Project Proposal Writing: How To Write A Winning Project Proposal

Summary

In this informative video, Devon Dean from ProjectManager.com emphasizes the critical role of personal interaction in selling a project through a proposal. He advises that a well-crafted proposal must be supported by active lobbying to decision-makers, highlighting the project's alignment with the company's strategy and its tangible benefits. The video outlines key components of a project proposal, including a compelling problem statement, vision, benefits, deliverables, success criteria, project plan, and budget. Dean stresses the importance of an executive summary for decision-makers and the need for a cohesive narrative that demonstrates the project's value and feasibility.

Takeaways

• 🤝 People buy from people - Personal interaction is crucial for selling a project proposal.
• 📄 Project proposals should not be solely relied upon for funding; active lobbying is necessary.
• 🎯 Tailor the proposal to resonate with decision makers by understanding their concerns and needs.
• 💡 Highlight specific missed opportunities or incurred costs that the project could have prevented or gained.
• 🚫 Avoid generic benefits; focus on tangible, measurable outcomes that align with the organization's strategy.
• 📈 Clearly articulate the project's alignment with the company's long-range strategy and goals.
• 🌟 Detail the project's benefits, ensuring they are specific and measurable to build confidence in its success.
• 🛠️ Describe the deliverables and how they will be provided, including any new capabilities or avoided costs.
• 📊 Establish SMART success criteria to provide a clear benchmark for the project's success.
• 🗓️ Outline the project plan, including deadlines, resources (internal or external), and delivery approach (agile or traditional).
• 💰 Present a clear funding plan and budget, demonstrating the value proposition of the project.

Q & A

What is the primary focus of the video?

The primary focus of the video is to teach how to effectively sell a project using a project proposal and the importance of personal interaction with decision makers in addition to the proposal document.

Why is it crucial to interact with decision makers while preparing a project proposal?

Interacting with decision makers is crucial because it helps refine the understanding of the organization's problems and benefits that the project can provide, which can resonate with the decision makers and increase the chances of the project getting funded.

How does the first impression of the project proposal impact the decision-making process?

The first impression is critical because decision makers often make up their minds within the first few minutes of reviewing the proposal. A strong impact at the beginning can significantly influence their decision to fund or reject the project.

What should be included in the problem statement section of the proposal?

The problem statement should paint a clear picture of the organization's issues, highlighting specific examples where opportunities were missed or risks/costs were incurred that the project could have prevented or mitigated.

How does the vision statement benefit the project proposal?

The vision statement ties the project to the company's long-term strategy and goals, ensuring that the project is seen as aligned with the organization's direction and reducing the risk of it being perceived as a rogue project.

What should be the characteristics of the benefits mentioned in the proposal?

The benefits should be specific, measurable, and directly related to the project's deliverables. They should clearly outline the new capabilities or avoided costs that will result from the project's successful completion.

Why is detailing the project's deliverables important?

Detailing the deliverables helps stakeholders understand what tangible outputs they can expect from the project, which can include software, hardware, or process improvements, and how these will be implemented.

What are SMART success criteria?

SMART success criteria are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Time-bound. They provide clear benchmarks for determining the project's success and give decision makers confidence in the project's outcomes.

How should the project plan and approach to delivery be outlined in the proposal?

The project plan should include deadlines, a clear strategy for meeting the success criteria and deliverables, and details on whether external vendors or internal staff will be used. It should also specify the methodology, such as agile or traditional waterfall, for project delivery.

What is the role of the cost and budget section in the proposal?

The cost and budget section presents the funding plan, showing how the project will meet its deadlines and deliverables within the allocated budget, and demonstrating the value proposition in monetary terms.

Why is an executive summary necessary in a project proposal?

An executive summary is necessary to concisely communicate the high-level problem, vision, and benefits of the project. It helps decision makers quickly grasp the key points, especially since they may only spend a few minutes reviewing the proposal.

How should the project proposal be structured to effectively communicate its objectives?

The project proposal should be structured like a story, with a logical flow from problem identification to cost and benefits. It should introduce key themes at the beginning and expand upon them throughout the document without introducing new topics, ensuring a cohesive and persuasive narrative.

Outlines

00:00

📄 Selling Your Project Through a Proposal

The paragraph emphasizes the importance of personal interaction in selling a project through a proposal. It highlights that a well-written proposal alone is not enough to secure funding; active lobbying and communication with decision-makers are crucial. The speaker, Devon Dean, advises involving project sponsors and champions in refining the proposal to resonate with the organization's problems and benefits. The proposal should start with a strong problem statement, illustrating missed opportunities or incurred costs that the project could have prevented. The vision statement should tie the project to the company's long-term strategy, and the benefits section should detail measurable outcomes. The deliverables section outlines specific project outputs, while success criteria should be SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Time-bound).

