RE: Proposing a Process for Proposals

[Syed Ahmed <SAhmed -at- DKSYSTEMS -dot- com>]

From: S <scottiecornwell -at- yahoo -dot- com>

Hi Scottie, I was in your predicament for the greater part of this year, and
I actually brought my problem here, and received some great advice. My
responses are below.

>I am looking for suggestions, ideas, experienced
>expertise, best practices, etc. for a proposal
>process.  Currently, the company I am with has no
>process(!) and it's a maddening flurry of emails,
>track change documents coupled with the general
>pandamonium that comes with deadlines, too many cooks
>in the kitchen, and only one technical writer.

On lacking a process, we didn't have one defined to handle proposals before,
and still do not have one defined now. What did happen was that we realized
that the process was always there, and we just needed to accept it for what
it was (given our resources and such). Too many cooks in the kitchen is not
good, but it is good that the others involved are giving you the information
you need. I would be more upset with uncooperative/unhelpful team members.
Unfortunately, proposals are usually handled in this manner because they
generate revenue, and everyone knows the importance of sending out a solid
proposal response. 

But rather than finding that point person through whom all responses and
reviews will go to become "finalized", I say become that person. That's what
I did, and management loves me for it. I've taken some of their headaches
away, in terms of coordinating the entire effort. 

Another suggestion, which you've already begun doing, is to create a list of
master/standard responses that can be recycled. This should save some time
and information gathering energy. You can check the Techwrl archives, as
there is some great information on how to setup such a master list.

>Another issue I am facing: I was hired to work with a
>designated team that I have come to love - they are
>all hard-working, helpful, and dedicated (sometimes I
>think I have stepped into a parallel universe), but
>the CEO has been asking me to work on these proposals.
> He has hinted about asking me to take on a position
>as a "proposal queen" - the issue: don't want to leave
>the team of awesome people for maybe not so awesome
>other people - don't want to make things awkward with
>the CEO - don't want to miss a potential good
>opportunity.  Juggling tricks appreciated.

I was almost in this exact same predicament before, and I think you should
seriously consider the move. I came into this position as a Technical
Writer, performing the usual number of tech writing tasks. Now, after a few
years, I have proposal writing experience *in addition* to my tech writing
experience. I feel that now I have gained some invaluable experience,
because if I was to lose this job for whatever reason, I can apply for
Proposal Writer positions that I would previously skip over. I think that
that's pretty cool. :)

Also, being a proposal writer does not disqualify you from ever returning to
tech writing, so you have little to lose in terms of career advancement. And
when you're a part of the Sales team, you get a little more respect for
"adding value" in revenue generation versus "using resources" in a support
role.

HTH.
Syed


^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Robohelp X3, from eHelp, lets you quickly and easily create 
professional Help systems for all your Windows and Web-based 
applications, including Net. 

Order RoboHelp X3 in May and receive a $100 mail-in rebate, PLUS
free RoboScreenCapture and WebHelp Merge Module. 
 
Order RoboHelp today: http://www.ehelp.com/techwr-l

---
You are currently subscribed to techwr-l as:
archive -at- raycomm -dot- com
To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-techwr-l-obscured -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com
Send administrative questions to ejray -at- raycomm -dot- com -dot-  Visit
http://www.raycomm.com/techwhirl/ for more resources and info.