Transcript Hogn slides work in progress version1

Combined Proposal and Capture
Processes in Accelerated Timeframes
Jeremy Nusbaum
Red Team Consulting
November 16, 2010
About the Presenter: Jeremy Nusbaum
 10+ years of federal contracting experience
 Captured over $27B of contract vehicles
 Captured over $2B of Federal business revenue
 80%+ win rate maintained over past 8+ years
 Program managed several large-scale federal contracts with
recorded revenues over $500M
 Former Director of Contracts and Proposals, Eyak Technology
 Experienced in Government to Government bids
 Trained hundreds of executives from government and industry
 Expertise in federal small business programs
 Member of the IAC Fellows Program
About This Training
 Reasons for a Compressed Approach
 Positives and Negatives for a Compressed Timeframe
 Rapid Readiness Review/Bid Decision process
 Resource Considerations for Accelerated Responses
 Consolidating Capture and Proposal Processes
 Effective Kickoffs
 Writing Guidance
 Accelerated Reviews
 Schedule Management
 Tools
Has this ever happened to you . . . .?
The Scenario
 An RFP has been given to you with the following requirements:
 Due two weeks from today
 20-Page Written Technical Response
 3 Past Performance References
 Firm Fixed Price (FFP) Price Requirement
 You are told to:
 Assess the bid
 Present a plan on how to capture the proposal
 If there is Executive Buy-In, prepare a winning response
 Easy, right. . . . .?
Rationale for Accelerated Timeframes
 Opportunities that are not forecasted
 Requirements complement company strengths
 Key relationships with end-users and evaluation board
 “The customer asked us to bid . . . .”
 “I just found this great opportunity on INPUT . . .”
 New company employee with existing relationships and identified
opportunities
 Other Opportunities Requiring Compressed Timeframes
 Emergency Effort for the Government in response to a war-time need or
natural disaster
 Size Status set-aside (Small Business, SDVOSB, 8(a), etc.) brought to the
company by a large, sometimes incumbent prime contractor
Pros/Cons of Compressed Timeframes
 Cons
 Less time for the same steps as any other proposal
 Easy for panic to set in
 Positives
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Leadership opportunity for Proposal Manager and Key Contributors
Revenue for the company that was not forecasted/budgeted
Short timeframe = It’s over sooner!
Same Steps as any other proposal – just condensed

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Less time for disagreements
Quicker decisions on key requirements
Planning, Preparation and Positive Attitude Leads to Growth
Opportunities for Individuals and their Companies
Key Milestones for Accelerated Timelines
RFP Release
•Capture Analysis
•Executive Buy-In
•Proposal Team
Identification
•Kickoff
Prepare
Response
•Outlining
•Content Creation
•Writing
Review
Coordination
•On-Going Section
Reviews
•Constructive
Comments/Repairs
•Technology Tools
•Schedule
Management
Submittal
RFP Release/Identification
 Require quick action and decision on bid pursuit and kickoff
 Three Key Meetings Need to Occur within 24 Hours of
Opportunity Identification:
 Bid/No Bid Decision w/ Executive Buy-In
 Proposal Team Identification and Assignment
 Kickoff Meeting
Capture Management
 Capture Management occurs in days, not weeks during accelerated
timeframes
 Analysis of the opportunity begins upon identification for strengths,
weaknesses, and potential mitigation strategies
 Competitive landscape is identified
 For weaknesses
 Identify teaming partners where relations and previous work has been
performed
 Identify small companies that fill a niche role well for areas outside of
expertise rather than large companies that will take weeks to negotiate
teaming agreements.
 Have teaming agreement exhibits prepared immediately with short
deadlines for response
 Identify areas of the response where you will need teammate contribution
to the response – include this contribution within your teaming agreement
Bid / No-Bid Decision Meeting
 Avoid rubber stamp meetings
 Use Pre-Defined Bid/No-Bid Decision Matrices
 Discuss risks/weaknesses in a objective manner
 Avoid work-shopping bid issues
 Business Development and Executive Management are Present
 Led by Proposal Manager/Capture Manager
 Instructions, Evaluation and Requirements are Briefed
 Evaluation Scoring Methodologies providing potential scoring
 Competitive Landscape is provided
 Bid and Program Risks are Presented with potential
mitigation/teaming strategies
 Decisions made in this meeting need to be adhered to by all
parties
Response Team Identification
 Following a Bid Decision, the PM identifies and assigns Key
Resources that are SME’s on the project and in responding
to proposals
 Identify resources that are experts in time management
and adherence to instructions and deadlines
 Proposal Coordinator with strong time management and
organization skills
 Identify Reviewers
 Subject Matter Experts that understand the technical area of
expertise, the Federal RFP process and the customer
 Key Executives that Understand the RFP process and the customer
 All reviewers need to be able to provide guidance for areas of
concern, not just identification of error
Response Team
 All resources must read and understand the RFP to be a part of
the team
 Make sure that all resources have a hardcopy and electronic copy of the
RFP
 Quizzes on content may be held during kickoff
 As a Proposal Manager, you are empowered to:
 Identify personnel-related risks to your timelines and employ mitigation
strategies as soon as possible
 Change the team as necessary adding or subtracting resources
 Change the roles and responsibilities of team members
Effective Kickoff Meetings
 The amount of chaos present in a Kickoff Meeting will mirror
the amount of chaos in your proposal effort
 For compressed timeframe opportunities, the kickoff meeting
is one of your most important milestones
 Preparation is key
 Participants in a Kickoff Meeting have three basic questions:
 What am I supposed to do?
