It’s so important for a proposal manager to make the right impression with a team from the outset. Turn up late, flustered and unprepared to the kick-off meeting, and you might struggle subsequently to establish an air of professionalism and credibility.

From the participants’ perspective, the kick-off is about understanding the opportunity, the process – and their role in it. From a proposal manager’s point-of-view, the sub-text is more:

“I need you all to be prepared to follow me into battle.”