Proposals tend to be submitted last minute.

For many, it often feels like you only have just enough time to respond and submit. If you have felt that way, you’re not alone. In the 1950s, Northcote Parkinson came up with the famous ‘Parkinson’s law’ which stated that “work expands to fill the time available for completion.” We obsess over the small details rather than focus on the full strategy to maximize time and resources.

Deadlines vary  for every proposal based on the requirement and the customer. For example, proposals that respond to federal bids have longer timelines, while commercial bids generally open and close within 1-3 weeks or as little as 24 hours.

Proposals take great effort in short time periods, so one of the most important strategies to use is collaboration. Collaboration ensures that you maximize timelines and that work does not suddenly pile up as the deadline draws closer.

Even if the deadline is far off, you still need to rely on excellent collaboration and keep record of collaborative outcomes.

Collaboration and communication work together. Conflicts are commonplace at work, and effective communication and collaboration is the only way to maneuver back to productivity and a healthy work environment. Imagine having a proposal deadline and two of your proposal team members decide to exchange unpleasantries via email thread. Yet another distraction reduces time.

Meeting productivity and differences in team member background present barriers that require advanced collaboration support.

It is very rare to hear team members leave a meeting and exclaim, “Boy, we needed that meeting.” People usually zone out during meetings, and the meeting notes are the only things that will matter, unless of course they are lost in an email thread. Approvals and workflows slow down among team members who speak different languages because people take more than reasonable time to understand and respond to what has been asked of them.

A good proposal collaboration tool helps mitigate these challenges, so quality proposals are your only focus. Here are 10 reasons why you need a proposal collaboration tool right now:

1. A good proposal collaboration tool helps you communicate without feeling overwhelmed.
2. It allows you to communicate in real-time and keep a clear record to To-Do activities.
3. A good proposal collaboration tool also allows you to have an archive of all communication so that you can search and find information should you need it later.
4. It streamlines the proposal approval and review process.
5. It eliminates manual follow up, so you spend time where it matters- on business strategy and effective proposal writing.
6. It keeps track of important information and allows proposal contributors to share regular feedback.
7. All information is accessible in real time.
8. A good proposal collaboration tool helps you manage team collaboration and the entire proposal process, from capture planning to submission and beyond.
9. Contents and all your communication are searchable by folder, project, proposal, subject, date, author, and keyword. Information loss is prevented.
10. A good proposal management tool helps maintain your sanity. Your work is supported and the timeline is not spread so thin.

Zbizlink is a good proposal collaboration tool to consider because it streamlines proposal management and integrates collaboration and communication into a single secured workspace.

In case you’re inspired to maximize time and collaboration, get in touch with us and we will help get you started on the road to proposal submissions ahead of time.