Tender like an athlete

Tania Field, Principal Tender Specialist (Sydney)

I am reflecting on an article I read in the Australian Financial Review on 26 June, “Virgin’s comeback is a lesson on managing executive energy”. This has got me thinking about the relevance of this article to submission management.  It talks to the sustained practice of leading change and managing energy.  It also points out how key senior personnel need to lead through these transitions, in an upbeat way, and with the same respect to their body as an athlete would. I am going to riff off this a little, as I see the parallels of this and how we can lead during major and complex bids.

Manage hours and apply effort at the right time

Interestingly I make a new commitment each time I embark on a major bid – informed by what I’ve learnt from the last one – about how I wish to perform and manage myself during the six week/six month program. 

Key to this is managing my working hours.  My approach is to apply ‘extra’ effort at stages of the bid that I believe will yield outcomes that help me to manage the energy of the team in a more consistent way, across the full bid.

For example, I give more time during the strategy and planning phase to set the framework for how I want things to play out. I try to get in front of all maverick behaviour that will have an impact on process and therefore an impact on me and my team, before it can well and truly set in. It’s difficult to steer a car with lots of quirky aspects. I should know, because I had a car for over 20 years that had a five cent piece affixed by blue tack in the gap where the stereo should comfortably sit that prevented it from falling out when the car hit a speed bump. I had to manage for it, and it became a thing. It’s also a funny and true story.

I also plan programs based on working days – not weekends – to give a realistic view of available time for a project.  Gate milestones are aligned to this program and at no point do I budge on these because moving goal posts in these environments can have a negative impact on people and start to diminish trust in the process.

If there’s potential for out of hours work then I try and give ample notice of this to ascertain the team’s availability so we can support the bid with quality outputs in good time.  We then discover what we can/can’t commit to over this period (similar to communicating planned leaves of absence) which ensures there’s a plan in place to manage for heavier workloads.    

Right mix of nutritional food, exercise, and sleep

On the topic of food - I’ve been dabbling in different menu plans for some time and have found one that works for me – but I’m not being paid for the free advertising so just ‘DM’ me if you want the details.  This is a pretty well balanced program of food, i.e., the right mix of carbs, protein, fats, which is important for sustaining energy and feeling well. 

As is my practice, I shop at the good greengrocer on a Saturday and then batch cook on a Sunday – and I try really hard to stick with this even though it can be a bit of a yawn sometimes.  I have also read enough of people’s hopeless stories of not being able to stick to the plan perfectly.  My view is that if I can achieve 70/30 of eating well versus eating ‘not so well’ than that’s good enough.

What I do try to avoid are the chocolates, cakes, lollies and gorgeous food offerings of colleagues in the bid team because they generally don’t make me feel very good. Sometimes I give in because I’m human. However, my philosophy is that if I care about the fuel I put in my car and its performance, than I should care about the fuel for my body too. Same same.

On the topic of exercise – I have a 6am class on four out of seven days and although I begrudge the alarm going off at 5.30am, I know that I am all the better for it.  My approach to work is more measured and I feel calmer as a result of moving my body.  So I swing my leg over the side of the bed and go.

On the topic of sleep – I know what my minimum is and I stick to it at busy times.  I’m steering clear of too much advice on this topic because it is so varied – the pendulum swings from 5 to 8 hours but having a minimum even the night before a bid is really crucial.  Judgement is drastically impaired and the work takes much longer to achieve when we have a lack of sleep.

Prioritise time out with family and/or friends

When I was studying my post graduate in Commerce I locked in a few events before the semester started to ensure that I would see my friends and could prioritise some fun.  It’s easy for me to prioritise a Sunday dinner with my family but it was really important to me that my friends didn’t feel like I’d ditched them because I was busy. 

Similar to this, I try and keep up appearances at social events during major bids because it is vital for stress relief and mental health.  I have missed a couple of things in my time, but I made the call to prioritise sleep and relaxation during a major bid, based on how the compounding effect of ‘being on’ would start to impact on my ability to sustain my energy and my commitments over the long term. I have been ok with these decisions - such is the way of an athlete.

Know when the job is finished – and enough is enough

I went to art school during 2003-2004 which sounds kind of cool and cruisy - it was nothing like that.  I still have PTSD from painting the ‘grey scale’ and ‘colour wheel’ and the exact precision required to get VETAB accredited.   

Every week we would share our work and critique it with classmates. One thing I observed form this process is knowing when to stop ‘working the artwork’.  It is evident that no one really knows that answer as to when something is ideally finished.  Deadlines are useful because you are literally out of time.  We just have to use our judgement on when it is good enough and satisfies the brief in a clear and compelling way.

This was a helpful article to read and even more helpful to put these ideas on a page because as we take on leadership roles in bidding, we should be thinking about how we manage our energy and capacity – and ultimately manage the team’s energy and capacity during peak times.  These are jobs for life, not jobs for six weeks or six months.