BUS505 Week 8 DB2 Week 8, DB2, Tips for Effective Proposal Writing"

BUS505 Week 8 DB2

Week 8, DB2, Tips for Effective Proposal Writing"

 Discuss the degree to which the proposals you found in the e-Activity followed the tips for effective proposal writing found in Chapter 13 of Osborne. Cite where you obtained the proposals. Then, discuss the main area where deviation was present and speculate as to why.

After searching the Federal Business Opportunity website at https://www.fbo.gov/, I selected a couple of

RFPs from the US Forestry Service\Department of Agriculture for Janitorial Services at the Sacramento Ranger District Offices identified as Solicitation Number AG-7512-S-17-0002, dated 10\28\16 and a similar one for their offices in Morgantown, WV identified as Solicitation Number AG-3604-S-17-0001, dated 10\22\2016 (FedBizOpps, 2016). Because these are simple cleaning service contracts with the stand optional years to be exercised as needed, there was not a confusing language or difficult concepts to grasp and in most cases, the government is willing to also provide the cleaning materials. After reviewing the proposals listed above , I would say that the government/customer pretty much followed the tips outlined in our textbook.

The FedBizOps website has many kinds of proposals and the tips recommended in Chapter 13 are easily applied to these service related solicitations. Also, the cleaning service industry provides a very basic type of service that requires a relatively low-skills labor force. Therefore, it would be pretty difficult for someone not to follow the tips outlined in Chapter 13 of Osborne. There was only one area that I found that may have contained some ambiguity that could use some further clarification which was the requirement for a Program

Manager/Supervisor in Section H. In RFP/Solicitation # AG-3604-S-17-0001, paragraph H.2, page 24 of 96, the contract provided this requirement but did not describe whether or not the PM/Supervisor had to be part of the on-site cleaning team or if they could be collocated off-site at another facility or at the company’s main office or headquarters.

My presumption as to why they did not provide specific or detailed information regarding the supervisory personnel is they wanted to keep this as much as a performance contact as possible. This basic type of service is perfect for a performance based contact as there are no development activities or unique specifications to comply with.

 Using the criteria presented in Chapter 13 of the textbook for writing effective proposals, rewrite at least one section of a proposal that you identified through the e-Activity and explain why you made those changes.

I would make a change to clarify the slight ambiguity as to whether or not supervisory personnel needed to be on-site during the cleaning process or at least available at any time by phone, text, email, etc. Because the daily activity of cleaning offices is usually done late in the day when most of the office workers have gone home for the day, there is probably no need for constant on-site supervision. However, for inspection purposes, I

would adjust the solicitation\proposal to identify the minimum number of inspections per week by the PM/Supervisor for conducting regular on-site visits to ensure the quality of the service remains high.

For example, I would rewrite paragraph H.2 of RFP # AG-3604-S-17-0001 to include the information quoted in italics and underlined below:

H.2 AGAR 452.237-74 KEY PERSONNEL (FEB 1988)

The Contractor shall assign to this contract the following key personnel: - Project Manager/Supervisor

- Janitor(s)/Custodial Worker(s)

During the first ninety (90) days of performance, the Contractor shall make no substitutions of key personnel unless the substitution is necessitated by illness, death, or termination of employment. The Contractor shall notify the Contracting Officer within 15 calendar days after the occurrence of any of these events and provide the information required by paragraph (c) below. After the initial 90-day period, the Contractor shall submit the information required by paragraph (c) to the Contracting Officer at least 15 days prior to making any permanent substitutions. “The contractor shall provide at minimum weekly on-site inspections by the Program

Manager/Supervisor to ensure quality of service is maintained in accordance with the RFP/solicitation. The PM/Supervisor shall respond within 24 hours to any issues or problems in person or by phone, text and\or email with full resolution within 48 of the issue or problem being identified.”

I don’t believe that the PM/Supervisor needs to be located with the cleaning crew at all times or be limited to one facility as that would be impractical knowing that the contractor is performing similar janitorial services for other customers under different contracts. Doing so would only impede the effectiveness of this indirect labor position in such a way that it could adversely affect their performance. The remainder of the

RFP/Solicitation is pretty clear with respect to describing simple janitorial services, functions, frequencies, etc.

Option years have also been included and can be exercised by the customer as needed.

References:

FedBizOpps, (2016). Federal Business Opportunity. RFP/Solicitation #AG-3604-S-17-0001, dated 10\22\16. Retrieved from: https://www.fbo.gov/index?s=opportunity&mode=list&tab=list

Osborne, Steve R., (2011) “Winning Government Business: Gaining The Competitive Advantage With Effective Proposals”, 2nd Edition (2011), pp. 242 - 256.