‘Shift left’ for effective tender management
Tania Field, Principal Tender Specialist (Sydney)
Overview
As a seasoned tenderer I am practised in bidding and wise to how teams navigate tender management. I know the pain points, challenges and opportunities, and the work required (and some of the personal sacrifices involved) to get the job done.
Over the past 12 months my thoughts have turned more toward self-care, in particular creating more balance for myself by changing how I approach bidding. Expanding on this, I have been considering my personal contribution to the profession and if there is room to shift the less than ideal aspects of bidding such as the stress and anxiety of lumpy bid cycles. I also want to challenge some of the perceptions that tenderers are ‘masochists’ or even ‘heroes’ because of the work we do when in fact I think most of us are hoping for greater balance and efficiencies from our teams – therefore we are not masochists or heroes by choice.
I am conscious we cannot make everything perfect in every scenario, mostly because the dynamics change all the time in bid teams – for example, the levels of experience and configurations of teams. I also want to acknowledge that sometimes hard work is just a factor that we need to accept in any job. I am however curious and interested in better bid practice and sharing these insights so we move forward with greater appreciation and understanding of our individual and collective impact on the bid process.
The problem
We can assume that the workload in a tender, like projects, is fairly consistent if you have planned appropriately. There will be instances of spikes at key milestones however the role of good leaders is to plan for these and steady the bid process and guide workloads responsibly.
The diagram in Figure 1 is a crude illustration of what I observe is more common to bidding – a very lumpy bid cycle with extreme peaks and troughs that leads to a wall of work in the final stages of the tender. Bid teams that are not guided appropriately during the bid process, or do not possess a good understanding of how to contribute or know their impact, can very quickly tip the bid cycle out of kilter as expressed in this drawing. This could be due to a number of factors such as lack of understanding, lack of initiative, motivation, bowing to pressure, panic, and changing requirements (I’ve exaggerated some of the emotions that might be experienced at different stages in this diagram).
A big issue as a result of a lumpy bid cycle is the ability to resource appropriately to meet demand. I find that most often the team is static the whole way through a job (restricted on cost in some cases) and does not make an allowance for the more extreme spikes, which has a big impact on team workload, stress and culture. Please do not confuse this by assuming that an influx of people during the final week(s) is the answer to this problem – this offers its own kind of drama. I do not think that resourcing for the peaks and troughs is necessarily the answer, it is more about how we can more effectively use the bid team for the duration of the bid.
The next issue to consider is the ‘rinse and repeat’ of this type of lumpy bid cycle over an extended period of months and years with potential impact to:
Your mind and body
The team’s mind and body, and
The business.
Figure 1: A common bidding practice or ‘lumpy’ bid cycle
‘Shift left’ as a concept
Note: I was first introduced to the ‘shift left’ concept through a peer. My understanding is that other businesses use the term but I’m not aware of their practice. I have briefly searched the internet and other credible sources to see what is available on the topic but have not found anything relevant to bidding. I have, however, seen that it is a term that is used in software development although used differently. The content in this blog is my opinion and perspective on what it means to ‘shift left’ in tender management, and how I think we can benefit from it.
‘Shift left’ as a mindset and practice is a mix of:
Fast and early completion of the more common fixtures in a bid, for example, the known returnable schedules and tasks (such as setting the timeline and program), and
Regular assessment of your unique bid environment and the ongoing application of ‘shift left’ to derisk the bid process. This manifests as:
Re-prioritisation of returnable schedules
Fast-tracking decisions, and
Breaking down tasks to unblock items and get traction.
If we adopt this mindset and practice there is a much greater opportunity to ‘flatten the curve’ (see illustration in Figure 2) and achieve a far steadier and sustainable workload and cadence. This might also have the potential to yield greater performance and outcomes.
Figure 2. The impact on workload of better and best bid practice and the ‘shift left’ concept
I will admit that it is hard to effect change like this because bids are all consuming and we cannot always see or understand what these impacts have on our teams and on us as individuals in any one bid, let alone over a series of bids.
If this is your first bid then this is just something you need to be conscious of and considerate to. If you engage in bids quite frequently you can implement a regular tracking and measurement tool to understand the long-term effect of this practice. The more frequently you engage in bids the more crucial it is to flatten this curve.
Types of things to ‘shift left’
The tasks you ‘shift left’ will be different in different scenarios. But here I outline a few examples.
Tender planning – hopefully more commonplace than not:
Bid program/timeline – stick to it and don’t give in to requests for extensions
Resourcing and writing plan – act fast and get buy-in on resourcing from senior management
Templates – getting these right early on can save you time and energy
Tender strategy and win themes – this sets the tone early on.
Tender management – tasks that have potential to impact to a great extent:
Packaging and production strategy – informs timeline, templates, branding, graphics, approvals, and
Writing or style guide – less rework in the long run.
Tender writing – prioritise key decisions and returnable schedules to ‘flatten the curve’:
Blueprinting or storyboarding – mapping out the response to get clarity on the path ahead
Mandatory or commonplace returnable schedules ie tender details and tender form – get them to gold level as fast as you can
Dates for signing sessions – know when you are likely to get hold of busy senior management, and
Key personnel and organisation chart structures – these always take longer than you expect, act fast.
Shift right – as a concept
The concept of ‘shift right’ should be used sparingly and/or requires good judgement. If you know certain things are better saved for a later date, and you can manage for the delay, then ‘shift right’.
The benefit of ‘shift right’ is that you can reduce communication or downgrade ‘red flags’ on specific tasks when there is little to no chance of tackling them early on ie pricing or commercial sign-offs. This cuts down on noise and helps the bid team focus on the critical stuff.
Strategic reviews from senior team members is also a good example of what to ‘shift right’ – it is best to delay their involvement to a time when their advice will be best used rather than early on when solutions are still being developed.
‘Shift left’ for success
In summary, the ‘shift left’ concept aims to bring forward work and decisions to better manage the bid process including impacts on time management, workload, resource management, stress, and sanity. It also has the potential to effect bid outcomes and win rates.
If you are still not convinced on the merits of the concept then please consider it as a development opportunity to build critical skills that add value to the business. By asking individuals to ‘shift left’ we adopt a mindset that encourages better forecasting, planning, organisation, and critical thinking, which can only be a good thing for a bid team.
Tender Plus is experienced in tendering and would like to help you and your business to tender more effectively and win. Tender Plus offers tender management and support in Sydney, Brisbane, Perth and Australia wide. Click here to learn about what we do.