“There are fates worse than death” and then there are estimate reviews.
I work with a diverse range of clients, ranging from small to medium enterprises through to Tier 1 contractors and government organisations, but just like everyone, I didn’t start with all this experience.
I reminisce on an estimate review that I was working on for a new client a while ago. I was well prepared for the review, I mean if an Estimator isn’t organised, then… I digress. On the day of the review, I was approached by the clients Operations Manager who pulled me aside half an hour before the meeting and said, “You better be prepared to defend your estimate in this meeting mate”.
This threw my mind back into Mortal Kombat mode (which I played often when I was younger), well “let’s dance” I thought! However confident I was in my estimate, I was unsure of the combos I could use in my defence.
I have since had my fair share of estimate reviews, some less than 30 seconds in duration, some lasting more than five days. What I believe contributes to the most successful reviews (and yes, there has been plenty of those) is the following:
The Review Team understands the purpose of the meeting and what they need to achieve e.g., bring the team up to speed and agree on an outcome or a number of outcomes. A good meeting agenda works a treat for this.
Trust is a must. The Review Team are familiar with each other and understand what each person brings to the review, professionally. A trusting, professional environment typically leads to thorough tender reviews. Keeping your Review Team involved throughout the tender process will also foster this trust.
The right professionals are involved in the Tender Review with at least one decision maker present.
The meeting is chaired/led by one person. This doesn’t relate to just estimate reviews but generally all meetings. If a meeting is not led, then people can get off topic or off track. When an Estimate Review is led by one person, then the meeting stays on track and ensures that the content is relevant to the tender.
Allocated responsibilities. These responsibilities are specific to a person, not a group. Allocating responsibilities to specific people creates accountability which is incredibly important in a tendering environment.
Disagreement management. If an issue is technical in nature and members of the Review Team have not come to an agreement within an allotment of time e.g., five minutes, then the disagreement is taken offline and managed outside of the estimate review.
Flexibility in solution and/or approach. If an issue is non-technical in nature, then the Review Team is flexible in how they propose their solutions – within the tender format/requirements of course.
Lessons learnt. Reflecting and recording lessons learnt is a great way to progress in all aspects of tendering and is an especially great tool for the Review Team to improve in their review process. Something as simple as a brief discussion at the close of the meeting that covers whether the meeting was effective and if the agenda items were relevant or missing something will suffice.
In summary, an estimate review is an important step to any tender process and is a key factor in putting together tenders that turn into more than just a stack of paper bound in a folder!
If you apply at least four of the above strategies to your estimate reviews, then you will have, as I often achieved in Mortal Kombat, a “Flawless Victory”.
Written by Principal Civil Engineer, Jared Candler