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Ways to improve proposal and content
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Using CMMI, ITIL, and PMBoK to Improve Proposal Operations Presenter: Brenda Crist Lohfeld Consulting Group
Current Proposal Practices • Proposal Management Books Often Focus on Proposal Management Basics: • Capture and Positioning • Bid Request • Bid Decision • Proposal Scheduling and Development • Proposal Planning • Review Teams These processes are tried and true and promote collaboration and delivery on schedule
Does Your Job Involve Multiple Functions? • Do You Manage Multiple Projects? • Staffing and Resources • Budgets and Communications • Cost and Quality Control • Do You Provide These Services? • Proposal Systems Design • Pipeline Management • Knowledge Management • Configuration Management • Template Creation • Training Services • Do You Promote Continual Improvement?
What Can We Learn from Industry to Improve Our Management of These Tasks?
We Can Take Best Practices From: • The Project Management Institute, Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBoK) can help us effectively manage multiple projects • Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) can help us deliver better proposal services • Capability Maturity Model Integrated (CMMI) can help us smoothly integrate proposal functions • ISO 9001:2000 can help us improve consistency and quality We write about “industry best practices” daily; let’s use them to improve proposal management
PMBoK Highlights Offers a framework for project management backed by project management best practices
What Can We Take From PMBoK? • Specific practices for improved: • Project Planning • Schedule Management • Quality Management • Communications Management • Cost Management • Risk Management We can also use PMBoK methods for managing two or more projects concurrently
Project Planning and Scheduling • In advance of proposal activities: • Develop a realistic pipeline to determine workload (preferably Using a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Tool) • Develop project plans with WBSs and schedules for 10, 15, 30, and 45 day turnarounds • Establish milestones for major capture/proposal activities • Establish agreements with vendors and consultants • Manage to the schedule; reporting status daily against the milestones • Proactively monitor and record variance of planned vs. actual activities Pre-planning + Commitment = Success
Examples Create a Pipeline Create a Work Breakdown Schedule
Cost Management • Budget realistically • Plan ways to drive down proposal development costs • Proposal costs are often unpredictable; leave plenty of cushion in the budget • Implement cost controls and break down work into small incremental pieces • Measure performance • Maintain historic cost data for the next budgeting cycle You will be a hero if you deliver your proposal under your B&P budget
Tips for Driving Down Costs • Buy supplies in discounts like paper, toner cartridges, and binders and tabs • Negotiate discount rates for hardware maintenance (printers, copiers) • Establish agreements with set rates for services vendors like writing or editing • Create a knowledgebase of reusable written materials (resumes, graphics) • Hold brainstorming sessions after hours w/dinner so billable hours are not lost • Limit review team membership • Control color printer use 30% OFF YOUR NEXT PURCHASE OF PAPER Re-invest savings back into the training of your staff
Quality Management • Incorporate quality standards • ISO 9001:2000, PMBoK, CMMI • Implement a Quality Assurance Program • Define quality metrics • Define processes for accomplishing milestones • Identify artifacts resulting from reviews • Implement Quality Controls • Compliance and solution reviews • Editorial and document reviews • Book check and media reviews • Evaluate and continuously improve quality The quality of the proposal reflects your company’s quality
Incremental Quality Controls Build time in for quality reviews throughout the proposal life cycle
Human Resources Management • Define Staffing Plan • Define roles, authority, and responsibilities • Define competencies, experience, education, certifications • Maintain a realistic staffing plan for program and specific proposals • Develop a Training Plan • Define Program-Level Plan • Define Individual Development Plans • Attend APMP events • Develop a Retention Plan • Spot bonus pool or bonus plan • Alternate work schedules for long hours • Morale boosters Develop plans and objectives for training and retaining valued capture and proposal management employees
Communications Management • Five things we can learn from PMBoK: • Create a communications plan and train members in its use • Identify the most effective and secure methods for information distribution • Define the best way for communicating with stakeholders/participants • Identify how to report status • Define your risk escalation path Communications represent a significant part of a proposal manager’s daily activities
