It's Never Final

I don't think I've ever seen a comic that better defines what my job looks like as I approach production time for a proposal. Even if I call each person individually to verify that they have no changes on the draft, as soon as I send the final out, I start getting emails, "Oh, hey, I know it's due in two hours, but maybe we can schedule a call in half an hour to discuss adding one paragraph to Section 5 that is essentially a duplicate to what you put in Section 2, and I want you to change the spacing in the middle of the graphic that I sent you that you don't have an original for and that was made by my former colleague's second cousins brother's uncle."

PhD Comics: notFinal.doc

Proposal Page Limitations

http://www.bindertek.com/custom-tabs-and-templates.html

I used to hate when RFPs provided page limitations, font sizes, and margin restrictions. Subject matter experts often want to add more information, and with page limitations, we always have to leave something out.
As a proposal writer, organizer, manager, coordinator, and all around "person in charge of proposals," my job is to rein them in. I keep track of not just how many pages are written, but I make sure we have answered all questions completely, written towards the evaluation standards, and the final product fits the restrictions. So page limits drove me crazy.
Then it happened. One day, I began to wish for page limitations! There were no limitations on pages in the proposal, the RFP (Request for Proposal) required massive amounts of information, and they wanted ten copies of the document delivered. There I was searching out binders that would hold 1,000 pages each to fit the technical proposal, and I also had to include the cost proposals as separate documents. The subject matter experts went wild. I couldn't rein them in, and they wanted to provide more information. Heck, they had to provide more information because the questions were so in-depth that each section required dozens, sometimes even hundreds, of pages.

http://www.empireimports.com/filebox.html

Delivering the sealed package required a hand truck and two large boxes; each box reached my upper thigh (I'm 5'2"). We were the first organization to get our proposal in, and the reception desk was shocked. The receptionist rolled their eyes like we were crazy but signed us in. As they were handing over our receipt, the next organization showed up with their delivery. It was as large as ours. These questions could not have been written with small page requirements, so we had to go all out. The next organization came rolling in on the heels of the next one. That organization only had one box. Nobody in the Purchasing Department had realized what they'd done by asking such in-depth questions.
Now I look forward to those required page limitations. It might be extremely difficult to stay within the requirements, but it's a challenge. I am forced into brevity. I have to remove extraneous text! I comb my work pulling out every unnecessary word. "In order to provide..." is ridiculous! "To provide..." takes up less space, removes unnecessary speech, and provides a more succinct document. "We believe we are the very best company for the job," is ludicrous. If we didn't think we were the best company for the job, why would we put in the hard work to submit a bid? Also, if we are the best, adding a descriptor to the adjective (very best) doesn't do us justice. Remove the extra text and instead write, "We are the best company for the job because..." that will add words to the text while providing real information!
College did not adequately prepare me for business writing. We were told that we had to write a specific number of pages, and when I put together papers, I would work hard to respond to write the best possible paper. Finishing a well written 97-page paper and having to add in three pages of text was heartbreaking. I'd add filler, stick in a few more quotes, and I'd be miserable because I put so much work into creating an excellent document only to be told I needed to reach the page requirement. I would have been better prepared for the working world if I'd been told to fully respond to the assignment with no more than 100 pages. Besides, if I'd written 150 pages for my "at least 100 pages" assignment, the teacher would have had to slog through 50 more pages to grade me!
When I have a 100 page requirement for an RFP, the government enjoys receiving only 97 pages. They want information, they want it presented in an easy to read format, and they want to have to read as little as possible. Per an air force CO, proposal reviewers spend approximately 45 seconds on each page. At that rate cutting out three pages will only save them 1.5 minutes, but it will also give them a document that was able to clearly express everything needed without any extra filler or fluff. Without playing with font sizes or margins.
The important thing to remember is that you have to respond completely and fully to each question, and it's a challenge. That's why companies hire me. I am up to that challenge!

PS: I really wanted to include a photo of a submission that my last company subbed for. The federal government required 21 copies, there were multiple binders, and it took a full pick-up truck to hold the entire shipment that had to go from TX to DC!

Simplifying Proposal Text

The above comic is from Grammarly. I planned to post this as a Board Worthy comic, but I'm editing a proposal document and want to discuss how this article works within my proposal writing world.

Binder Clips for the Win!

Zachary Abel's Office Supply Art

I have been a proposal writer for almost a decade. The majority of my experience was in engineering and construction, and it required that I bind my proposals. Binding type varied based on the agency and the Request for Proposal (RFP) instructions, but it fluctuated between wire binding, comb binding, and 3-ring binders.

Now that I'm in human services I see RFPs requesting binder clips or including notes that expensive binding is not required. When they don't specify the type of binding, I simply ask.

This seems like a straight forward way of getting an answer, right?  Not so much. Here's how the Q&A went: 

Question:  "Page XX notes that 'expensive binding should not be used.' Can we use three-ring binders since the requested document will be 300 pages long?"

Response:  "Emphasis should be placed on conformance to the instructions. How to bind the proposal is at the proposer's discretion."

YKINMK

Gee, thanks. I still don't know if I can use a 3-ring binder because I don't know what you consider to be expensive binding! The document's required length is 300 pages, and we need to submit double and single sided versions, which makes the pages 150 and 300 pages respectively.  Forty five minutes of inefficient googling finally paid off, and I now know the following:

BINDER CLIP CAPACITY

Binder Clip Size	Page Capacity
Large 2" (1" capacity)	250
Med 1 1/4" (5/8" capacity)	80
Sm 3/4" (3/8" capacity)	???? (Can't find!)
Mini 9/16" (1/4" capacity)	40

I already had a link for binder capacity, but hey, I'm feeling friendly, so here you go!

3-RING BINDER CAPACITY

Ring Size (Diameter for O-Rings)	Page Capacity
½-inch	75
1-inch	175
1.5-inches	250
2-inches	350
3-inches	570
4-inches	800

Great! This means that I can use a binder clip on all double-sided copies of the proposal! However, I'm still unsure if I can use a 3-ring binder on the one single-sided copy of the document since that will not fit in a binder clip.