Create a Winning Federal Government Proposal Management Plan in 1 Day

Most federal government RFPs request a Management Plan and detail the topics to be evaluated, but some RFPs give little to no details on what should be included in a Management Plan. It may seem like a huge task to write a Management Plan, especially when are starting with a blank Word document. You can draft a winning Management Plan in 1 day if you start with a compliant proposal outline and compliance matrix, then fill in the details with research data, and tell your story with good graphics. This is one of the essential skills every Proposal Manager should master.

Compliance

Begin your Management Plan with a compliant proposal outline and compliance matrix. You can annotate the outline with Sections L, M, C, and other applicable sections or use the compliance matrix that has each of these sections appropriately mapped.

Some proposal software tools do this for you, so that you do not have to create an annotated Word outline. Be sure to include any management-related requirements from the CDRLs and contract clauses, as there may be hidden requirements that you need to fold into a management or technical outline. Complete this step before making writing assignments.

Fill in the Details

If you are a prime contractor, you already have processes for managing contract work and personnel. These may or may not be documented, but with a little research you can draft a winning Management Plan. A highly rated Management Plan from a previous proposal can provide a good foundation for a new plan. Gather previous contract award letters or debriefing documents that detail strengths and weaknesses from your company or competitors, and review previously submitted ideas to that government organization.

Write each section separately, pulling from your research documents, and customize each section for the current solicitation.

ProTip: Save each section in a content management library so that it is easily available for future Management Plans.

Use Graphics to Tell your Story

The Management Plan is an excellent place to use graphics. In the Management Plan Outline below, there are suggestions for proposal graphics that will make it easy to evaluate and score by government evaluators. These graphics can be reused for many proposals, and if created in PowerPoint, can be easily edited by most writers and proposal managers. The completed graphics should also be included in your content management library. Note: Follow RFP guidance on font size and type, which may be different for various agencies and solicitations. A good graphic can take the place of an entire page of text, so for page-limited submissions, graphics can tell your story more quickly and in less space. Be sure to write appropriate narrative information that introduces your graphic and cross-reference with Microsoft Word captioning.

Create a Draft

Drop in draft data and highlight sections that need validation, such as number of active contracts, current retention rate, and other data that changes regularly. If you pull a graphic from your proposal library and need to write introductory text with specific keywords – add a note or bulleted list of items to include. If you are using Microsoft 365, you can use @Mention to tag others on your team with tasks. For example, “@Name, pull current retention rate data and insert here.” They automatically are notified of the tasks, and can collaborate in the same file.

ProTip: Remember pulling information from previous sources is a STARTING POINT, not finished narrative. If you pull a recruiting graphic that breaks down the process into “recruit, vet, hire, and prepare”, check your RFP for exact verbiage. It may state, “provide recruitment process to identify, validate, on-board, and train personnel.” Then change the graphic to match RFP words. Recruit and Identify are interchangeable, as are vet/validate; hire/on-board; and prepare/train. You may have to move a few steps from one process to another, but this is a quick process with graphics that were previously were reviewed.

Management Plan Outline

Always, follow the RFP and compliant outline to create the Management Plan for your proposal. What if the RFP simply states ‘provide a management plan’ with few or no further details? Below is an outline of a management plan that can be quickly drafted and customized for nearly any solicitation. Build upon the reference material you have on the customer, competitors, and your own company, then customize each section for your solicitation. Depending on the length allotted for the Management Plan, you can use as many of these sections as are relevant to your solicitation and the customer.

What if the RFP doesn’t request information that you feel is important to include? Include a reasonable amount of information. Do not put a 10-page safety section in a management plan that does not request it. But 2 sentences on how you follow a company safety plan and integrate customer plans with your own will be fine.

Introduction

• Team – Introduction and a strategic team overview graphic
• Team Benefits Checklist and Summary

Organization of Team

• Organizational Chart – Graphic showing positions, names, and relationship to customer
• Lines of Authority and Responsibility – Graphic with directional arrows and illustrating operational authority, reporting, reach-back, specialized support, direction, and other functions.
• Lines of Communication
• Key Personnel, including resumes if required or allowed. Resumes may also go in an appendix.

Staffing Plan

• Recruiting and Retention – Graphic Flowchart
  • Initial Recruitment of Incumbent Workforce
  • Retention Policies
• Compensation Policies – Possible table or graphic
• Service Contract Act (SCA) and Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA)
• Staffing during Normal Operations – Possible graphics include shift schedules, staffing per PWS element and labor category, or proposed FTE calculation (based on PWS, Task, Time to complete tasks, and average number of tasks per month).
• Surge Operations

Contingency Planning, Disaster Recovery

Training

• Table with required training, frequency

Cross Utilization and Cross-Training

Quality Plan

• Continuous Improvement and Quality Graphic

Risk Management

• Overview of Risk Management Plan
• Risk Management Graphic with 5x5 risk chart
• Risk Table of Management Risks

Safety

• Adherence to Agency, location safety plans
• Adherence to company safety plan
• Safety Organization and reporting

Security

• FSO and Facility Clearance Information
• Badging
• Background Checks and Security Clearances
• Visit Requests

Transition

• Transition Team – Transition Organizational Chart
• Transition Schedule
• Transition Tasks or Checklist – Table with tasks, this may be multiple pages

OCI

Contractual

• Timekeeping
• Accounting – Accounting Graphic showing relationship of Timekeeping, billing, hours, etc.
• CDRLs and Reporting – CDRL table with frequency or due date, document name and number, submitted to, and submitted by

Appendices (if needed)

• CBA documents
• Resumes

Download our Proposal Management Toolkit, which includes templates a team overview graphic, technical approach, risk management, management plan, win themes development, and past performance examples. It will help you easily develop a draft Management Plan that can be customized in your winning bid and provide a foundation for future proposals so you can Win More Business!