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CAREER DEVELOPMENT
Evaluating proposals
Proposals -- you get them all the time. One might appear as a result of your suggestion that a staff member request a new piece of equipment in writing. Another might come in draft form from a peer who is suggesting that you and he merge some redundant operations. Yet another might be an unsolicited proposal from a consultant trying to persuade your organization to try new services. This unsolicited stack could come in the form of a whole set submitted as part of a formal bidding process.
Evaluating proposals is often a time consuming and frustrating task, particularly when you have more than one proposal that addresses a specific issue or problem. With a little organization on your part-and a simplifying tool or two-you can make sure that your appraisal is thorough and fair, and results in the right decision for your organization.
BEFORE YOU START. If you request a proposal-formally or informally-be sure you know what you want addressed. For example, what is technically the scope of the work? In your opinion, what tasks are required do it? What criteria will you use to determine whether or not the proposal offers work that meets your needs? What special circumstances will influence your decision? What kinds of skills must be available in the form of staff or other resources to implement the proposal? What kind of budgetary impact would be acceptable?
The answers to these questions will help you come up with a list of technical criteria that the proposal must meet. If you are the recipient of an unsolicited proposal, take a look at the problem the proposal says it addresses, and go through the same thought process, asking yourself, "If I had solicited this proposal, what would I have considered the scope of work to be?" and so on down the line.
Once you have your criteria-for a solicited or unsolicited proposal-put them in a priority order and assign a weight to them. For example, you might do this with a point system adding up to 100, with the most important criterion getting the most points. With this method, you now have a systematic way to evaluate the proposal against your needs. In addition, this systematic approach will help you stay on task and keep you from forgetting details. It will also help you be more thorough and objective.
EVALUATING THE PROPOSAL. Now that you have developed a technical criteria "checklist" and point system, you are ready to tackle the proposal itself. Go through it once from start to finish. Hold its contents up to your criteria and assign points.
Then, from a nontechnical point of view, ask yourself generally how well it was put together, using the following list of questions. These questions could even be compiled as a second point system:
Is the proposal thorough and prepared with a good understanding of your business?
Is it well organized and presented?
Is it complete?
Is it "canned," or an adaptation of a proposal that you suspect is sent to lots of potential clients? That may or may not be the kiss of death, depending on the proposal's relevance.
Is the problem well understood and well stated?
Does it show appropriate political sensitivity?
If the proposal is an internal one, does it address a real problem or opportunity? Or, is it unfortunately a "make work" or "pet" project, a thinly disguised attempt to make you part of someone else's self-advancement agenda, or an attempt to make you responsible for someone else's problem?
These nontechnical considerations should help you judge thought processes, the level of commitment you can expect, and other managerial aspects of the proposal that will help you determine how realistic it is.
Finally, allow for the unexpected or intangible. For example, if the proposal is a little off when it comes to a polished presentation, does it instead have unusual creativity or innovation at its core? Could one proposal be combined with another to produce a real winner? Is the proposal relevant to your request, but now that you have considered it more thoroughly, should the request itself have been better or differently defined?
MAKING A DECISION. After you have thoroughly evaluated the proposal or proposals by adding up points and making notes, take a break. Give it a day or two and then come back, looking at the point spreads once again. There should be a clear winner. Let the contender or contenders know the results orally or in writing, including your honest assessment of how each stacked up against your criteria. Then set up your implementation timeline and get to work!
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