Summary
Agencies and organizations spend an enormous amount of time putting together RFP documents that can scare away agencies, especially small ones. If we want to increase talent for civic projects, we need to commit to crafting more inclusive and effective RFPs and procurement processes. Bellweather Chief Strategy Officer Emily Lessard will share lessons learned from working both within and outside government agencies. Her knowledge spans responding to 143 RFPs and reading countless others. She will share ten lessons for writing more engaging and equitable RFPs, along with a link to download a sample file to get you started.
Key Insights
-
•
Establishing a face-to-face partnership with procurement officers early improves RFP processes and trust.
-
•
Imposing strict page limits on RFPs (max 15 pages) and proposals (max 30 pages) enhances equity and reduces operational burden.
-
•
A clear, scannable first page of the RFP with all key information eases submission and reduces last-minute errors.
-
•
Eliminating requirements for printed, bound copies and USB submissions significantly reduces costs and waste.
-
•
Spec work should be banned in RFPs as it demands unpaid labor and discourages small and mid-sized agencies.
-
•
Using WMBE certification databases helps agencies increase diversity in their vendor pools effectively.
-
•
Procurement portals are often difficult to navigate, so agencies should actively market their RFPs beyond these platforms.
-
•
Long-term contracts and options to renew help avoid delays by reducing frequent procurement cycles.
-
•
Insurance and outdated certifications in RFPs can deter small agencies and should be reconsidered or deferred to contracting stages.
-
•
Proposing fresh, divergent solutions within an RFP can be challenging but is critical for evolving government procurement practices.
Notable Quotes
"Everything you see on screen started with an RFP if you can believe it."
"Page limits will help equity and focus and level the playing field for small and large firms."
"Put the submission deadline big, bold, and bright yellow on the first page so it’s easy to find."
"No printing or shipping. Digital is just fine and much more sustainable."
"No spec work. It’s simply disrespectful to ask small businesses to do unpaid homework."
"Procurement portals can be hard to navigate; act like you’re bidding and go through the user experience yourself."
"WMBE is a certification that requires paperwork but helps bring more diversity to contracting."
"Have patience with changing procurement systems; it’s going to be slower than you want but it’s important work."
"Long-term contracts and retainer arrangements save time by avoiding constant rebidding."
"Ask your procurement officer if some requirements, like insurance, can be moved to contracting to avoid scaring away small firms."
Or choose a question:
More Videos
"No assistive technology user uses default settings; we spend years customizing everything to work for us."
Sam ProulxSUS: A System Unusable for Twenty Percent of the Population
December 9, 2021
"It's kind of Peace Corps for nerds – people come in for a tour and try to have impact at scale."
Michael LandEstablishing Design Operations in Government
February 18, 2021
"We moved from Evernote to spreadsheets, to a giant affinity board in Mirror, then to UserVoice, and finally to idiomatic software with AI."
Shipra KayanHow we Built a VoC (Voice of the Customer) Practice at Upwork from the Ground Up
September 30, 2021
"It’s huge to have a framework so managers and employees speak the same language around skills and growth."
Ian SwinsonDesigning and Driving UX Careers
June 8, 2016
"The persona of a goalkeeper is helping to triage and prioritize strategy and work for the executive."
Isaac HeyveldExpand DesignOps Leadership as a Chief of Staff
September 8, 2022
"Would you feel confident leaving your project success to the flip of a coin based on the fact that almost half of all change fails?"
Amy EvansHow to Create Change
September 25, 2024
"Super speed means enabling rapid onboarding by centralizing and streamlining a previously disparate process."
Kate Koch Prateek KalliFlex Your Super Powers: When a Design Ops Team Scales to Power CX
September 30, 2021
"The enterprise feels like a big elephant; different people touch different parts and argue what it really is."
Dave GrayLiminal Thinking: Sense-making for systems in large organizations
May 14, 2015
"You have to push against 200,000 years of human evolution to get researchers to create reusable knowledge."
Matt DuignanAtomizing Research: Trend or Trap
March 30, 2020
