I just finished a temp assignment on a government proposal submitted by an IT company.
A bizarre, never-seen-before error that I had to fix repeatedly in the proposal was that one writer placed a comma before and after "as well as."
Showing posts with label Proposal editing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Proposal editing. Show all posts
Monday, January 16, 2012
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Four Letters, Four Errors; or, Why I Hate Editing Govt. Proposals
The proposal I edited yesterday responds to a Request for Proposal entitled, "[govt. agency] Status Determination Support, Et. Al"
That title appears on the cover page, in a host of supporting documents, and in every single page header.
I was told in no uncertain terms by both the proposal manager and the proposal center manager that I can't change Et. Al to et al. That would be "correcting" the government—a no-no.
In addition, et al. is used incorrectly, as the proposal relates to providing support, among other things, not support and a bunch of people.
It is incomprehensible that, during the entire (and undoubtedly very lengthy) process that ended with the release of the RFP, no one spotted these egregious errors.
That title appears on the cover page, in a host of supporting documents, and in every single page header.
I was told in no uncertain terms by both the proposal manager and the proposal center manager that I can't change Et. Al to et al. That would be "correcting" the government—a no-no.
In addition, et al. is used incorrectly, as the proposal relates to providing support, among other things, not support and a bunch of people.
It is incomprehensible that, during the entire (and undoubtedly very lengthy) process that ended with the release of the RFP, no one spotted these egregious errors.
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
The concept of need-to-know is not part of her functional vocabulary.
We have a new temp-to-perm proposal coordinator who makes the Energizer Bunny seem catatonic. She flits around the office continuously, trying to make a good impression in more ways than I care to write about. Suffice to say she's overbearing, overreaching, and overly enthusiastic.
And she provides way too much information, most of it unnecessary. For example, I generally edit proposals after the third internal review, by the Gold Team. Their review is preceded first by the Pink Team, then by the Red Team.
The Rookie just came to me with another of her needless updates, this time to inform me that the Pink Team review date has been changed. Her update included the obvious fact that this change doesn't affect me.
One can only hope that she will burn out and get out of our collective hair.
And she provides way too much information, most of it unnecessary. For example, I generally edit proposals after the third internal review, by the Gold Team. Their review is preceded first by the Pink Team, then by the Red Team.
The Rookie just came to me with another of her needless updates, this time to inform me that the Pink Team review date has been changed. Her update included the obvious fact that this change doesn't affect me.
One can only hope that she will burn out and get out of our collective hair.
Saturday, June 20, 2009
The Insolent Incumbent
I edited a Request for Information (RFI) yesterday for a federal contract for which my company is the incumbent. It's a multi-year contract, and the RFI is a formality; simply some mid-contract documentation to support the continuation of our work with the government client.
The resume section was a mess—several entirely blank "Summary of Experience" sections and numerous entries that I queried.
When the proposal coordinator released the edited files to the project manager for review, he told her that he didn't have time to look at the files. She told him the files had extensive edits visible with the "Track Changes" function on, and that there were queries that required his attention. He repeated that he wasn't going to review my work, and that it really didn't matter as we're the incumbent contractor.
This begs the question, Why even bother to send projects like this through Editing and Desktop Publishing?
The resume section was a mess—several entirely blank "Summary of Experience" sections and numerous entries that I queried.
When the proposal coordinator released the edited files to the project manager for review, he told her that he didn't have time to look at the files. She told him the files had extensive edits visible with the "Track Changes" function on, and that there were queries that required his attention. He repeated that he wasn't going to review my work, and that it really didn't matter as we're the incumbent contractor.
This begs the question, Why even bother to send projects like this through Editing and Desktop Publishing?
Saturday, May 9, 2009
Trifecta
I hit the jackpot yesterday. I did not thank god for this particular Friday, on which all of the following transpired.
