HAPD Week 2
Government RFP and Proposal Basics
HAPD Week 2:
Government RFP and Proposal Basics
Overview of Week 2: This is a busy week!
Monday, 1-April-2019
- Module 2.1 introduces the world of federal acquisition and proposals. Emphasis will be on the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR), acquisition planning, requirements definition, the acquisition process, and risk. This module will be presented via web lecture and includes reading assignments with links to selected readings. This week’s quiz includes a lot of questions from this module. TIP: Start the quiz early in case you have questions about the topics in the quiz.
Tuesday, 2-April-2019:
- Module 2.2 introduces the concept of the high-performance team and the roles and responsibilities of the proposal team. We also introduce the discussion for the week, which focuses on the roles and responsibilities of the proposal coordinator and proposal writer. NOTE: Week 3’s quiz takes a lot of questions from this module.
- Discussion 2-1 introduces students to the discussion process. Emphasis will be on participation, resourcefulness, compliance with instructions, ability to meet (or exceed) post deadlines, grammar, and leadership. Your first post is due by Week 2 Wednesday at 11:59 PM ET and respond to a minimum of two posts by Week 2 Friday at 11:59 PM ET. The Discussion 2.1 instructions and forum are posted here.
- Module 2.3 introduces the structure of a federal RFP and the critical components of each section. Emphasis will be on proposal instructions, evaluation criteria, and the statement of work/performance work statement. This module will be presented via lecture and includes reading assignments with links to selected readings. NOTE: Week 3’s quiz takes a lot of questions from this module.
Wednesday, 3-April-2019:
- Module 2.4 introduces students to our primary focus of the course: The Department of Energy (DOE) Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education opportunity. We will discuss TEAM AES; the win strategy, and offer design for the opportunity. We will also review the sources sought released by DOE ORISE.
- Module 2.5 introduces the proposal outline and the process to create it and includes Exercise 2.1, which requires students to develop a proposal outline. Exercise 2.1 is due by Week 2 Thursday at 11:59 PM ET and must be posted to your Week 2 Writer Folder by this time.
If you finish Exercise 2.1 early: Work on this week’s discussion and subscribe to this YouTube channel and begin watching the videos on Microsoft Word:
You can also review these articles on proposal outlining, the compliance matrix, and content planning in PropLIBRARY. Where there are links in the articles – follow those links for additional content:
Thursday, 4-April-2019:
Module 2.6 and Exercise 2.2 introduce the beginner to the basics of the content plan: Formatting and how to plan your content for your assigned sections. There are references to additional sources of learning for desktop publishing and writing, including videos and articles. The second Week 2 Exercise is introduced – planning and writing your first compliant proposal section. We also revisit the discussion requirements of the week to ensure you’re staying focused on it.
Post your document to your Week 2 Writer Folder by the deadline (Week 3 Monday at 3:00 PM ET).
Friday, 5-April-2019:
Week 2 will conclude on Friday with one-on-one (1:1) reviews during which each student meets individually with the instructor to discuss any questions students might have, review progress/grades to date, and review Exercises 2.1 and 2.2. These 1:1 sessions offer students more individualized attention and feedback. Your instructor will schedule 30 minutes to meet with you (you might not meet for the full 30 minutes). For the remainder of the day, you can work individually on your quiz and/or assignments or work in small groups to collaborate with other students on live edit reviews or help each other with coursework (except for quizzes).
While waiting for your session, work on Exercise 2.2 and begin watching the videos on Microsoft Word:
You can also review these articles on proposal outlining, the compliance matrix, and content planning in PropLIBRARY. Where there are links in the articles – follow those links for additional content:
Learning Objectives:
At the end of this week you will be able to:
Learning Objectives - Module 2.1:
- Describe what the FAR is and its role in proposals
- Explain how Federal customers prepare for and manage acquisitions
- Explain why risk management is critical to all stakeholders (customer, client, consultant) of the acquisition process
Learning Objectives - Module 2.2:
- Explaining what a high-performance team is
- Explaining who does what during a proposal project
- Describing the roles and responsibilities of the proposal coordinator and proposal writer
- Demonstrating understanding of the variations in how clients define proposal team roles and responsibilities
Learning Objectives – Discussion 2.1:
- Demonstrating leadership and resourcefulness by responding to fellow students’ questions (see the discussion instructions) with well-informed answers
- Demonstrating compliance with assignment instructions
- Demonstrating ability to meet deadlines
- Demonstrating sound writing and editing skills
Learning Objectives – Module 2.3:
- Describe how a Federal RFP is structured
- Explain which sections of a Federal RFP are the most critical to the proposal team and why
- Explain how each section of a Federal RFP relates to the other sections of the RFP
Learning Objectives – Module 2.4:
- Communicate pursuit status to Leadership
- Provide evidence that AES can win
- Identify gaps and recommend actions to resolve or no-bid
- Track completion of pursuit activities required to achieve a high win probability (PWIN)
- Establish a bid rationale and budget and obtain bid and proposal (B&P) budget approval
- Identify required proposal resources and qualifications
- Provide the proposal team with information they require to develop a high-scoring, winning proposal
- Document the high-level concept of operations (CONOP)
- Communicate pursuit status to Leadership
- Provide evidence that AES can win
- Identify gaps and recommend actions to resolve or no-bid
- Track completion of pursuit activities required to achieve a high win probability (PWIN)
- Establish a bid rationale and budget and obtain bid and proposal (B&P) budget approval
- Identify required proposal resources and qualifications
- Provide the proposal team with information they require to develop a high-scoring, winning proposal
- How to document the high-level concept of operations (CONOP)
Learning Objectives - Module 2.5 and Exercise 2.1:
- Explain what compliance is and how to achieve it
- Explain how the proposal outline is created
- Create a fully-compliant proposal outline
- Demonstrate compliance with exercise instructions
- Demonstrate ability to meet deadlines
- Describe what the proposal outline is and why it is the most critical planning tool in the proposal process
Learning Objectives - Module 2.6 and Exercise 2.2:
- Understanding why the Federal Government cares about formatting so many
- Describing what is meant by “leveling the playing field”
- Understanding the importance of fully-compliant formatting in a proposal
- Performing basic formatting in an MS Word document
- Describing what makes a great proposal writer
- Describing the steps a proposal writer should take to plan and write their assigned proposal sections
- Complete a formatted, compliant proposal section by the deadline
To Do List:
- Attend the three web lectures (Module 2.1 – 2.6)
- Post in the Week 2 Discussion: The first post by Wednesday at 11:59 PM ET and respond to a minimum of two posts by Friday at 11:59 PM ET
- Complete assigned readings and watch assigned videos
- Complete and submit the exercises by the deadlines (see above)
- Meet with your instructor for individual discussion and feedback
- Complete the Week 2 Quiz
Return to the HAPD Course Module Home Page
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