Editing the Bid


Bids often combine material from a variety of sources, but it is important to avoid the impression of a mass of bits and pieces stitched together clumsily with abrupt changes of style. The image you need to create is quite the opposite: an integrated, seamless texture like a single voice.

Before people start to write their contributions, give them guidance on the style they should follow. If necessary, provide a template or example of what you want. This procedure can save you a lot of work rewriting material.

The person editing the bid must make sure he or she really comprehends what is being said, particularly when the text concerns a highly specialized field of expertise. What is the central point being argued? Do you understand it fully? Can you express it in simpler terms to help the client grasp its meaning? If you don't understand the point, go back to the specialist and ask for an explanation. Be diplomatic about this: people can be territorially defensive about the way they write.

Bid editing is often a matter of translation - conveying complex technical issues in language that non-technical people can understand. But editors must be careful not to deprive the text of technical precision, distort its meaning or insert their own ideas.

There are five Cs that are essentials in bid editing: correctness, consistency, conciseness, continuity and coordination:

  • Correctness means more than eliminating faults in grammar, sentence construction, spelling and punctuation. It covers the use of every type of data and numbers, the way the client and the contract are referred to, the referencing of sections and paragraphs and every other category of information. Getting the details right does count: slipshod phrasing erodes both the confidence and the tolerance of the client.

  • Consistency in style and phrasing will reinforce the client's perception of the quality of the bid and by extension your performance as a contractor. A bid that seems the work of one person suggests a team that will work together as one individual.

  • Conciseness means giving information clearly and comprehensively but in a few words and without surplus detail. Some specialists have difficulty in controlling their enthusiasm for the minutiae of their work: they may not find it easy to recognize let alone eliminate surplus detail. From the client's perspective, surplus detail is information that:

    • does nothing to support or strengthen the point being argued;

    • appears to have no relevance to the client's information needs; and so

    • has no practical application in helping to achieve the client's objectives.

  • Continuity is about making sure that points are set out in logical order, without gaps, breaks in sequence or sudden changes of subject, and that links and connections between the requirements of the contract and the content of the bid are brought out clearly.

  • Coordination - an aspect of version control that is an essential part of the management of technical documentation, particularly if several people are involved in writing the text and perhaps working on a section of the bid at the same time. The version control approach advocated in Chapter 8 will enable sections to be edited in phase, so as to preclude the introduction of changes that produce inconsistencies or conflicts.

Once the text is drafted, read it through carefully to spot omissions, repetitions, contradictions, non sequiturs, rash assumptions and plain careless errors. One type of mistake that is easy to make is the inaccurate numbering of items in a list. You may say, 'there are five key factors', and probably there were at one stage of writing, but when counted on the printed page they add up to four or six. That suggests a hasty and superficial presentation - not a good advertisement.

When the editing is completed, ask the specialist who produced the initial draft to read the text through. Issues raised by specialists at this stage and questions about why certain points were reworded or omitted will often help to clarify important aspects of the text.

A plea for paragraph numbering

If contractors make it easy to identify and locate specific points of information, they show they understand the practical needs of clients and are demonstrating the kind of helpful and methodical approach that marks them as good people to work with. If they make clients count paragraphs and lines to track down information and even omit page numbers, they may look as if they are ignoring the needs of their customers ('If these contractors can't even organize the bid efficiently, how would they ever manage the project?').

The basic unit of text in a bid is the individual paragraph. Ideally, each paragraph should be labelled with a unique reference number: it is this that provides the means of immediate access to detailed information. The use of paragraph numbering has two further advantages: 1) it minimizes the possibility of information not being recognized through inadequate referencing; 2) it displays the logical structure and progression of the text.

For most bids a simple two-level numbering system identifying sections and paragraphs will be adequate. Where sections cover a range of topics, three levels may be useful, identifying sections, subsections and paragraphs respectively. If you number subsections, it is advisable to number their component paragraphs, even though some of the examples in the book do not follow this principle. Avoid having more than three levels in a numbering hierarchy: references such as 'paragraph 3.4.1.1' are just too unwieldy. Restructure the text into more manageable parts, or remove the item causing the problem (the sub-subsection number) from the referencing system. Before the text is printed out, check it through for numberless paragraphs among other items.

start figure

James Brown
Deputy General Manager
Western Health Authority
Deliverance Hospital
Maintown

02 December 2002

Dear Mr Brown

Public consultation on management strategy

When we met on 14 November, you asked me to indicate how I might be able to assist your Authority in undertaking a consultation exercise related to its management strategy. This letter outlines my ideas on the scope and programme of the work and sets out an estimate of the costs involved.

1 Purpose of the consultation

1.1 The purpose of the consultation will be to assess local attitudes to the management strategy outlined in the Policy Committee report of October 2002, with particular reference to local access to health care and the implications for facilities at Deliverance Hospital. The results of the consultation will enable the Authority to determine the degree of local support for the strategy.

1.2 The public consultation will have two main elements:

  • a local exhibition of the strategy

  • a self-completion questionnaire.

2 Exhibition

2.1 My initial view is that the exhibition should take the form of about 10 modular panels, each focusing on a key aspect of the strategy. The presentation will aim to offer a straightforward and non-technical statement of the issues and options underlying the strategy.

2.2 The text and graphic material will be developed in liaison with your Authority. You have indicated that the Authority will produce enlargements of the charts included in the strategy report, together with such additional display material as resources may permit. I understand that the Authority can also make available a modular display system to accommodate the exhibition panels.

