What is it?
A Request for Proposal (referred to as RFP) is an invitation for suppliers, often through a bidding process, to submit a proposal on a specific commodity or service. A bidding process is one of the best methods for leveraging a company’s negotiating ability and purchasing power with suppliers. The Request process brings structure to the procurement decision and allows the risks /benefits and requirements to be clearly identified upfront. An RFP typically involves more than just a request for a price. Other requested information typically includes basic corporate information and history, financial information (can the company deliver without risk of bankruptcy), technical capability (used on major procurements of services, where the item has not previously been made or where the requirement could be met by varying technical means), product information, such as stock availability and estimated completion date, as well as customer references that can be checked to determine a company’s suitability.
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Some years back I was asked to take over a supposedly well run Programme of Work delivering a Siebel solution across Europe and South America. After a suitable handover period I finally got my chance to attend a Programme Board meeting. During the meeting I became concerned at the low number of escalated risks and issues (numbering in single digits) with none of them identifying who owned them, or what the progress was in resolving them. The escalated risk and issues looked more like a “to-do” list with very little tracking. It was clear to me that the risk and issue management was failing especially when many of the reported risks and issues seemed very trivial for a programme with upwards of 1500 staff. Because poor risk and issue management is detailed in most project /programme surveys as a key reason for failure I new I had to get to the bottom of this issue before I took over from the out-going Programme Manager.
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What is it?
The attached tool is a totally FREE shareware Project Planning Tool which does not contain Macros or VB so it is easily customisable. This tool allows the creation of simple Gantt charts. This is one of the most important types of project plan for monitoring a projects progress against an established work breakdown structure.
Why should I use it?
In order to achieve the objectives of any project it is essential to look at the details of the work required, which includes identifying specific tasks and estimating time to complete them, estimating associated costs, identifying who will perform the tasks and highlighting areas of risk together with devising appropriate contingency plans.
It is usually part of the responsibility of the project manager to create the project plan and to update it on a regular and frequent basis. This is an important point – project plans are not set in stone! They are dynamic and must reflect the current situation. In most projects there are a number of “unexpected” challenges or events which may affect the timescales, costs and outcomes of the project. With good planning these unexpected events can be dealt with effectively.
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One of the key selling points behind the adoption of Agile is that unlike other methods it releases creativity, innovation and productivity through the removal of structure, rules and consistency. I have always considered this to be a myth unless applied to the world of line management. I argue this view more cogently in my post Taylor Vs Deming & Software Development
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After a break spending sometime on designing an upgrade to the current Clarety site (to be released towards the end of this year) I am now back doing what I enjoy and that is writing for Clarety.
A lot has happened in the world since my last post. The credit crunch now looks more like a depression than a recession with few solutions other than a battening down of hatches and riding out the coming storm of rising unemployment and corporate failures.
Despite this backdrop I feel the changes in the world economy will have a positive effect on the world of Project and Programme Management. This I believe will take place through changes in people’s attitudes as they deal with its consequences.
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