What to Do With a Tender Award and Starting Funds
For any contractor or business, winning a tender brings great joy, as it is confirmation of working out a competitive proposal, and that the client is convinced of your ability to deliver the winning tender. Your reward is the start of the tender. The next step involves mobilization, planning, and execution of the tender. To start on a good footing, even if you have funds to execute the tender, you need to structure your actions to achieve efficiency, discipline, and strategic success. You may have the funds to execute the project, but without a structured approach, you will not achieve success.
What to do next is discussed below.
The First Step Is Awarding Notification and Analyzing The Contract
This is to avoid getting into a project and not understanding all the requirements, obligations, timelines, and penalties, as it may cost you a lot of time and money.
Timelines and milestones for your project – Determine how other obligations (e.g., Regular Progress Reports) and potential inspection dates may also affect how you manage project schedules.
Front-End Payments – Analyze what your upfront payment (if applicable) will be, and then assess the timeline for additional payments and also which forms of documentation may be necessary when requesting additional payments thereafter.
Performance Bond. The possibility for a performance bond or insurance to cover performance guarantees will vary by client commission.
Liquidated damages. If there is a failure to meet any deadlines outlined in the contract, then you should seek the assistance of legal counsel or a contract expert prior to entering into any contract agreement.
Set up a Kick-off Meeting with the Client’s Representative
It is important that you hold a meeting with not only the client’s representative (the technical officer) and project manager, but also that you have a clear understanding of the Scope of Work for the project.
The goals of this meeting should consist of the following:
The project specifications and the gaps in them should be clear and there should be no uncertainty about the reporting frequency or timeframes of reporting.
In addition, facilitators for communication between all participants should be developed, along with an agreed upon set of procedures to hold each participant accountable and responsible, thereby ensuring that each participant is aware of who is accountable and responsible for completing their own tasks on the specified schedule.
To achieve this, each participant must understand and agree to the project schedule, and therefore, will be committed to the timely completion of critical project milestones.
There is to be no conflict or confusion between participants as they are all working in collaboration and have the same objective in mind, and therefore will have a clear understanding of the process for completing that objective.
Mobilize Resources Strategically
Now that there is cash availability to commence the project, the next step is to mobilize the resources, which should be done in an orderly, sequenced manner.
a) Human Resources
Recruit or assign optimal team members depending on the needs of the project.
Site managers
Skilled laborers
Engineers or technicians
Safety officers
Administrative support
Ensure all staff understand their key responsibilities; and what are the project timelines, as well as who they report to.
b) Equipment and Machines
You need to look at the detail of the job, and determine whether or not your company needs to purchase or rent the appropriate equipment/machinery to complete the project. Generally speaking, renting the machinery/equipment makes more sense if the job is less than 6 months long. For longer-term jobs where there will be continuing, recurring work, buying the equipment will likely be more economical.
Materials Procurement
The purchase of materials is based on lead time for delivery, the storage capability of the contractor, cash flow planning, and the customer’s quality requirements. The bulk purchase of materials is generally less expensive than the purchase of several small orders of the same materials. However, if you purchase too many and can’t store them without them being damaged, stolen, or without proper storage space, you will have wasted your money.
Detailed Project Plan Development
A comprehensive documentation of your project’s operational elements will be provided by a written Project Implementation Plan (PIP). The PIP will contain a complete list of tasks arranged in a Work Breakdown Structure (WBS), a Gantt Chart depicting the estimated timetable for the completion of the project, a full cost budget, and policies and procedures for quality control, health and safety and risk management. Also, it will provide a list of all purchases to be made, including materials, supplies, services and equipment, as well as a communication plan to inform stakeholders of the project’s status.
The PIP is designed to provide project team members with the same set of reference points to enable them to work together effectively, and to optimize their ability to track the progress of the project and control its overall flow.
Additionally, depending on the specific scope of work of your project, you may also be required to apply for specific permits, licenses and compliance documents for that type of work.
