20 May How To Ensure Effective Teamwork And Collaboration When Creating A Bid
With each of your team members being responsible for creating a section of a bid, they will need to be able to communicate effectively, accept criticism, and work together to ensure a consistent tone and voice throughout. This makes good teamwork essential for writing a compelling bid.
In this article, we will address how to ensure there is effective collaboration in your bid writing team by choosing complementary personalities, creating a supportive atmosphere, and putting the right processes in place.
Building Your Bid Writing Team
The members of your bid writing team should have skills and approaches that complement each other, and they should all be able to work together effectively. This not only means choosing the right candidate for each role, but nurturing a supportive environment where your staff members feel safe to give and accept feedback.
Your bid writing team can have as many roles and members of staff as you want, but your core team should include:
Bid/Proposal Manager
The Bid Manager oversees the entire bid writing process, from assembling the team to the final ‘lessons learned’ debrief. They are responsible for developing your bidding strategy and managing the overall development of the bid, including identifying and resolving any governance and compliance issues.
A good bid manager should have a strategic vision, an eye for detail, and the leadership skills required to manage a team and get results. In addition, they should be able to foster a supportive approach to feedback that helps their team develop high-quality responses and work together effectively.
Subject Matter Experts (SMEs)
Subject Matter Experts are responsible for providing industry-relevant information to use in the bid responses. While their role is predominantly technical, they should also be team players, as they are required to work closely with the bid writers and communicate complex concepts effectively.
Subject Matter Experts should have technical expertise, an analytical thinking style, good communication abilities, a collaborative approach, and strong problem-solving skills.
Bid Writer
The Bid Writer(s) are responsible for overseeing the quality of your written content. While other team members may be involved in writing certain sections, your bid writers must be able to ensure that your overall proposal is cohesive in its tone and style, often by rewriting any sections that are inconsistent with the document as a whole. This includes checking that the bid reads well and is effective at communicating your key messages.
The Bid Writers work closely with the Subject Matter Experts, and as such, are required to have excellent written and verbal communication skills. In addition, they must have a high standard of written English, attention to detail, teamwork abilities, writing, proofreading, and editing experience, and excellent time management skills.
Graphic Designer
Bid writing isn’t just about the text – having a good graphic designer could make or break your bid! Effective graphic design should break up long paragraphs of text, simplify data, and keep your readers engaged.
Your graphic designer should have a good eye for the type of design style appropriate for your bid – from clean and professional for private or public sector contracts, to inspiring and artistic for the creative industries.
They should also be familiar with your business’ brand identity to help your bid fit in with the rest of your branding.
Give Constructive Feedback
If you’ve ever had an overly critical manager, you will understand that excessive criticism can be demoralising, and may even cause you to become demotivated in your work.
Therefore, encourage your team to share both good and bad feedback sensitively, while offering constructive solutions to any potential issues.
Remember, a little bit of positivity goes a long way!
Want more expert advice on how to build a high-performing bid writing team? Contact us!
