Thinking Time

Thinking Time is a vastly under used skill but an essential one. When I explain my role in Proposal Management to others, I often explain it as part researcher/writer and sales. But the skill at the very root of it all is thinking - because progress comes from the research, the planning and then the action taking. We can't get anywhere without this step.

Reading Time

When we take an exam, there is often 'reading time' included. This is designed to give us time to understand each of the questions, and to plan how we will answer them. It is enforced 'Thinking Time' where you have to focus on your ideas, answer layout, and giving you just that - time to think.

In this time, you are not allowed to write anything down at all, meaning that when you can your ideas and structure are over flowing. Without this, it would just be a scramble of ideas which probably wouldn't be as good, because they wouldn't be as well thought through.

FUN FACT: I once an exam for the Law of Tort, but I had a true mental block for the whole exam because I forgot the magic word which was of course 'tort' and other associated text with this word. All because of nerves, not allowing myself to think effectively and allowing those ideas to flow freely. It will come as no surprise that I performed badly in this exam.

The Shultz Effect

Named after George Schultz, US Secretary of State, 1982-89 - who created a system of taking one hour of thinking time per week.

He used this time to consider the strategic aspects of his job. I personally wouldn't be able to work like that, my creative flow comes when I step away from my laptop and do something completely different. For me, this is usually cooking, exercise, taking a shower, painting etc.. - other creative outlets which allow my brain to consider other ideas. This is why having a notepad to hand is always a good idea.

This is the same for me when I might complete a writing task, come back to it the following day when I can offer fresh insight and re-write several sections of it. This is why we don't write and edit on the same day, we need that time to 'think' about our ideas, so we can make improvements for the better.

Cognitive Flow

It is a well known fact that mental breaks increase productivity, attention span and creativity. We all get to that time of the day which we might call 'brain fog' or 'cerebral congestion' - you know when we need a break from our screens, a coffee or some fresh air?

We will all have seen similar examples as in the above image before, but it's a worthy reminder of the state of our cognitive function under stress vs at rest. It's no wonder we perform so differently in opposing environments. There is a rule in some organisations that meetings should take up no more than 10% of your working time, because anymore than that, when are you getting your work done?

Slow Down

Workers in the Western World spend more than half of their lives receiving or managing information [Source: LexisNexis 2022]. However, perpetual busyness does not equal greater productivity. Resting both mind and body is equally important.

When I was younger, I was forever busy - going out, travelling, packed weekends. My mum would often say to me "you know, you can do nothing" - this was never on my agenda! I have learnt over the years that this is true, I rest more at the weekends, than I ever have before still doing all the things I enjoy, but at a slower pace.

Proposal Preparation

I consider 'Thinking Time' to be vital to any task but especially a large task such as a business proposal. Depending upon the size of the bid/proposal will depend upon planning & preparation time.

This is why I talk so much about business preparation and whether a business is ready for a large opportunity, and then the role of the bid/no bid strategy within it.

Time Management

It is essential that all stakeholders (internal and external) are aware of all the steps required for the successful of a bid/proposal. It requires a lot of planning for the 'Bid Team' which is essentially large-scale project management. The whole process becomes a lot easier when all parties are on board and understand fully their role and responsibilities.

As I have attempted to show in this article, it takes time to formulate good answers because a winning bid is not made up of 'any answer', it is made up of the 'best we can do' instead of "that'll do!" This means aligning bid win themes, storyboarding, discussions with SME's, collaborative teamwork, and much more.

We are considering the ideals of the customer, what they want and how we can match values and experience to demonstrate our suitability over our competitors, its fair to see it's not easy.

Increase Bid Win Rate

There are many ways to increase the success rate of your next bid submission, my favourite 5 include:

1. Increasing communication between SME's (Subject Matter Experts) and the sales/bid team.
2. Working to time so there is plenty of review time, in order to take raw facts and turn them into appealing sales copy for conversion.
3. Spending time building a Bid Library of Excellence as this will make the compilation of the winning bid so much easier.
4. Working with your marketing/branding team to work on an aligned vision which works well in line with the value of the customer.
5. And of course number one is developing that relationship with your customer - key account management is crucial.

Happy Bidding!

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