Win: The Telecommuting Policy
We’re allowed to work from home one day a week. (My day is Tuesday.) However, when we’re under the gun and a proposal deadline is posted on our Big Board, that policy is suspended. The application of the policy is as clear as mud. To wit:
From one proposal coordinator to staff: “We only have 3 weeks to support this effort. The following weeks will be busy weeks—lots of graphics, DTP, etc. So please do NOT plan on working from home starting next week till due date.” (policy #1)
From the proposal center manager to me (in response to my question, “If no editing takes place next week or the week after, can I work from home on 5/12 and 5/19?”): “If you cannot see how you can help during this time, then you may work from home.” (policy #2)
From our second proposal coordinator to staff: “There’s no working at home the week a proposal is due.” (policy #3)
Place: The Acronym List
One of my responsibilities is to put together a list of acronyms and key terms, extracted from a Request for Proposal as soon as we receive the RFP. The list is a style guide for the proposal writers.
I spent a few hours on Friday doing a list for an upcoming proposal effort. I sent it to the proposal manager for his review/approval.
His response to me: “We will probably not use 50% of the Acronyms on this list in our proposal. . . . Go through our Pink Team folder, through each of the drafts, highlight those we use; we can later delete the rest.” So, first, writing has commenced before anyone asked me to provide an acronym list and, two, the proposal manager (a contractor) has decided that we will abandon our procedure of using the RFP as the basis for the list.
Show: Memory Like a Sieve
The proposal center manager asked me to do a “quick edit” (i.e., one hour) of a 45-page white paper for corporate HQ. First, I already edited it, a couple of weeks ago. Second, I have told her repeatedly that, for obvious reasons, no editor can edit 45 pages in one hour!
Win: The Telecommuting Policy
We’re allowed to work from home one day a week. (My day is Tuesday.) However, when we’re under the gun and a proposal deadline is posted on our Big Board, that policy is suspended. The application of the policy is as clear as mud. To wit:
From one proposal coordinator to staff: “We only have 3 weeks to support this effort. The following weeks will be busy weeks—lots of graphics, DTP, etc. So please do NOT plan on working from home starting next week till due date.” (policy #1)
From the proposal center manager to me (in response to my question, “If no editing takes place next week or the week after, can I work from home on 5/12 and 5/19?”): “If you cannot see how you can help during this time, then you may work from home.” (policy #2)
From our second proposal coordinator to staff: “There’s no working at home the week a proposal is due.” (policy #3)
Place: The Acronym List
One of my responsibilities is to put together a list of acronyms and key terms, extracted from a Request for Proposal as soon as we receive the RFP. The list is a style guide for the proposal writers.
I spent a few hours on Friday doing a list for an upcoming proposal effort. I sent it to the proposal manager for his review/approval.
His response to me: “We will probably not use 50% of the Acronyms on this list in our proposal. . . . Go through our Pink Team folder, through each of the drafts, highlight those we use; we can later delete the rest.” So, first, writing has commenced before anyone asked me to provide an acronym list and, two, the proposal manager (a contractor) has decided that we will abandon our procedure of using the RFP as the basis for the list.
Show: Memory Like a Sieve
The proposal center manager asked me to do a “quick edit” (i.e., one hour) of a 45-page white paper for corporate HQ. First, I already edited it, a couple of weeks ago. Second, I have told her repeatedly that, for obvious reasons, no editor can edit 45 pages in one hour!
Friday, April 17, 2009
Intro to Mismanagement 101
Our proposal center manager is the most incompetent manager I’ve ever known. And that is saying something—I’ve been working since 1966!
We are in the final stages of completing a proposal. The Gold Team (i.e., final) review has been completed, and I checked to see if the desktop publishing specialist had properly made their edits. What I saw in my review is evidence of what could be a case study in how not to put together a proposal.
Here are some key steps (there are many more) the proposal center manager should have taken to ensure an infinitely better product than the one we are about to submit.
1. Hold a kickoff meeting with all writers and reviewers to describe in detail the writing and review processes.
2. Distribute and review the proposal style guide.
3. Bring about a consensus on which reviewer is the final arbiter on content changes.
4. Meet with reviewers to capture how each of their changes could impact the material reviewed by others.
5. Meet with desktop publishing specialists and graphic designers to define style, and to agree on consistency guidelines.
