Tender training is badly needed if your bid documents contain many faults. If we are to improve, things will have to change. This leads to the question: How do we overcome resistance to change?
Think for a minute about the people who make what is arguably the world's most popular car. Toyota climbed to fame by receiving from staff a great many suggestions for improvement- 2,000,000 in one year alone. That worked out at 47 per person employed. Some 97% of these ideas were taken up.
Toyota people accepted that their job security stemmed from on-going improvement. Observers described the key to Japanese productivity as their emphasis on learning. Learning leads to understanding which leads to suggestions which lead to improvement.
The man most credited with Japan's industrial miracle was J.E. Deming. His advice to management was clear. Here are some excerpts:
- Keep trying to improve both product and service.
- Accept that old ways won't always do.
- Get things right the first time.
- Partner long-term with the best supplier to build loyalty and trust.
- Keep improving each process of production and service.
- Keep training people on the job.
- Keep improving leadership in management and production.
- Drive out fear.
- Forget about targets: just get on with it.
- Lead always towards improvement.
- Encourage pride in quality.
- Educate with vigour.
- Get everyone involved in the new way.
Get people to respond favourably
Deming's advice is just as right for tendering as for every other part of business. It is clearly focussed on helping people. Given this message, people will respond favourably and not put up a fight.
Where important bids are often lost, we have a problem with the people involved. They may have one of five attitudes towards their inputs:
- They know with certainty what to do.
- They sort-of know but haven't quite fathomed it.
- They know but pretend not to.
- They sort-of know but prefer not to even think about it.
- They really don't know at all.
To get a person's buy-in on the complex task of tendering improvement, you must look into his or her situation and deal with it accordingly. Knowledge is always based on learning. Check each person's learning curve. If it flattens off you have two options. Either arrange for them to be taught more, or relieve them of the task.
Think about the animal analogy: if you need high speed choose a rabbit. If you need to climb trees go for a squirrel. You will never teach the brightest rabbit to climb trees. This implies that the person you put in charge of illustrating your tender bid had better be truly skilled at it. Teach people to do even better what they're great at.
Your people work IN your tendering system. You need to work ON the system. Expect to find only one fault in 20 lies with people. Expect five times as many faults to stem from the culture in your business that puts up with errors over and over again. Some 70% of the faults may lie in the systems that reflect and support that culture. There's the real enemy.
Managers in charge of tendering (as with other key functions) should set four goals: raise productivity, raise quality, eliminate waste and achieve just-in-time. The best managers have a method in place to deal with each goal. They apply the method over and over. They know who is in charge of working on the method. They know that gains are being made. If the rate of gain is too slow they get outside help.
People like predictability
People get anxious when things are out of control. They don't like frights and they don't like disappointment. A symptom of out of control is when things vary widely. A tendering regime is often set up like a lottery: "You win some, you lose some". But people will support a system that has more predictable outcomes. Well-managed improvement leads directly to less variation as well as less error.
The aim in tendering improvement is to raise value that the customer can see. Managers involved must look to expand all competitive strengths. They must build on sound traditions - where they exist. They must strengthen the culture for on-going improvement. They must accept accountability for results.
Be clear to your people about whether you are going for small-step or big-step improvement. Small-step involves continuous incremental adjustment of every process. It leads to steady gains. It boosts morale and encourages co-operation. But breakthroughs are rare. Organisation can be difficult.
Big-step involves much auditing, planning and new systems. Creative brilliance is sought. It costs more and carries more risk. Timing is critical. Existing procedures may be tossed out. People may feel threatened. But major breakthroughs are likely.
Don't rush the improvement
Be very clear to everyone about what is going to happen. Keep the plan simple. Don't rush. Insist on participation. Listen to what each person has to say. Dismantle all demarcation between departments. Deal at once with any dissent. Get outside help where you need it in the planning and implementation stages. Measure and publish all results as you go.
Key motivators are achievement, recognition, responsibility, advancement, interpersonal relations, working conditions and salary. All these fit neatly into the gambit of tendering improvement. So if you set things up right, people should respond with support, flair and vision.
© Tecads
Adapted from Chapter 7 of Tom's book, "Winning More Profitable Tenders" - published 2007.
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