"So what about Marigold?" Sara asked. She and Karl were concerned that Wolf would argue for trying to fix Marigold first, before even looking at their proposal for Metronome. But Karl had an idea.
"Maybe we don't say anything about Marigold. Suppose we critique a third idea — not Marigold — that looks at least as good as Wolf's. Then we're not arguing against Marigold, and it's a lot less personal. But it still raises questions about his approach."
Sara was impressed. "Yes, and if Metronome is an even better idea, it might be easier to turn the discussion back to Metronome. Interesting…"
Karl and Sara are devising one of the key elements of any proposal — the discussion of alternatives. By demonstrating the advantages of their proposal relative to all plausible alternatives, they effectively turn attention to the approach they're advocating.
Here are the key elements of an effective proposal. Some might not apply in your situation, so be selective.
- What's the issue?
- What issue does your proposal address? Present the issue from your management's perspective. Stick to one issue — complexity is a demotivator.
- What's the impact?
- What was the impact of this issue on a current or recently completed project? Did it affect schedules? Budgets? Relationships? Customers?
- What's the impact of inaction?
- Project what will happen if this issue isn't addressed effectively. Estimate budget and schedule effects, showing how the issue affects future or current projects. Estimate the financial costs and lost revenue associated with these factors, going forward quarter by quarter, for three years.
- Where will the impact be greatest?
- All projects To effectively advocate
for a position,
understand first
what your audience
cares about.
Let that drive
everything else.are unique. What kinds of projects are most likely to be affected by this issue? Rank project types by impact, and estimate schedule, budget, and revenue consequences. This is especially persuasive if your proposal helps favored projects or customers. - Are there alternatives?
- Every problem has multiple solutions, and no solution is best all around. Explore the advantages and disadvantages of three alternatives. Include financial consequences. This is the piece that Karl and Sara are working on.
- What do you recommend?
- Of the alternatives you explored, which one are you proposing and why? Take a position and defend it.
- What should we do next?
- Assuming that your proposal is adopted, what's the next doable step? Sketch a plan for implementation, including a schedule with milestones, and a budget. Include a risk plan.
- Who should do it?
- Who would work this plan, and how much of their time would be required? Are consultants involved? New hires?
- How will we know if we succeed?
- What criteria determine success? Will we need resources to determine success? How much? When?
Do you have a rejected proposal in a file somewhere? Dig it out. How many of these key elements were covered? Can you see ways to improve it? Top
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Related articles
More articles on Personal, Team, and Organizational Effectiveness:
Twenty-Three Thoughts
- Sometimes we get so focused on the immediate problem that we lose sight of the larger questions. Here
are twenty-three thoughts to help you focus on what really counts.
The Focusing Illusion in Organizations
- The judgments we make at work, like the judgments we make elsewhere in life, are subject to human fallibility
in the form of cognitive biases. One of these is the Focusing Illusion. Here are some examples to watch for.
Solutions as Found Art
- Examining the most innovative solutions we've developed for difficult problems, we often find that they
aren't purely new. Many contain pieces of familiar ideas and techniques combined together in new ways.
Accepting this as a starting point can change our approach to problem solving.
Bottlenecks: II
- When some people take on so much work that they become "bottlenecks," they expose the organization
to risks. Managing those risks is a first step to ending the bottlenecking pattern.
Disjoint Awareness: Systematics
- Organizations use some policies and processes that can cause people in collaborations to have inaccurate
understandings of what each other is doing. Performance management, politics, and resource allocation
processes can all contribute to disjoint awareness.
See also Personal, Team, and Organizational Effectiveness, Effective Communication at Work and Managing Your Boss for more related articles.
Forthcoming issues of Point Lookout
Coming January 20: Anticipating Absence: Quarantine and Isolation
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And on January 27: Cost Concerns: Comparisons
- When we assess the costs of different options for solving a problem, we must take care not to commit a variety of errors in approach. These errors can lead to flawed decisions. One activity at risk for error is comparing the costs of two options. Available here and by RSS on January 27.
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- A recording of a program presented June 29, 2017, Monthly
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- Bullet Points: Mastery or Madness?
Decis
ion-makers in modern organizations commonly demand briefings in the form of bullet points or a series of series of bullet points. But this form of presentation has limited value for complex decisions. We need something more. We actually need to think. Briefers who combine the bullet-point format with a variety of persuasion techniques can mislead decision-makers, guiding them into making poor decisions. Read more about this program.
- A recording of a program presented June 24, 2020, Monthly
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Webinar Series. PMI members can earn 1.0 Category 'A' PDU by viewing this program. View this program now.
- A recording of a program presented June 24, 2020, Monthly
Webinar, sponsored by Technobility
Webinar Series. PMI members can earn 1.0 Category 'A' PDU by viewing this program. View this program now.
- A recording of a program presented June 24, 2020, Monthly
Webinar, sponsored by Technobility
Webinar Series. PMI members can earn 1.0 Category 'A' PDU by viewing this program. View this program now.
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