6. Properly screen the temp editors.
7. Provide me (the lone staff editor) the opportunity to review our proposal style with the temp editors.
8. Ensure there is a mechanism in place to track changes that would be the target of global searches/replaces just prior to production.
The above touch on just a portion of what needs to be done on a writing project that involves multiple writers and reviewers. This is fairly obvious to those who have edited in just such an environment.
The proposal center manager, however, has chosen not to manage—by any stretch of the imagination—any key area of our operations. Rather, she busies herself by cleaning the whiteboards in our conference rooms, hassling her direct reports, and holding worthless weekly staff meetings during which she utters platitudes such as, “We’re all a team here,” “We’re all adults here,” “Remember to do your timesheet daily,” and “Do you want to have a pot luck lunch?”
She is universally regarded as a joke. Yet she survives. None of us can figure out how.
We are in the final stages of completing a proposal. The Gold Team (i.e., final) review has been completed, and I checked to see if the desktop publishing specialist had properly made their edits. What I saw in my review is evidence of what could be a case study in how not to put together a proposal.
Here are some key steps (there are many more) the proposal center manager should have taken to ensure an infinitely better product than the one we are about to submit.
1. Hold a kickoff meeting with all writers and reviewers to describe in detail the writing and review processes.
2. Distribute and review the proposal style guide.
3. Bring about a consensus on which reviewer is the final arbiter on content changes.
4. Meet with reviewers to capture how each of their changes could impact the material reviewed by others.
5. Meet with desktop publishing specialists and graphic designers to define style, and to agree on consistency guidelines.
6. Properly screen the temp editors.
7. Provide me (the lone staff editor) the opportunity to review our proposal style with the temp editors.
8. Ensure there is a mechanism in place to track changes that would be the target of global searches/replaces just prior to production.
The above touch on just a portion of what needs to be done on a writing project that involves multiple writers and reviewers. This is fairly obvious to those who have edited in just such an environment.
The proposal center manager, however, has chosen not to manage—by any stretch of the imagination—any key area of our operations. Rather, she busies herself by cleaning the whiteboards in our conference rooms, hassling her direct reports, and holding worthless weekly staff meetings during which she utters platitudes such as, “We’re all a team here,” “We’re all adults here,” “Remember to do your timesheet daily,” and “Do you want to have a pot luck lunch?”
She is universally regarded as a joke. Yet she survives. None of us can figure out how.
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Non mea culpa
Big proposal due this week. Too big for me to handle alone.
We brought in two temp editors yesterday.
I did a final review of the proposal to ready it for the Gold Team review—the Suits’ last chance for input prior to production.
Part of my review included eyeballing the sections done by the temps.
Oh.My.God. Typos (spell check not run; unforgivable); the company name spelled wrong (cardinal sin of the first order); and more.
I ran down the litany for the proposal coordinator—the best defense . . .
But the temps are long gone. And the Suits know where I live.
We brought in two temp editors yesterday.
I did a final review of the proposal to ready it for the Gold Team review—the Suits’ last chance for input prior to production.
Part of my review included eyeballing the sections done by the temps.
Oh.My.God. Typos (spell check not run; unforgivable); the company name spelled wrong (cardinal sin of the first order); and more.
I ran down the litany for the proposal coordinator—the best defense . . .
But the temps are long gone. And the Suits know where I live.
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Persona non grata V: Sisyphus reporting in
For the current proposal, I developed (based on the Request for Proposal) an extensive list of acronyms and key terms. The list represents the style to be used by the writers.
Among the acronyms are a number that don't need to be spelled out even on first occurrence; they're that well known to the proposal reviewers.
I started editing the proposal today, completing the executive summary and one section of the technical proposal. It took about six hours, at least half of which were devoted to cleaning up the acronym mess—that is, spelling items out the first time they appear. (I bet you're getting tired of reading that. Me too.)
