-based AI platforms yet to be tested... (recommendations welcome).

Oh, and don't forget to reward yourself for those small achievements, albeit that is much easier with large amounts of gingerbread on hand.

Now with quite a lot of gingerbread left to eat, please forgive me as I slowly slide into a food coma over the next few days. In the meantime, wishing a very Happy Christmas and wonderful New Year to all friends, colleagues, clients and other connections, whether you are a bidder by choice, fortune/misfortune or not at all ??