Government RFPs and RFAs often require that you submit a Management Plan as part of your proposal. In many instances, the RFP/RFA will specify what this Plan should include, but in other cases, no guidance will be provided. In general, however, the purpose of a Management Plan is to demonstrate to the government that you know what it takes to effectively manage the project that you are proposing. Basic questions you may need to address include:
How will your project be organized? The best way to show how your project will be organized is to prepare an organization chart showing how the project will be staffed, and the relationships among the various staff members (i.e., who reports to whom). You can also show the project's relationship with the Government, your company's senior management, and/or with external bodies or committees. Once the org chart is drawn, you can provide a more detailed explanation in writing.
Who will be responsible for what? For some RFPs/RFAs, you may need to prepare full or mini job descriptions for some or all of your proposed staff. Full job descriptions can often be put in an appendix, while mini job descriptions might just be a series of bulleted items that highlight each person's primary responsibilities.
What management functions will be performed and how? Basic management functions usually include but are not limited to those listed below. For each of these functions, you may need to provide information on the techniques, systems and procedures you will use to perform these functions.
- Planning, scheduling and directing project activities.
- Managing personnel (e.g., recruiting, retaining, supervising, evaluating).
- Ensuring quality control -- processes, procedures and checklists that will be used to ensure quality products and services.
- Financial management -- systems and processes for managing project budgets and financial resources.
- Contract/grant management -- procedures and systems to ensure that contractual or grant requirements are met.
- Subcontract management -- processes and techniques that will be used to manage subcontractors and their activities.
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