THESPORTOFBIDDINGHowtocreate innovativeandenergised teamsandwinmorebids.

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Bid team success can be measured both in terms of winning bids, and in their ability to bring their best game to each and every bid.

The best strategy in the world will fail if the team is ineffective, so we look to prepare the team before we give them the game plan.

For every bid there is a leader, and a team, and the individuals within that team. We need inspiring leaders, powerful teams and high performance individuals who have a sustainable way of creating winning bids.

Muhammad Ali

PLAYINGTHEGAME.

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Michael Jordan, Basketballer

ANDWINNING.The entire bid process is much like a season of sport, it is the pre season where we can begin to create change, and set the foundations for a match fit bid team!

We’re about to take a look behind the scenes of a bid team...and uncover the 3 challenges that are holding them back from winning more bids.

We’ll enter The Locker Room and identify the key gamechangers for each of the challenges to ensure they are match fit and ready to hit the ground running for the next bid.

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Package Received Development SubmissionPackage

Assessed

Results

ReflectRenewRefocus

WIN

LOSE

Pre Season Game On Grand FinalWarm Up Regroup

Award

SPORT

BIDDING

FOCUS ON

ACTIVITY

STABILITY

THE LOCKERROOMaka The Changing Room…..for good reason!

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CONFESSIONSOF ABIDMANAGER

WEARELOSINGTIMELOSINGSTAFFLOSINGBIDS

”We’re losing sleep….”

“We’re losing time…..”

We’re losing bids......”

”Everyone get’s so stressed out during bids...and it can cause some serious friction within the team”

”I don’t feel like we’re coming up with any new ideas....it’s just business as usual...we aren’t improving.”

“We have teams that are fatigued and disengaged at the end of a bid –regardless of the outcome (win / lose)"

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CHALLENGE #1 – LEADERS

CREATE INSPIRING LEADERS

Now more than ever our leaders need to be more than a source of information. The reality is that leaders are required to do so much more than merely provide direction.

In fact, research shows that directive leadership is not only outdated, it is ineffective and potentially damaging.

Just like a sports coach, it’s the bid directors role to lead, to motivate and to bring out the strengths of the team. The best leaders know that their success or failure depends on their ability to inspire and guide their teams.

It is worth taking the time in the pre-season to reflect on past learnings, assess the current team, understand the upcoming bid, and create an environment of clarity and capability.

By creating their own personal game plan for the bid ahead, they can be proactive and prepared, and positively impact the effectiveness and success of the bid.

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CHALLENGE#2– INDIVIDUALS

By their very nature bids are up and down, high energy followed by lulls… and then panic stations at the eleventh hour.

Some people thrive under the pressure, others crumble....and they become disconnected and innefective. Even those who love the challenge of a fast paced bid can’t sustain the stress forever.

We need to create

sustainable practises!

Let’s help our people stay on

the ball, in the team, and

match fit!

Our people are stressed out, burnt out...and checked out!Then comes the emotional rollercoaster of putting your heart and soul into a bid only to lose...and yes, there’s always next time, but what if the losses outweight the wins?

How do we keep our teams motivated and positive.

CREATEPERSONALGAMEPLANS

Identify potentialroadblocks

Play to your strengths

Catch and Throw

Celebrate milestones

Fuel and hydrate

Limber Up

Strategy

with the team

body

mind

soul

CLEAR CAPABLE SUSTAINED PEAK STABLE

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CHAMPIONSUnique learnings from previous bids, time and space for creative thinking, collaborative problem solvers, proactive from the start, energy and capability are high, the team is passionate about bid success!

TEAM PLAYERSActive ongoing streamlining and development, working well as a team, hitting targets, supporting and good communicating, willing to learn and focused on bid success. They bring other team members up with them!

BENCHWARMERSAvoiding work, avoiding each other, avoiding deadlines, avoiding meetings, avoiding turning up to work, avoiding change, disengaged, and disinterested. Wasting time and money, risking bid failure.