 How am I supposed to do it?
 When do I have to have it done?
 As Proposal Managers, it is your job to answer these questions
during the Kickoff Meeting
Effective Kickoff Meetings
 Provide the team with a precise and comprehensive proposal
project plan with the following elements:
 Bid Rationale
 RFP
 Proposal Team Roles and Responsibilities
 Proposal Outline – Annotated with Instructions
 Compliance Matrix
 Proposal Style Sheet
 Proposal Schedule in MS Project
 Writing Assignments with page allocations
Effective Kickoff Meetings
Contributors must leave the kickoff meeting with no unanswered
questions or serious doubts about the processes and tools they
will be expected to use
Proposal Managers as Leaders
 Proposal Managers are in CHARGE of creating a positive
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environment and a CAN-DO atmosphere
Proposal Managers portray support of the executive’s bid
decision
Participants can tell when you have doubts and will look to you
for guidance
They will naturally test you to see if you are in charge and
whether you will challenge them on deadlines and deliverables
Take the pulse of the team throughout the proposal process
 Identify problems early and address them ASAP
 Have contingency plans when things go wrong
 Maintain a calm atmosphere for those around you
Effective Proposal Writing
Effective Proposal Writing
 Compressed Timeframes eliminate the luxury of re-writes and
multiple reviews
 Use Technical SME’s for Content Creation and Writers for Writing
 Technical experts do not always equal prose writers
 Compiling correct content will allow a writer to compose a compelling and
compliant response
 Writer’s Meeting/Kickoff is recommended
 Solution needs to be locked prior to writing
 Clear expectations on what is required during each step of writing
 Warning - Use of existing material or “boiler-plate” often takes more
time to incorporate than simply writing responses to the
Government’s requirements
Red Team Proposal Writing Methodology
Annotated Outlines and Bulleting/Storyboarding Prior to
Drafting
1. Create a complete outline.
3.1 Capacity Analysis
2. Populate the outline with instructions and references to requirements.
3.1.1 Capacity Trends
3.1 Capacity Analysis
(address all of RFP 3.1.1…)
3. Write bullets or storyboard style text before drafting full scripts.
3.1.2 Reserve Capacity
3.1.1 Capacity Trends
3.1 Capacity Analysis
• capacity requirements
3.1.3 Surge Mgt
(address RFP 3.1.1.1)
(address 3 years, not just 2)
3.1.2 Reserve Capacity
• # of shifts required
• facilities capability
(address RFP 3.1.1.2 )
Insert comparison table
3.1.1 Capacity Trends
3.1.3 Surge Mgt
• supplement
(address RFP 3.1.3.1)
Show graphic for surges
• total units per month
• # similar units per month
• current fluctuations
3.1.2 Reserve Capacity
• underutilized space
4. Write full text after agreeing upon content.
3.1 Capacity Analysis
The Government requires an
contractor to be capble off
producing approximately
4,300 R.F. monitors per
month, with an initial quality
Index of 9.7 or greater.
FPI is capable of producing
9,700 per month without
any expansions to our
existing facilities, staffing,
or other resources.
With two daily shifts, as is
5. Final edit the text.
3.1 Capacity Analysis
The Government requires an
contractor to be capable of
producing approximately
4,300 R.F. monitors per
month, with an initial quality
Index of 9.7 or greater.
FPI is capable of producing
9,700 per month without
any expansions to our
existing facilities, staffing,
or other resources.
With two daily shifts, as is
Effective Proposal Writing
Here are a few basic rules:
1. Always organize your proposal in accordance with the instructions
before giving consideration to anything else.
