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Joined: 6/18/2009
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Recently, I find that a number of my clients do not want to take the time and effort in producing a story map. They want their senior staff and SMEs to create a set of detailed ‘instructions’ for each proposal section (e.g. within the Tech and Management Volumes). These instructions are then provided to the authors as guides for writing the first draft.
My argument is that a good story map, created by the authors and approved by the senior staff/SMEs saves time in getting to a better product by pink/red team. In my experience, this has proven out – good story maps lead to better first drafts.
I’m reaching out to the community to get your input on (1) if these days more firms feel there is not adequate value in producing a ‘story map’ and (2) in light of this, what are your experiences in ‘best practices’ for getting to a quality first draft.
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Rank: Newbie
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Joined: 9/22/2008
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I completely agree with you. I have hundreds of real-world (based on research or personal experience) examples that validate your assertion. I know that there are different interpretations of story maps but at its core the intent is to represent information visually to tell a logical, pragmatic story from which authors can reference. I lump all GOOD graphics in that category (even storyboards).
When sharing my findings at an APMP event an attendee said:
“If you do the storyboards right, the proposal writes itself.” (Allen Becker, a proposal professional of 25 years)
When done right, visual storyboards act as a story map.
As you know from experience, the solution is being developed or evolves as the proposal is written. This wastes time and costs the company too much money. A good story map ensures:
1) Early buy in.
2) Fewer rewrites.
3) Consistency.
4) Increases success rates.
If done right, it validates the solution before writing begins!
I’m sure you will agree that if you and your proposal team know the solution and have the story outlined and approved ahead of time, it is far easier to write your proposal. Your job is to put you and your supporters on the same page. Most teams rush into writing. They want to see the proposal materialize piece-by-piece, section-by-section as quickly as possible. There is a sense of accomplishment when an author’s section is written or when a subject matter expert has done their job. Even better, when their section is finished or their task is done they get to go home! (Woo Hoo!)
However, when writers rush the job without a proper plan, they end up rewriting their sections, redoing graphics that are now unrelated to the new plan, or they need to revise paragraphs because someone else’s section described the solution in a different way. They rushed to get their sections finished but still had to work the entire weekend on rewrites because their solution wasn’t consistent with the rest of the proposal. (Ugh!)
I always recommend "story maps" to avoid frustrating the team by getting everyone to develop on a visual representation of the proposal. Why? Because, we are visual creatures. (Don’t believe me? What do you picture when I say “sad”—the word or an image of something sad? Watch someone give directions. Watch their hands. They are picturing the path in their mind.) If we can see something in our mind’s eye, we can write to it. Mike Conk, a proposal professional with 16 years experience, said it best: “If my team can’t picture it, my team can’t write to it.” Seeing the solution with enough clarity from a visual representation is a powerful advantage and will definitely speed the writing process. (And, hopefully, cut back on the long weekend rewrites—yay!)
I received an APMP grant to study the efficacy of the process I teach to make "story maps" (see Billion Dollar Business Graphics book on Amazon for best practices.). This is the quote from a volunteer:
"The power in the process is that it eliminates rewrites, gets the message right, and validates your approach all at the same time. It really validates the whole proposal solution."
—Bob Gillette, CRI
He is referring to the process we used to turn his thoughts into a visual representation.
Hope this helps and was what you were looking for. :)
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Rank: Member
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Joined: 11/6/2009
Posts: 12
Location: Arizona
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We have some teams that like to have the core management team do the outline and story mapping. I believe this has some merit; it saves time and eliminates any confusion to what the team should be working / writing to. This process does include story mapping, like Mike said this is vital and needs to be completed. The more focus and structure given to the writers, the easier it is to write a winning proposal.
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