05:01

🛠️ Project Delivery and Budgeting

This paragraph discusses the subsequent sections of a project proposal, focusing on how the project will achieve its deliverables and success criteria. It covers the methodology, whether using external vendors or internal staff, and the approach taken, such as agile or traditional waterfall methods. The cost and budget section is crucial, detailing the funding plan and how it aligns with deadlines and deliverables. The paragraph concludes with the importance of an executive summary, especially if the proposal is lengthy, to quickly communicate the high-level problem, vision, and benefits. The document's flow should be like a story, with a clear progression from problem to cost and benefits. The speaker reiterates that while the proposal is a key communication tool, it is the people behind it that ultimately sell and secure funding for the project.

Keywords

💡Project Proposal

A project proposal is a document that presents a new project to an organization or potential funders. It outlines the project's objectives, expected outcomes, and the resources required for its execution. In the video, the project proposal is crucial for selling a project to decision-makers within an organization, emphasizing the need for a compelling narrative that connects the project to the company's strategic goals.

💡Decision Makers

Decision makers are individuals within an organization who have the authority to approve or reject projects, allocate resources, and make key strategic choices. In the context of the video, it's essential to engage with decision makers through lobbying and personal interactions to increase the chances of a project proposal being accepted and funded.

💡Problem Statement

The problem statement is a critical section of a project proposal that clearly defines the issue or opportunity the project aims to address. It should paint a vivid picture of the current challenges faced by the organization, illustrating why the proposed project is necessary and urgent.

💡Vision Statement

A vision statement in a project proposal outlines the long-term aspirations and goals of the project in alignment with the organization's overall strategy. It helps to ensure that the project is perceived as part of the company's bigger picture, rather than an isolated endeavor.

💡Benefits

In the context of a project proposal, benefits refer to the positive outcomes and advantages that the project will bring to the organization once completed. These should be specific, measurable, and directly related to the project's objectives, clearly demonstrating its value and impact.

💡Deliverables

Deliverables are the tangible outputs or results that a project is expected to produce upon completion. They are a crucial part of the project proposal, providing clarity on what the project will achieve and how these outcomes will be realized.

💡Success Criteria

Success criteria are the predefined benchmarks used to evaluate whether a project has achieved its objectives. They should be Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound (SMART), providing clear standards that give confidence to stakeholders that the project's goals have been met.

💡Project Plan

A project plan is a detailed roadmap that outlines how the project will be executed, including timelines, resource allocation, and the approach to delivery. It serves as a guide for the project team and stakeholders, ensuring everyone is aligned on how the project's objectives will be achieved.

💡Cost and Budget

The cost and budget section of a project proposal details the financial aspects of the project, including the estimated expenses and the funding plan. It demonstrates how the project will be financially viable and ensures that the resources allocated are in line with the expected outcomes.

💡Executive Summary

An executive summary is a concise, high-level overview of a project proposal, capturing the key points and providing a snapshot of the entire document. It is typically read first by decision makers to quickly assess the proposal's relevance and potential impact.

💡Lobbying

Lobbying refers to the act of attempting to influence decisions, especially within political, legislative, or organizational contexts. In the video, lobbying is the process of advocating for the project by engaging with decision makers, ensuring they understand the project's value and necessity.

Highlights

People buy from people, not just a project proposal document.

Project proposals should be accompanied by personal interaction with decision makers.

Lobbying and one-on-one meetings help refine the understanding of organizational problems and project benefits.

Decision makers often make decisions on projects within the first five minutes of reviewing a proposal.

The problem statement should paint a vivid picture of the organization's issues that the project could solve.

Specific examples of missed opportunities or incurred costs should be highlighted in the problem statement.

Avoid generic benefits like efficiency gains; focus on concrete examples relevant to decision makers.

The vision statement should tie the project to the company's long-term strategy and goals.

Benefits should be specific, measurable, and align with the project's vision.

The deliverables section details what the project will produce and how it will be delivered.

Success criteria should be SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Time-bound).

The project plan outlines how the project will achieve deliverables, success criteria, and benefits.

Consider whether external vendors or internal staff will be used, and the project delivery approach.

The cost and budget section shows the funding plan and how it aligns with deadlines and deliverables.

Include an executive summary to concisely communicate high-level problems, visions, and benefits.

The proposal should flow like a fiction book, telling a story from problem to cost and benefits.

Ensure the proposal's flow and cohesion, avoiding introduction of new topics or items later in the document.

A project proposal is key for communicating vision and benefits, but personal lobbying is essential for success.

Transcripts

[Music Intro]

>>Hi.

I’m Devon Dean, content director here at ProjectManager.com.

Today I’m going to teach you how to help sell your project using a project proposal.

A key thing to remember is that people buy from people.

Don’t expect the project proposal document that you put together to be taken up by the

decision makers in an organization in isolation of any communication you’ve had with them

and award funding and resources and mindshare to that project.

It’s important to remember this because you can write the best project proposal document

but without that people interaction you have a slim to no chance of getting your project

funded.