2. After developing an outline based on the instructions, validate that
you can map all evaluation factors into the outline. If any factors
have no corresponding section, add new sections accordingly.
3. If there are contract requirements not addressed by instructions or
evaluation criteria, add sections for them if:
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You have unique strengths worth noting.
It will not hinder your ability to address what is instructed or evaluated.
You have valid reasons to believe the government will actually care.
Effective Proposal Writing
Clear and Concise content should be provided in each
proposal section using standard uniform responses.
1. Under each requirement being addressed, affirm your full
compliance with the requirement.
2. Next, present how you will comply with the requirement.
3. Then, comment on your capabilities (tools, credentials, etc.)
enabling you to comply.
4. Finally, substantiate your claims showing how you have
successfully complied with the requirements before.
Effective Proposal Writing
 Continuous Management, Communication and Coordination
mitigates poor contribution in compressed timeline
responses
 It’s often more effective to have more people contributing
raw data (facts and stats) and less people actually writing.

This can be accomplished in meetings rather than assignments
 For those who must write, provide very explicit content
instructions and guidance.
 Don’t allow anyone to write without a lockdown on the
solution, including all of the data (facts, stats, etc.) to be
written
Also . . .
 Request the use of specific terminology/nomenclature.
 Give style guidance to ensure consistent writing in the
consolidated document.
 Establish sufficient check-points at frequent intervals. Don’t
wait to see the finished product
Accelerated Reviews
 Traditional Color Team Reviews should not be used during
compressed efforts
 4 reviews at 3-4 hours apiece will take a minimum of 4 of your 10 days
away from creating and writing
 This is where weekend work is created
 Review individual sections as they are ready for the following
reviews
 Content Review
 Draft Review
 Final Review
Accelerated Reviews
 Reviewers will be as busy as writers during this timeframe
 Early Sections such as Covers, Cover Letters, Past Performance,
Representations and Certifications, and Management sections are
reviewed early
 Pricing and Technical volume sections are reviewed later in the
schedule as they take longer to develop
Schedule Management
 The Skill of Managing Human Procrastination
 Good News/Bad News: You don’t have enough time to procrastinate
 Create your schedule backwards from the due date
 Complete the easy elements of your proposal early rather than
having all elements due at the same time
 Past Performance
 Certain Management Sections
 Representations and Certifications and contractual documents
 Transmittal Letter
 Covers
 Track progress of each section
 If sections are complete lock them down for production and re-purpose
individuals to focus on areas that are lagging behind
Proposal Tools
 Centralized War Room
 Location that is separated from normal work environment
 Conference room with White Boards

Used for Reviews, Progress Tracking, and Coordination
 Daily Status Meetings
 Fosters teamwork
 Central Location for all meetings, reviews and production
 Microsoft Office Tools
 Schedules in MS Project
 Electronic Reviews in Word
 SharePoint Portals for a virtual War Room
 Electronic Progress Trackers
Progress Tracker
Section
Proposal Heading
Owner
Content
Defined
Executive Summary
Dan
Done
1
Technical Approach to Satisfying
PWS Requirements
Dan
Done
1.1
Program Management Support [PWS
Leah
9.1]
1.1.1
Project Management Plan [PWS
9.1.1]
1.1.2
Tiger Team Project Status Reporting
Dan
[PWS 9.1.2]
1.1.3
Monthly Reports [PWS 9.1.3]
Leah
1.1.4
Staff Administration and Training
Requirements [PWS 9.1.4]
Dan
Done
1.2
Web Application Maintenance and
Enhancements [PWS 9.2]
Dan
1.2.1
Standard VA and VA Partner
Templates [PWS 9.2.1]
1.2.2
1.2.3
1.2.4
Web Registry [PWS 9.2.2]
Request Tracking Tool (RT2)
[PWS 9.2.3]
(CMAC) Intranet Site [PWS 9.2.4]
Bullets
Drafte
d
Narrative
Drafted
Narrativ
e
Reviewe
d
Revisions
Final
Edits
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In Summary . . .
 Compressed timelines should be viewed as a leadership opportunity and a
time to shine
 Ensure that you have executive buy-in and a realistic team to perform prior to
holding a kickoff
 Kickoff meetings give all participants a clear understanding of their roles and
responsibilities in response to the proposal
 Proper planning and clear expectations for all participants will result in better
content
 Avoid existing material and re-use to create your content
 Spend your time on content rather than unrealistic deadlines for the sake of
reviews
 SME’s deliver content and Writers write
 Review sections rather than volumes to provide real-time feedback to
contributors and focus
 Use electronic and existing tools to organize your proposal effort