As I was wrapping up my work, I mentioned to the proposal coordinator that the writers had not, despite my list, spelled out many items at all. She told me that the proposal manager had given his writers a list of about twenty acronyms that could stand on their own.
I had to go back through the documents to undo much of my work; for about another hour.
Neither the proposal manager (a contractor) nor the proposal coordinator (a coworker) gave a thought to yours truly—who is responsible for ensuring consistency)—and the fact that his style decisions and list would have an impact on the editing process.
The rock gets heavier and the hill steeper—exponentially every single day.
Among the acronyms are a number that don't need to be spelled out even on first occurrence; they're that well known to the proposal reviewers.
I started editing the proposal today, completing the executive summary and one section of the technical proposal. It took about six hours, at least half of which were devoted to cleaning up the acronym mess—that is, spelling items out the first time they appear. (I bet you're getting tired of reading that. Me too.)
As I was wrapping up my work, I mentioned to the proposal coordinator that the writers had not, despite my list, spelled out many items at all. She told me that the proposal manager had given his writers a list of about twenty acronyms that could stand on their own.
I had to go back through the documents to undo much of my work; for about another hour.
Neither the proposal manager (a contractor) nor the proposal coordinator (a coworker) gave a thought to yours truly—who is responsible for ensuring consistency)—and the fact that his style decisions and list would have an impact on the editing process.
The rock gets heavier and the hill steeper—exponentially every single day.
Saturday, March 14, 2009
I don't do windows weekends.
Proposal submission deadlines are written in stone. If a proposal doesn't arrive at the funding agency on time, it isn't even read.
As a proposal moves through the development and production process, it's quite common for interim milestone deadlines to be blown. That results in a compression of the remaining steps and their completion dates. If there is significant slippage in adherence to the original schedule, editing—which essentially is the final step prior to production—must be done quickly and at the eleventh hour.
Such is the case, again, in my office. Our staff has bitched, among ourselves, about the fact that on many proposal efforts no one that we support has any respect for our processes. Our manager appears to be powerless to resolve this ongoing problem.
So what is one to do in the face of ineffective management? Exercise the power that is available to each of us as individuals.
I sent this email to the appropriate proposal manager yesterday:
From your Proposal Description, it looks like editing will take place over the April 4-5 weekend.
I’m going out of town that weekend (Friday night through Sunday night). So you might need to line up a temp editor.
As a proposal moves through the development and production process, it's quite common for interim milestone deadlines to be blown. That results in a compression of the remaining steps and their completion dates. If there is significant slippage in adherence to the original schedule, editing—which essentially is the final step prior to production—must be done quickly and at the eleventh hour.
Such is the case, again, in my office. Our staff has bitched, among ourselves, about the fact that on many proposal efforts no one that we support has any respect for our processes. Our manager appears to be powerless to resolve this ongoing problem.
So what is one to do in the face of ineffective management? Exercise the power that is available to each of us as individuals.
I sent this email to the appropriate proposal manager yesterday:
From your Proposal Description, it looks like editing will take place over the April 4-5 weekend.
I’m going out of town that weekend (Friday night through Sunday night). So you might need to line up a temp editor.
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Persona non grata
Yesterday a proposal manager (in charge of a group of writers) sent a query to one of our two proposal coordinators (they shepherd proposals through the production process).
Unlike most PMs, he knows there is something called style and wants to consider it before his writers begin their work on the proposal.
He asked her the following style questions: (1) Ft. Monmouth or Fort Monmouth? (2) Service Desk or service desk? (3) information assurance or Information Assurance? (4) Periods at the end of bulleted items or not? (5) Army/DoD Group, or Army and DoD Group?
Not only did she not refer his questions to me, her response was that (1) the items weren't that important, (2) he and his writers could decide, and (3) “the Editor will also try and catch any inconsistency that was missed by the writers.”
Let's break down the three elements of her response. First, how we treat each of these items is what style is all about. Second, I’ve been charged with developing and enforcing house style. Third, I am a nameless editor who will “try” to catch errors.
