Collaborative skills development
Every interaction counts
With over 30 years’ experience of work winning, we understand the key role strong collaborative relationships play in successfully bidding for, securing and delivering contracts. We work closely with our clients’ bid teams during the tender process, and with delivery teams post contract award, to help them enhance their capabilities in effective collaboration.
Over the past decade, collaboration has become a core procurement criterion, with commissioning clients increasingly prioritising tenderers that exhibit a strong commitment to collaboration and associated behaviours. It is essential to demonstrate a collaborative approach at every stage of the process, from early engagement with them to the way tender queries are submitted, within tender responses and while participating in competitive dialogue and/or delivering presentations. Every interaction counts in helping to develop a collaborative relationship.
How can we help?
We bring independent observation, experience, knowledge and supporting skills to help our client bid and delivery teams to work collaboratively and improve their interactions with the commissioning client during the tendering process, and post contract award.
Team selection and interview preparation
To enable the commissioning client to experience the interface with a tenderer’s bid/delivery team, their procurement process can include:
- observed and assessed interviews with members of the senior leadership team
- competitive dialogue workshops to explore and enhance the operational solution
- observed and assessed collaborative working workshops
- observational site visits.
To support our clients in preparing for these activities, we facilitate a range of one-to-one and team sessions to increase self-awareness, offering advice and guidance on how to improve their ability to engage collaboratively with the commissioning client.
Presentation support and coaching
We provide hands-on support to bid/delivery teams preparing to interact or engage in dialogue with and present to commissioning clients. This includes:
- audience awareness – who are the key individuals and what are their drivers
- competitor analysis – how to ghost the competition and differentiate your solution
- presentation structure, content and style – supporting the development of slides and additional materials to convey key messages and win themes in an effective way
- mock presentations – providing individual/group feedback and guidance to improve the way the collaborative messages will be received by the commissioning client.
Collaborative assessment workshops
In preparation for collaborative working assessments, we organise bespoke practice workshops to improve the proposed bid/delivery team’s ability to respond to interactions with the commissioning client through exercises, challenges and questions. This includes the use of
- personality trait profiling
- group and one-to-one feedback sessions
- advice and guidance
- and lessons learned from similar previous events we have knowledge and experience of.