While you’re preparing the project proposal document it’s really important for you,

your project sponsors and the champions of your project to go out there and actively

lobby the decision makers of your organization about your project.

Use those lobbying sessions and those one on one meetings to actually refine and hone

your understanding of what the problems are in your organization and the benefits that

your project can actually realize, that strike a chord with those decision makers.

In developing your project proposal document I highly recommend in tandem going out there

and actively seeking the feedback of those decision makers so that feedback help you

refine and forge the sales pitch you put together in your proposal document.

Your decision makers are going to make the decision whether to thrill or kill that project

within the first five minutes of picking up your project proposal document so it’s really,

really critical that you make a big impact right at the start of that project proposal

document.

The way you do that is in stating that problem statement.

You really need to paint a bleak picture of your organization that shows or depicts the

problems that you’re having in the organization which could be overcome had your project been

in production when those problems occurred.

Highlight some specific examples of where opportunities were missed or where risk or

costs were incurred that your project could have prevented or could have gained access

to in terms of opportunities if your project had delivered by the time of that event.

Efficiency gains or general skills uplift are not the messages you want to communicate

in terms of looking for those problem benefits.

By saying that Sally works 50 hours a week and your project is going to solve that problem

is really not going to strike a chord for those decision makers.

Look for those specific examples of where your company missed an opportunity or incurred

costs because your project wasn’t in place.

Put those in your problem statement.

Now the vision statement is a section that needs to tie your project to the company’s

long range strategy and vision and long range goals.

Without tying your project in to your organizational strategy and vision you run the risk of having

your project being looked upon as a rogue project: it’s out there in the distance,

it really doesn’t fit with what we’re doing so you run a risk of not having your

project being funded because of that reason.

You need to tie your project into your company’s organizational strategies and vision.

Benefits further expand upon the vision that your project will have, that you paint the

picture of that vision.

You’re going into a bit more specific details on what are the things your project will deliver,

what new capabilities or what costs you’re going to avoid by having the project deliverables

in place.

Be very specific about the benefits and make sure they’re things that are measurable.

The deliverables section further goes into another level of decomposition about what

your project is going to deliver.

It talks about the artefacts which your projects will deliver and how those will be delivered

in terms of what the users can expect.

A deliverable might be, for example, for a call center project you’re delivering new

computer telephony integration.

That would be a deliverable when that call center has that equipment.

Success criteria are very important to outline in that project proposal.

You need to be able to have smart success criteria which mean it’s specific, measurable,

achievable, realistic and time bound.

These success criteria, once they’re met, give the project owners, the decision makers

and the stakeholders 100% confidence that your project has achieved success.

It’s important that you list out those criteria which everyone is looking at your project

to deliver.

The next section is talking about how your project is going to achieve the deliverables

and success criteria and benefits.

In here is where your deadlines are listed, where the project plan comes together and

what the approach to delivery might be for your project.

Are you going to use external vendors?

Are you going to use internal staff?

Are you going to use an agile approach to delivering that project or are you going to

use a more traditional waterfall method to enable your project to deliver on its deliverables?

Lastly, of course, the cost and the budget.

Here’s where you pull it together and you show the funding plan for that project and

how it’s going to achieve its deadlines against those deliverables and for the dollar

value.

Now if you find in the first section that you’re getting into quite a lot of detail

that runs past, let’s say, two pages I think it’s really important to take the time and

consolidate all the high points from these into an executive summary for that document.

Put the high level problem, visions and benefits in that exec summary.

As I mentioned before, decision makers will take about five minutes looking at your proposal

to make sure that it’s something they’re going to fund or decide that they’re not

going to fund it in this year.

Ensuring those messages are concise is really critical and by putting these elements into

executive summary if you find them going long is a really important way for you to quickly

communicate those ideas.

It’s important to remember the flow of the document in the proposal.

You need it to flow like a fiction book.

You need to tell a story and paint a picture and leave no stone unturned for your decision

makers to ponder.

Everything needs to flow from the start of the problem down to the cost and benefits

in terms of the key themes of your project need to be expounded upon, need to be mentioned

at the start and then further drilled down upon throughout the rest of your project proposal.

If you have items that you’re introducing in your deliverables, for example, that don’t

fit in with solving the problems you’ve identified up here or fit in with the benefits

that you’re going to realize your decision makers will look at that and it will cause

them to think a little bit more about your proposal in terms of does this proposal really

communicate in a tight way the objectives that it’s going to achieve for the organization.

It needs to flow.

All the items here need to mesh with one another and not introduce any new topics or any new

items as you go along in the project document.

Your project proposal is one key way for you to communicate your project’s vision and

benefits to the organization but a project proposal in itself is not going to sell your

project and get it funded and resourced.

Only you can do that.

Only your champions and your sponsor can do that.

Like I said in the start, the proposal will help you sell your project and get it funded

and resourced but really you need to be there actively lobbying for that project and getting

it off the ground.

For more project management tips and tricks and to try out our software come join us at

ProjectManager.com.