Bid Management and Team Building

Managing a bid can be an overwhelming task for any business, and you are fortunate if you have a team of staff to help break down a submission. However the process need not be so daunting. Bid management and team building go hand in hand to facilitate your bid team and simplify the bid process. Organising your staff efficiently will allow tasks such as information sharing to be carried out much more easily. When undertaken by a cohesive team the process becomes even more streamlined and you are more likely to produce a winning response.

Working in a Bid Team

Your organisation may have an in-house team of bid writers, an individual bid writer or an outsourced bid team – it varies, but when it comes to bid management it is important that your team works cohesively in producing a winning submission. This isn’t always a simple task, with impending deadlines and a vast amount of information to put together – alongside any additional tasks your everyday job role demands.

When managing a bid, however large or small, it is crucial that your team has a clear understanding of the project, the timescales and what is required of them. This can be managed through regular meetings, progress reports and putting deadlines in place. Our bid team at Executive Compass is slightly different because we write bids day in, day out; however clear communication still underpins the working environment with all members of the team working alongside each other, whether it is quality assuring a submission or co-writing a tender. This level of communication is vital to ensure your team produces a good submission, which is of consistent quality throughout.

Cohesive Team Work

Team building can be an ongoing process, but ultimately an organisation should aim to unite employees and improve cohesiveness and productivity in the work place. Carrying out team building exercises can lead to higher levels of trust, improved problem-solving, creativity and motivation – all of which are important in a bid team.

When under the strain of a large bid, or a particularly stressful submission, it is important to consider how to maintain aspects of teamwork with staff and encourage cooperation. A cohesive team, especially a bid team, will make for a much smoother bid process and should generate a stronger response which helps win that all important contract.

Executive Compass Bake Off

Team building activities are essential to integrate members of staff, especially outside the normal work environment and there are many different exercises you can undertake. Last week at Executive Compass, we had a “bake off” to determine which member of our bid team had the best culinary skills, and with a few avid “Great British Bake Off” fans, the pressure was on.

The office saw an air of competitive rivalry as our Managing Director, Neil, was faced with a monstrous “peanut butter cup overload” cake consisting of three layers and weighing around 10 pounds (!); a rich, baked chocolate cheesecake with strawberries; pistachio and cranberry cookies and a creamy lemon curd cake. All our bid writers put aside their pens for the morning and tension was high as the cakes were judged by Neil on presentation, taste and texture.

It was a close call but in the end, our Marketing Manager, Amy, just managed to beat John’s peanut butter cake with her chocolate cheesecake, by a minuscule two points. The team building bake off was a great success and plans are already underway for another cooking challenge.

When we’re not baking, we are on hand to assist with your bid management. To see how we could improve your success rate and bid processes, call us today on 0800 612 5563 or email info@executivecompass.co.uk.