OPPONENTSResentful, fatigued and actively disengaged. Not interested, not capable, fearful, detrimental to the rest of the team. Pessimistic from previous bids. Wasting time and money and destroying your chance of a successful bid.

About75%ofemployersrateteamworkandcollaboration as

“veryimportant”,yet39%ofemployeesbelieve

thatpeopleintheirownorganisationdon’tcollaborateenough.

97%ofemployeesandexecutivesbelievelackofalignmentwithinateamimpactstheoutcomeofataskorproject.

CHALLENGE#3– TEAMS

INNOVATIVE

COHESIVE

EVASIVE

DESTRUCTIVE

What we want…

What we don’t want…

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ACCEPT THE WINS AND LOSSESStay motivated and engaged

CREATECOHESIVETEAMS

PLAY THE BALL....NOT THE MANDon’t take or make things personal

PASS THE BALLShare the load

PLAY BY THE SAME RULESGain clarity and purpose

ORANGES AT HALF TIMESustain your energy

FOLLOW THE GAMEPLANWalk the same path

PLAY THE LONG GAMEBe patient and focused

GO FOR THE GOALSShare the vision

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“When you’re at the top of your game, change your game. Go for the gap”GrahamHenry, formerNewZealandAllBlacksCoach

GETMATCH FITIN THEPRE SEASONWhen we do the groundwork in the preseason we create an environment of innovation and a sustainable method of bidding with success.

In this strategic and streamlined environment, where our leaders inspire, our teams collaborate, and our individuals are high performing, we begin to create the time and space for lateral and creative thinking.

Our teams will have the confidence to speak up, the compassion to encourage their colleagues, and the capacity as a team to explore and develop newly identified opportunities and initiatives.

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3 Key Questions For You

1. Do our leaders inspire their team?

2. Do our people stay sustained and focused during each bid?

3. Are we bringing our best game to every bid?

Having a mentally fit, game ready team allows them to ‘lift’ at crucial times and sustain the ‘hum’ the rest of the time.

They are committed to (and excited by) the idea of submitting a truly outstanding bid. They feel supported, they share a common vision, and they understand the vital role they play.

If we have sustained our team during the bid development phase they will be fit and full of energy to rise to the challenge in this final stage.

If we’ve got it right they’ve actually got fitter and not fatigued and with the support of those around them they are ready to kick things up a notch and rise to the challenge in the final stage!

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A powerful speaker, trainer and coach, Vickie travels the world presenting to and working with sports, marketing and business audiences.

Founder of leading sponsorship education company The Sponsorship Consultants, Vickie is the world’s most recognised thought leader on athlete sponsorship education.

Her work has been commissioned by the International Olympic Committee, Team GB, Deloitte Singapore and the Australian Institute of Sport, and her client list ranges from local athletes and companies right through to Olympic champions and global brands.

Author of 2 books on commercial athlete sponsorship, Vickie loves the strong connections between sport and business.

A decade of working in high pressure bid teams, on projects ranging from 1 million to 1 billion AUD, Vickie found a love for

this challenging yet intensely rewarding environment.

Privy to her fair share of bid launches, alliance workshops, strategy sessions and stressed out all night document

preparation, Vickie knows just how good it can be…..and also, how horrible it can get at times.

Working on some of Australia’s biggest and most important bids, she understands how crucial it is for bid managers and

their teams to iron out creases and create a supportive culture.

Her experience is that bid teams need to develop a truly efficient, effective and sustainable way of mitigating the risks of

participating in consecutive, high pressure bids.

“I’m privileged to work alongside the worlds most effective teams and highest performing athletes, and have learned so much from the athletes themselves as well as their support teams."

“I’ve seen first hand the damage a dysfunctional team can cause to companies….to an individuals wellbeing and productivity, to

the sustainability of the team, the success of bids and to the company itself”

BUSINESS BIDS SPORT

BUSINESS SPORT

Vickie Saunders

About the

Author

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