Communications Plan Communication Plan Outline • Roles and Responsibilities • Proposal Communications • Contracting Officers • Team Members • Executives • Capture and SMEs • Status Meetings • Proposal Security • Status Reporting • Risk Mitigation / Escalation
Risk Management • Define a risk management plan or processes with escalation paths • Identify major risks • Proposal program risks: Lack of resources (personnel, technology, funds), Lack of training, Lack of time • Proposal risks: Solution gaps, Lack of key personnel, Missing price information, Unforeseen RFP changes/amendments • Maintain a risk mitigation log • Identify the risk • Person responsible for mitigating the risk • Risk mitigation timeframe and due date • Risk mitigation outcome • Discuss risk mitigation during daily standup meetings and at routine staff meetings Risk Log Keep management aware and focused on potential capture and proposal risks to mitigate deficiencies
Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) Framework If your job requires more than just proposal management, ITIL offers a framework for the delivery of services
The ITIL Framework Defined • Service Strategy provides guidance on how to design, develop and implement service management • Service Design describes how to convert your service strategy objectives into service assets • Service Transition describes how to ensure service elements (applications, infrastructure knowledge, facilities) are delivered on schedule • Service Operations provides strategies for service support (incident, problem, access mgmt, and service delivery (infrastructure and security management) • Continual Service Improvement measures performance, implements improvements, and ensures expected results are achieved ITIL is an IT infrastructure and services framework originated by the UK Office of Government Commerce
Service Strategy and Design • Develop Your Service Strategy • What services are you offering in addition to proposal management and production? • Knowledge management • Data calls/information requests • Change and configuration management • Customer relationship management (CRM) • Pipeline management • Proposal facilities management • Task order registration and processing • Who are your internal/external clients? • What assets do you need? Develop a service strategy that meets the needs of your internal and external clients
ITIL Knowledge Management Tips • Make knowledge easy to access and intuitive to find • Create an electronic library using directory folders or a collaboration tool • Create instructions for a cheat sheet for finding information • Restrict access to the knowledgebase as appropriate for your company Don’t re-create the wheel – build a knowledgebase
Items to Put in the Knowledgebase • Resumes (updated annually) • Past performance summaries (updated annually) • Processes for program planning, cost control, human resources, communication, risk, quality, and monitoring • Management factoids about retention, degrees, certifications • Processes for transition, incident, problem, change, configuration, release, asset, availability, capacity, and security management • Technical architectures and system flows for operations • Performance management success stories to demonstrate performance at or above industry averages • Problems and solutions • Kudo letters and success stories • Proposal templates • Art library containing photos and graphics
Do You Feel Like a Help Desk? • Are you always fielding questions about company characteristics? Like number of employees, certifications or revenue? • Are you always asked for past performance summaries or resumes? • Are you always asked for sample graphics or photos? If you feel like a help desk, implement ITIL best practices for service management to function most efficiently
Consider Adding a Self-Help Feature • Work with company executives to determine what type of knowledge should be included in the self-help feature • Determine how you will restrict access based on roles • Identify what subset of the knowledgebase can be shared • Setup policies for adding, updating, and maintaining data The self-help feature can benefit the company by providing secure, accurate, consistent, and timely information
ITIL Configuration Management Tips Keeping knowledge under configuration control increases proposal preparation efficiency
Items to Put Under CM Control • Capture Plans and CRM data • Solicitation, Q&As, amendments, BAFOs, debriefs • Proposal Management Plans and schedules • Kick-off meeting agendas • Compliance matrices, storyboards, outlines • Templates, graphics, photos • Background information • Input from authors • Blue, black, pink, red, and gold team versions of the proposal/task order or oral presentations • Resumes, past performance summaries • Final proposals (hardcopy and softcopy) • Proposal budgets and metrics
Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI) Level 5 “Optimizing” Focus on process improvement CMMI is a process improvement approach Level 4 “Quantitatively Managed” Process is measured and controlled Level 3 “Defined” Process is defined, repeatable, and proactive Level 2 “Managed” Process is characterized but is often reactive Level 1 “Initial” Process in unpredictable, poorly controlled, and reactive
