Blog 8 - A top work winning tip blog - Beware of Optimism Bias
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The blog this week is from Jeremy:
Beware of Optimism Bias
Hello all.
A top work winning tip blog - Beware of Optimism Bias.
In the end game of the competitive bidding phase, it is crucial to acknowledge that biases are inherent in human behaviour. Our biases influence our decision making, particularly optimism bias. Humans tend to underestimate the effort required for tasks like writing bids or bid qualifications and overestimate their chances of winning.
Optimism bias can manifest itself twice in bidding with unfortunate consequences.
Firstly, during bid qualification - be honest with yourself about your chances of winning the deal, considering your business’s strengths and weaknesses compared to your competitors. Recognise that you cannot win every deal. Be realistic about your chances in this specific deal, considering the competitive field and the nature of the work.
Secondly, during the writing phase - plan your activities carefully and conservatively. Frequently, we underestimate the time and capacity required to complete a task. This can result in individuals being overwhelmed and unable to deliver the required quality of work on time to win, or sometimes even submit a compliant bid. Consequently, they may resort to copying and pasting rather than providing a comprehensive compelling response, ultimately leading to a loss.
So, develop a roadmap to meet deadlines and allocate resources effectively. Understand the realistic timeframes for delivering outputs. Avoid overwhelming individuals with large tasks. Perhaps use methodologies like work breakdown structures to break tasks down, distribute responsibilities and ensure timely completion. Fully understand the subcomponents of each task in the bid and the durations required to deliver, and the capacity necessary to deliver them.
It is crucial to avoid bidding on deals that are beyond us. This can be achieved by maintaining a realistic assessment of our chances and allocating sufficient time and resources to complete the task effectively. It is essential to be cautious and avoid optimism bias.
Other Free Resources
We’re on a mission to help companies like yours win more work.
Here are some other free resources that should help you too. Feel also free to share them with friends and colleagues:
Free 30 ways in 30 days - You will receive one email per day for 30 days containing top tips, insights and pointers on how to win more tenders and help your business grow. sign up here.
Free Bid Writing Basics Training Video - Our free exclusive bid writing basics training video will help you understand how to deliver your desired business growth and beat your business plan by winning more tenders. Watch the video here.
Bid Writing Masterclass - Our next full Bid Writing Masterclass Training online interactive webinar series kicks off on the 25th of April. Info and tickets found here.
Our free work winning Podcast, the Red Review, can be found here.
You can also follow Jeremy on LinkedIn for hints, tips and insights here.
100% Typo Guarantee—Our blog posts are free-range. It was hand-crafted with love and sent out unfiltered. There was no review queue, no editorial process, no post-post revisions. Therefore, I can pretty much guarantee that there is some sort of typo or grammatical error or literary snafu. Got a business to run and a three year old to Dad. Sorry.