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Management & Operating (M&O) for Y-12 National Security Complex (Y-12), Pantex Plant Site (PX), & Savannah River Site (SRS)

If you want the free full summary of this target go to http://login.epipeline.com/limitedDisplay?ID=FOSRCUSA16908&FLAG=SUMMARY. . This target is only available for a short period of time.

If you need help designing and executing your capture program or proposals to win this procurement contact Sid Jaffe, at 703-642-5153.

Practice your "Elevator Speech!"
By Sarah Casseday, Associates, Advantage Consulting, Inc.

Often touted advice for job-seekers is the value of the "elevator speech" - the ability to describe yourself and your goals in 30 seconds or less to a prospective employer. Project managers can also benefit from the elevator speech technique. It's a great way to keep your project in the spotlight and keep your boss and your client informed on a moment's notice.

The PM's elevator speech should cover the big three: schedule, cost, and performance. Practice something like this:

"We're still on target to finish the project by the end of February, but may have to go for a cost modification in order to include extra sites in the feasibility study. Theresa and Bob have just completed the initial requirements analysis and we're moving onto developing our site questionnaire."

This type of synopsis will give either your boss or your client sufficient information to report up the line in an instant if required, and will also give them opportunity for additional questions if time allows. The elevator speech is also a great opening for an informal status report meeting before you go into further detail.

Unfortunately, project managers do not always have optimistic information to impart on the subjects of schedule, cost, or performance. The elevator speech should not be used to spring surprises, but should be an update since the last time you reported on status. When status reports are done regularly, discouraging news should not be a surprise.

"As I told you in our last meeting, we're currently about 3 weeks behind schedule and still looking to fill the data architect position. We will probably have to request a schedule modification if progress continues to lag, but don't expect any impact on costs. I'll make the decision about a mod at the 4 week point. As of now, I expect to make up the time over the next six months with an accelerated schedule in the fall."

The important point here-the crux of the elevator speech-is that you have a plan to address the schedule slippage that you've already reported. You've also identified areas for further questions which can be addressed at the next opportunity: What will a potential mod include? Why won't the schedule slippage affect costs? What parts of the schedule do you plan to accelerate and why do you think that can be done?"

Communicating with your client, your company, and your project team is a key skill all project managers need to cultivate. The Project Management Workshop scheduled for July 28th explores techniques for improving communication for these constituencies and making what you say more effective. In the meantime, practice your elevator speech!

Brown Bag Session 9: Leveraging into New Business Opportunities
By Sid Jaffe, President, Advantage Consulting, Inc.

There are several Business Development topics and exercises that make excellent "Brown Bag" topics during a working lunch with your team. For example, "Nibbling." While this is the term we introduced in a previous Brown Bag - the vital activity of ensuring team members are aware of opportunities that can be leveraged into new areas of the agencies they are working with.

Leveraging, as we use the term here, is applying the solutions, services, products and people that are your core business in an effort that will result in new business with new clients. Frequently, we hear that an organization's technical staff doesn't feel that they have the time, resources and money to leverage the firm into new areas. In over fifteen years of consulting on this subject no one has ever told us that time, resources and money was in abundant supply. But, if the need is real and it can be funded, someone is going to get the work. The "someone" who gets the work has no more time than your firm's people to build the relationship and chase the opportunity. Leveraging is not optional; it is a mandatory growth strategy.

For more information on BD training that addresses "leveraging" techniques for your managers and technical staff contact Sid Jaffe, sjaffe@acibiz.com at 703-642-5153.

Sid will be conducting the Business Development and Capture workshops on July 14-15, 2010.

The "So What" Test
By J.P. Richard, Vice President, Advantage Consulting, Inc.

This may be the most important question you ask yourself when reviewing that proposal you worked so hard on. If you make a statement about your solution, the services you propose or the product you want to include, make sure you say "So What?" after you read the statement aloud. If you don't have an answer, you have just given the reviewer a description of the feature without clearly giving them the benefit of your solution. Benefits are what sell your solution, so don't become too intrigued about the features that you forget how the prospect can benefit form it.

Our monthly proposal course has practical examples of just how to do that. Sign up now. J.P. Richard, jprichard@acibiz.com.

"Hyper Verbosity" Can be Contagious
By Bill Hamilton, Vice President, Advantage Consulting, Inc.

Hyper is defined as "excessively active" and verbose is defined as "using language that is too long winded or complicated." My new term "hyper verbosity" refers to the proposal writing practice of overusing modifiers or bombarding the reader with unnecessary or superfluous technical information. Some writers believe that using more words makes a proposal better.

Writers who practice hyper verbosity forget the basic rule: a proposal should be written for the Source Selection Board. Each board member probably wrote one part of the RFP. Each member will probably read only the response to their section written in a way that they expect to see it, where they expect to see it.

While most evaluators will have a technical background, not all readers will be at the same experience or knowledge level. Some will be managers remote from technology-based operations and some will be decision makers who may not have a technology base or experience. The proposal must be written for all of them.

Reviews can be conducted in different ways. Each member can read their assigned section but they can also read the entire proposal and develop their assessment. Your principal function as a writer is to present your case to the reader clearly, concisely, and in a manner and form that will make it easy for the reader to select you as the winner regardless of their background.

In order for you to cover all the necessary bases, you must tailor your writing style to address your points of approach simply. Use technical terms only where you must. If a technical process has to be described in detail, perhaps a graphic presentation would be a better choice. Avoid excessive modifiers. The fewer words you use to make a point, the more power each word will have.

Finally, after you write the assigned section, mercilessly edit your own work cutting out extraneous words and ensuring that each word counts.

Comments? Contact me at (703) 642-5153 or by e-mail at bhamilton@acibiz.com and let's talk.

These insults are from an era when cleverness with words was still valued, before a great portion of the English language got boiled down to 4-letter words, not to mention waving middle fingers.