Because she cc'd me on the e-mail thread, I responded to his questions with specific answers for each item. He thanked me. She didn’t even acknowledge my e-mail to him.
Again, editing is a thankless job, and it is made even more so (what is less than thankless?) when our role is ignored or, worse, undermined.
Unlike most PMs, he knows there is something called style and wants to consider it before his writers begin their work on the proposal.
He asked her the following style questions: (1) Ft. Monmouth or Fort Monmouth? (2) Service Desk or service desk? (3) information assurance or Information Assurance? (4) Periods at the end of bulleted items or not? (5) Army/DoD Group, or Army and DoD Group?
Not only did she not refer his questions to me, her response was that (1) the items weren't that important, (2) he and his writers could decide, and (3) “the Editor will also try and catch any inconsistency that was missed by the writers.”
Let's break down the three elements of her response. First, how we treat each of these items is what style is all about. Second, I’ve been charged with developing and enforcing house style. Third, I am a nameless editor who will “try” to catch errors.
Because she cc'd me on the e-mail thread, I responded to his questions with specific answers for each item. He thanked me. She didn’t even acknowledge my e-mail to him.
Again, editing is a thankless job, and it is made even more so (what is less than thankless?) when our role is ignored or, worse, undermined.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Note to self: Handout for "So, you want to be an editor?" Career Day lecture
For the past two days, I've been editing the resume section of a proposal. There are about 125 pages of resumes, all of which contain variations of the following:
Education, Certifications, Training and Computer Skills
BA, Criminal Justice, University of Delaware
Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer, Microsoft Certified Professional + Internet, and Microsoft Certified Professional
Operating Systems: RHEL AS 3.x, 4x, 5x, Windows 2003 Server, Windows 2000 Professional, Server, Advanced Server, Windows XP, Windows NT Workstation/Server 3.51–4.0, Windows 95/98 Novell Netware 3.x–4.11, Cisco IOS 11.x–12.x, BTOS, CTOS, MS Dos 5–6.22, Windows 3.x
Hardware: HP DL Series, Foundry Networks ServerIron Load balancers and SA-400 SSL accelerators, HP EVA 5000, Brocade Fabric switching, Cisco Infiniband switching, F5 BigIp, IBM PC's and Compatibles, Compaq Proliant/Prosignia 1500 – 8500R, Compaq ML 570, BayNetworks 10/100 Etherswitches, Compaq 10/100 Mbps Netelligent Hubs, 3Com Linkbuilder Hubs, Cisco 2500 series routers, Hewlett Packard Netserver LH4r and LT 6000r, Hewlett Packard printers/plotters, Hewlett Packard 80GB Optical Jukebox, Hewlett Packard Jetdirect Print Servers, APC, Compaq, and Liebert UPS's, HP ESL712 Tape Library, HP VLS6500 Virtual Tape Library, Ultrium Tape Series, Compaq 15/30 and 35/70 DLT, Procomm CD Tower, Procomm CD-R, Network General Sniffer, PentaScanner+ Cable Tester, Unisys B28 & B38 Series Micro-computer
Software: Oracle 10gAS, Oracle RAC Clustering, Netscape Enterprise Server 3.5, I-Planet 4.1, Dynamo 4.5, Jrun 2.3, Verity Search Engine, Interwoven, Microsoft Office, Microsoft Project, Exchanger Server 4.0/5.0/5.5, Oracle 7/8/9/10 client and server, Viewstar 4.3/5.0 client and server, EIS/Infobook, HP Systems Insight Manager, IIS 5.0/4.0, DHCP, WINS, Visio, Outlook, Symantec AV, McAfee AV, Installshield, PKZip, PVCS Version Manager, PVCS Tracker, MapInfo, Ghost, Lotus 123, Lotus Organizer, WordPerfect, cc:Mail, PCAnywhere, Brightstor Arcserve, Internet Explorer, Netscape, Erwin/ERX, Document Designer, Enhanced Multiplan, OFIS Graphics, OFIS Mail
Education, Certifications, Training and Computer Skills
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