The Old Grind(er)

Posted by BJ on 9 January, 2009 under Musings | Add your comment

One of the gifts my wife and I received this past holiday (from our neighbors Brian and Jen) was a coffee grinder

I didn’t ask for a coffee grinder. I didn’t need one. I had a perfectly good, high quality coffee grinder. The coffee grinder I’ve been using for the past several years did exactly what it was meant to do, grind coffee. It was simple and uncomplicated. It had only one button. The process for this grinder is: Put coffee beans from the coffee bean container into the grinder, hold down a button for the amount of time deemed appropriate and then let go. Empty the ground coffee into the coffee maker. Push brew button (okay, so I guess it has two buttons.)

I was not looking forward to changing my coffee grinder and I did so very reluctantly and only after the new one had sat under our Christmas tree for several days (for those that are wondering, it was a live tree, all white lights, decorated in a gold, red and brown theme), with my wife suggesting (okay, those of you who know my wife Azra know that to call it suggesting is a slight understatement) “when are you going to try the new coffee grinder”. (The lack of a question mark here is not a typo as [again, those who know Azra will already know this] this was not phrased as a question.)

Upon (reluctantly) opening it, I learned that the new coffee grinder has:

A hopper that holds two pounds of coffee; No separate container is needed for storing coffee.

Multiple settings for grinding, allowing me to select from coarse through to very fine*.

Settings for how many cups are to be brewed.

*On my previous grinder the type and amount were determined by how much I put in and how long I held the button…which, as you might guess, varied somewhat from pot to pot.

Once I made the first couple of pots of coffee I learned the following:

The coffee made using the new grinder is consistent and is much better than coffee made with the old grinder.

The process is greatly simplified and all work is removed.

My wife will now drink my coffee.

My wife will no longer get up and make the coffee, responding to my pleas of “But you make better coffee than I do.”

So, why tell you all this? I share this with our readers because my wife has been asking for a new, automated coffee grinder for several years and I have refused to change from the one I had. And now that I have changed (kicking and screaming), I have found that I would have benefited greatly – enjoying much better coffee, not wasting coffee, etc. – by having changed to a new grinder.

The question for you then is, “Are you sticking with your old grinder when you could greatly benefit from changing to a new one, as I have?” Said more specifically, “What changes in technology, process, thinking, etc, that might make a significant improvement to your proposal capabilities and quality, have you been reluctant to make?

Do you have a list of changes, ideas for improvement, etc. for 2009?

In his recent post – Strategic Engagement in 2009 – Jon suggests preparing a list of “must win” deals, getting insight into the forecast and speaking with sales people regarding the upcoming opportunities. That might be one you want to add to your list if it’s not on it already.

We’d love to hear some of the things on your list. And Jon and I will share some of ours in an upcoming post.

What Is The Appropriate Length For An Executive Summary?

Posted by BJ on 7 January, 2009 under Processes & best practice | 1 Comment

If I had a dime (that’s American $.10 for our international readers) for each time I’ve been asked this question in the past year, I’d have enough to pay for a week’s worth of coffee (and those who know me will tell you that’s a fair amount of coffee!).

This is the topic of some debate.

The accepted answer on the APMP Foundation Level Exam is “5-10% of the overall document, depending on the size of the document.”

Jon and I both see this as too long. Our expectation, from experience both evaluating and developing proposals, is that an executive summary should be between one and a half to three pages. The length should be somewhat longer for very complex responses, but not exceeding four or five pages.

My understanding of how a piece of writing should be was formed in one of my earliest writing classes, probably about the 7th grade or so, when my teacher presented a simple analogy. This analogy has served me well in reminding me to pay attention to the length of what I write.

I have occasionally offered this analogy to people, though I always do so somewhat reluctantly because the analogy is somewhat dated (okay very dated, as Jon will no doubt say!) and, without the proper introduction, it could be viewed as being sexist (it isn’t from my vantage point, but then I never was one for being politically correct).

Recognizing that I’m going to get some flack for it, I offer you the following analogy as regards the appropriate length when writing.

“It should be the same as a woman’s dress. It should cover the subject, but be short enough to be interesting.”

Keep this in mind when you write your next executive summary and I’m confident it will cover the subject and be short enough to be interesting.

Strategic engagement in 2009

Posted by Jon on 5 January, 2009 under Processes & best practice | 1 Comment

A quick start-of-year test of how strategically you’re operating. You’re back from the festive break. (At least, we hope you had a break, and didn’t have to work on proposals *all* the way through the holiday season). So:

Do you have a clear list of the “must win” deals for your sales team in the coming quarter and year as a whole, and are you already talking to the relevant salespeople about each of these opportunities?

The proposal centres who are operating strategically will already be clear on many of the most important deals in the pipeline that’ll need their support. There’ll be active pre-proposal planning work already underway on each deal. Looking externally, this will help the salespeople to ensure that everything possible is done before the RFP arrives to understand and shape the client’s requirements. Focusing internally, this will involve preparing the proposal team for success, and gathering preliminary content.

Sadly, too many proposal centres will come back at the start of the new year simply facing a backlog of work from the holiday season, with little or no chance to lift their eyes to the horizon. If you’re in this camp, why not fire a note to sales management, asking about their pipeline and requesting the chance to engage as early as possible to help them to win in 2009?