RFP’s Greatest Hits:
Ever heard of a pink team review? How about the gold team? Are you curious about the color team reviews and how to use them for successful proposal development? This blog pushes past confusing color names and breaks down the reviews in simple terms.
What Are Color Team Reviews?
Color team reviews are a series of structured evaluations conducted during the proposal development process. These reviews involve different stakeholders or teams, each designated by a specific color to denote their purpose and focus within the review cycle.
Not Just Pretty in Pink (Team)
Blue Team Review focuses on proposal strategy and compliance. The reviewers should analyze whether the early drafts match proposal requirements while assessing the messaging for clarity, client focus, and persuasiveness.
Pink Team Review is an early review focusing on the proposal content in terms of strategy, strengths, and weaknesses. It’s a checkpoint to ensure the proposal maintains compelling storytelling throughout and still aligns with the requirements outlined in the RFx.
Red Team Review is a more critical evaluation involving experts who act as evaluators based on the RFx scoring guidelines. The evaluators rigorously analyze the proposal’s strengths and weaknesses to refine and assess how well the bid meets the requirements and stands up to the competition.
Green Team Review is an evaluation-based analysis of the proposal pricing. The review should evaluate whether the proposed pricing accurately reflects the bid’s requirements juxtaposed with industry knowledge of competitive pricing.
Gold Team Review happens when the proposal is in its final stages. This review assesses whether the proposal effectively addresses the needs outlined in the RFx and involves decision-makers and stakeholders who evaluate requirements.
Why Do I Need So Many Reviews?
Color Team reviews help ensure the proposal process is systematic, comprehensive, client-focused, and aligned with the RFx requirements. Each review stage serves a specific purpose, allowing for regular, decisive improvements and a higher likelihood of success when submitting proposals.
How Can I Promote Effective Reviews?
Any reviews, whether they’re color-coded or not, require careful planning, coordination, and guidelines to generate results. To plan for effective reviews, consider the following:
- Define the purpose and goals for each team review. Communicate these objectives to all participants before the review so that everyone understands what to prioritize at each step.
- Be selective with your reviewers. Choose reviewers who bring diverse expertise and perspectives relative to the review stage. Including reviewers with the knowledge and experience to provide helpful feedback is also critical.
- Offer clear guidance on goals and expectations for each review. Provide templates and evaluation criteria for reviewers. This helps standardize the review process and conduct consistent evaluations.
- Allocate sufficient time between review stages. Schedule reviews with feedback and potential revisions in mind, allowing plenty of time for edits before the following review.
- Encourage honest communication. Reviewers should feel comfortable providing criticism and suggestions. Aim for a discussion-based approach focused on improving the proposal as a team.
- Implement iterative improvement. Use each review to narrow your focus and improve the proposal step by step instead of attempting it all at once. Address identified weaknesses in each review and refine from there to enhance the proposal’s quality.
- Follow-up and Debrief. After the final review, conduct a debrief session to discuss the review process itself. This might include lessons learned, practical strategies, and areas for improvement.
Color team reviews provide a strategic approach to proposal development. A systematized approach promotes thoughtfulness, collaboration, and high-quality improvement, increasing the chance of a successful bid.
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Title inspired by: Pretty in Pink – The Psychedelic Furs (1981)
Photo by Jason Leung on Unsplash