Continual Process Improvement • Obtain buy-in for a CPI Program • Define SOPs for performing your job • Establish metrics • Allocate sufficient resources to collect metrics and analyze findings • Use IT to facilitate CPI data capture and analysis • Monitor performance and record lessons learned • Identify and implement improvements • Control improvements to verify they achieve the intended result Start with one or two areas you wish to improve
Suggested Measurements • Win ratio • Completed on schedule • Completed within budget • Free of editorial defects • No unauthorized changes made to baselines • All proposal artifacts are kept under CM control • Internal clients express high satisfaction with service Select performance metrics and use them to measure how well you perform
Training • Use feedback and metrics to identify training needs • Train external clients: Proposal training classes, secure, just-in-time training knowledgebase • Proposal team training: On-the-job training, knowledgebase, formal proposal training, APMP events, professional certification programs APMP NCA Professional Day 2008 A well-trained team improves efficiency, increases retention, and improves morale
Consider Using Software Development Techniques to Facilitate Proposal Management
Software Development Methods Applied to Proposal Development • The Software Engineering Institute (SEI) originally designed CMM/CMMI to define what processes and activities were needed to develop software • Many best practices were developed to specify how these processes and activities should be accomplished: • Waterfall Method • Spiral Method • Iterative Development Method • Agile Method • Plug and Chug Method Evaluate each solicitation to determine the best process for developing a winning proposal response
Proposal Development Methods to Consider Traditional Development SW Development Techniques Waterfall Plug and Chug Iterative Method Spiral Method Agile Method • Storyboard • Annotated Outline • Pink Team • Red Team • Gold Team • Production • Delivery Consider using an iterative development technique if your solution is not established
Burn Rate/Burn Down Chart Burn Rate/Burn Down Chart • When using an iterative/agile development method link accomplishments to a Burn Rate/Burn Down Chart, so executives can assess progress in comparison to the schedule A Burn Rate Chart illustrates your performance against the budgeted schedule and cost
ISO 9001:2000 Highlights • ISO 9000 is a family of quality management standards maintained by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) • To become ISO 9001:2000 certified you need: • A set of procedures covering your business process • A plan for monitoring processes • Records demonstrating you followed your business processes • A plan to check output for defects and a plan for corrective action • Regular review processes • A plan for continual improvement
We Can Learn to Write Effective SOPs Using ISO Guidance • Procedures should have: • Clear instructions and a schedule • Owner(s) • Metrics • Monitoring methods • Reporting methods • Audit methods Set expectations and communicate how you will perform proposal management activities using SOPs
Internal Audits • Conduct quarterly audits to determine if artifacts are: • Present • Complete • Secure • Correctly located • Require updating Internal audits provide a discipline for ensuring your records are present, secure, up-to-date, and easily located
To determine if industry best practices can help, make a list of your job functions
To determine if industry best practices can help, make a list of your job functions • Proposal Process Management • Proposal Project Management • Proposal Service Management • Proposal Performance Management Process Mgmt Functional Categories Service Mgmt Project Mgmt Performance Mgmt Proposal management is a multi-dimensional process often involving project, service, and performance management
Functional Breakdown • Process Management • Capture Management • Proposal Management • Coordination Management • Graphics/Art Management • Production Management • Project Management • Project Planning / Scheduling • Cost Management • Quality Management • Human Resources Management • Communications Management • Risk Management • Service Management • Knowledge Management • Pipeline Management • CRM Management • Change Management • Configuration Management • Performance Management • Measurement and Analysis • Training • Continual Improvement List and categorize your job functions to determine if you can benefit from industry best practices
Link Functions to Best Practices Link your job functions to best practices and create SOPs to enhance your performance
Summary • As a proposal professional your job is complex and demanding • It involves the management of multiple processes, projects, and services simultaneously • Learn from industry and adapt best practices and lessons learned to help as needed • Pass your lessons learned and best practices onto others