2.3 I suggest that the exhibition should be advertised primarily through a leaflet postal-dropped to each household within an agreed catchment area. The leaflet will explain the purpose of the exhibition, indicate its location and times of opening, and ask people to come and give their views.

2.4 An illustrated pamphlet reproducing the exhibition material will be made available on site, at surgeries and clinics, libraries, Council offices and other locations in the town. This pamphlet will contain the self-completion questionnaire. Material about the strategy and exhibition will also feature on the Authority's Web site.

2.5 The work that I will undertake in connection with the exhibition will include the following tasks:

  1. analysis of ongoing consultation, as scheduled in the Appendix to the Policy Committee report;

  2. subcontracting of exhibition designer and supervision of design;

  3. preparation of exhibition concept and production of exhibition text and graphic material in the form of display panels;

  4. production of postal drop leaflet and exhibition pamphlet;

  5. transport of display panels to the exhibition location;

  6. organization, signing, setting up, staffing and taking down of exhibition.

3 Exhibition design

3.1 To assist with the graphic design of the exhibition, I propose to subcontract a specialist designer, Janet Smith, who has worked as a colleague on numerous health sector consultation exercises and exhibitions. The Appendix to this letter gives a summary of her experience.

4 Self-completion questionnaire

4.1 The questionnaire will be brief and easy to complete, so as to encourage a high response rate. The questions will focus on key aspects of the management strategy. There will be a minimum of open-ended questions: most questions will be pre-coded as 'yes/no/don't know' or involve attitudinal scores and rankings. Space will be provided at the end of the questionnaire for further comments.

4.2 Respondents will be asked to indicate their address or the postcode of the locality where they live.

4.3 Responses will be coded and checked before inputting and computer processing. On submission of the final report of the consultation, the completed questionnaires will be transferred to the Authority.

4.4 Work in connection with the questionnaire will include the following tasks:

  1. questionnaire design, finalizing in liaison with the Authority, production and printing;

  2. distribution, administration and collection;

  3. data analysis, inputting, computer processing and reporting.

5 Programme of work

5.1 I understand that the Authority has made a provisional booking for the exhibition at the Maintown Library from 6 to 10 May 2003 inclusive.

5.2 The bar chart (Figure A) shows the proposed programme of work. My aim will be to submit a full report on the consultation by the end of June. On the assumption that a decision to go ahead is agreed early in February, the key dates are as follows:

mid-February to mid-March

Preparation of exhibition concept and text, in liaison with your Authority

19 March

Draft of exhibition/pamphlet text available

24 March–16 April

Production of exhibition panels, leaflet and pamphlet

8 April

Draft questionnaire available

22 April

Distribution of postal drop leaflet

28 April

Finalized questionnaire printed

6–10 May

Exhibition

24 May

Closing date for postal responses

16 June

Questionnaire analysis completed

30 June

Report of consultation submitted

6 Costs

6.1 There are several cost elements, particularly on the exhibition production side, that are difficult to define precisely before the start of design work. To arrive at a budget figure for the consultation exercise, I have tried to base the cost estimates on reasonable assumptions about the standard of presentation required, bearing in mind the need for economy and value for money.

6.2 My estimate of costs is as follows:

Ian Johnson: professional time:

days

  • preparation of text and material for exhibition

7.0

  • exhibition pamphlet, postal drop leaflet

2.0

  • supervision and management of designer's work

2.5

  • design, administration and analysis of questionnaire

15.0

  • organization of exhibition

2.0

  • attendance at exhibition

3.0

  • meetings with your Authority

3.0

  • travelling time

1.5

  • preparation of final Report

7.0

43.0

    • 43 days @ 450/day

19,350

Janet Smith: professional time:

  • design of exhibition display (assuming 10 panels)

9.0

  • exhibition pamphlet, postal drop leaflet

2.5

  • layout and artwork for questionnaire

2.0

  • meetings with your Authority

1.5

    • 15 days @ 400/day

6,000

Production of exhibition display panels (assuming 10 panels, with text screen-printed)

4,500

Production of exhibition pamphlet (assuming 4pp A4 and 2-colour printing) and self-completion questionnaire (print order 2,500)

2,500

Production of postal drop leaflet (assuming print order of 3,000)

1,000

Report printing costs (assuming submission of 5 copies)

50

Transport and travel costs

450

Total estimated costs (net of VAT)

33,850

6.3 I trust these total estimated costs are acceptable as a budget indication and as an initial basis for discussion. I assume that the Authority would wish to agree a contract on the basis of a budget ceiling for undertaking the work set out in this letter.

6.4 In a proposal of this nature, there are bound to be matters which need detailed discussion and clarification. Please let me know if you wish me to provide more information on any point, or if you would like to have a further meeting at this stage.

7 Appendix

7.1 I am appending to this letter a summary of my experience and that of the designer in the field of health sector consultation.

I hope that the terms of this submission will be acceptable, and I look forward to the possibility of assisting your Authority by undertaking this important consultation exercise.

Yours sincerely

end figure

Figure 12.4: Example of a Bid Letter




Bids, Tenders and Proposals. Winning Business Through Best Practice
Bids, Tenders and Proposals: Winning Business through Best Practice (Bids, Tenders & Proposals: Winning Business Through Best)
ISBN: 0749454202
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2003
Pages: 145
Authors: Harold Lewis

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