For instance, if your project requires you to conduct Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs), then you will need to follow the EIA Regulations to be in compliance with the law.
Compliance with OHS Regulations
NEMA or equivalent Certification
Tax Compliance Certificate
Registration with relevant licensing Authorities
Without obtaining necessary approvals, you may experience delays to your project, incur penalties or lose your contract.
Establish Financial Management Compliance
Having access to funding for your project does not entitle you to manage your funding without proper budgeting.
a) Build/Develop the Project Budget
The project budget should account for multiple cost categories associated with the project including cost of labour, materials, equipment, transportation, overhead costs and contingency costs.
b) Create a dedicated project account
This has the benefit of ensuring that your expenditures are easy to track, and accountability can easily be maintained.
c) Structure your cash flow
There has to be a balance between your project expenditure and the cash inflow that you expect from the client to avoid reaching a point where you can no longer afford to continue.
d) It is recommended that you keep a record of everything.
Organise everything in a systematic way. All documentation pertaining to a completed transaction must include receipts, invoices, delivery documentation and confirmation of payment made pursuant to the transaction.
Continuously inform Clients.
You should continue to provide clients with information regarding the status of their work, any problems or issues you may encounter, as well as your success or positive results, as quickly and as often as possible. Communication goes a long way in fostering trust, and Rapid identification and resolution of issues changes for the better.
Establish a communication cadence where you have:
Weekly updates
Monthly meetings
Quick replies to questions
Providing photographs, videos, or reports for confirmation.
Good communication can make the customer more likely to give you more contracts.
Quality Assurance
The quality of work is just as important as on-time. Low-quality work creates problems and can lead to the following: more work, higher costs, fines, contract termination.
There must be quality control:
A quality control supervisor
Regular inspections
Follow the client’s demands.
Use approved products.
It is necessary to maintain all records of test results and approved jobs.
A strong reputation for producing high-quality work improves your likelihood of getting more successful bids submitted.
You Should Actively Manage Project Risks
No project is complete without having a degree of inherent risk or challenge(s), such as but not limited to:
1. Unexpected delays are usually caused by anything related to the weather, shipping problems, labour disputes etc.
2. Tools/equipment for your project or materials required for your project may be stolen.
3) Equipment failure during the project.
The risk management plan should include:
Identifying the risk
Weighing the chance and the effect
Preventative measures
Backup plans
Insurance (if required).
Being proactive as often as possible puts you in position to mitigate the majority of the problems and losses.
Develop and Maintain Employee Accountability and Motivation
When it comes to your success, the most important aspect will be your employees. Therefore, provide them with:
The right equipment
Protective equipment
Instructions
Training as needed.
When a worker feels a sense of motivation, they reach their fullest potential with less chance of a workplace accident and provide higher productivity levels for each worker.
Schedule Internal Assessments
You must perform periodic internal assessments so that you will be always sure of how well the performance conforms to the expectations defined in the Project Plan.
Are you within or over budget?
Are you meeting the quality standards?
Are there any new risks?
By inspecting the project‘s progress periodically, you can mitigate many potential complications that could affect the work you are doing on the project and, therefore, improve anything you need to improve within the project plan.
Plan for Closing and Handover of Project
Near the project’s end, make arrangements to:
Assemble and finish any outstanding documentation
Perform quality assurance inspections
Create and compile any necessary reports for the handover
Train end-users or customer representatives, if necessary
Pay and submit any outstanding documents
Have all necessary completion documents signed
A seamless handover improves your reputation.
Conclusion
A tender’s award is a success in itself, and sometimes the available funding is a significant advantage in starting the project. Nevertheless, access to funding is not a success guarantee. Effective, disciplined, thorough planning, and outstanding execution determine the success of the project. If you focus on the factors listed above on top of good communication and project quality – reviewing the contract, strategic mobilization, financial management, and communication – you will be able to complete and deliver the project successfully. You will also be able to create a solid reputation that will increase your tenders in the future.
