Staffing Plans

For the proposal I'm working on now, one of my assignments is to prepare the staffing plan. For this particular proposal, it will be about 10 pages.

Staffing plans are nearly always required for a proposal but can be called different things by different agencies. Sometimes they are called Staffing and Management Plans or Management and Staffing Plans, and sometimes they are just referred to as Key Personnel Plans. Many times, they are combined with Management Plans.

Staffing plans are developed to convey information on at least two things:

1. How you are going to staff your proposed project, i.e., what are the positions/titles that will be needed to perform the project; and
2. Who are the personnel who will fill these positions -- their names, qualifications, backgounds, etc. In most cases, this is where you write up glowing blurbs about your key personnel and other proposed staff if required. Resumes of these personnel may also be included in the staffing plan itself or in an appendix to the proposal.

Some staffing plans also require that you provide other information. My RFA wants to know:

• The rationale for the proposed staffing -- why are we proposing to staff the project in this particular way.
• What will be the role and responsibilities of each key person -- position descriptions
• If we are proposing to use outside consultants and if so, how and why.
• The specific skills that each proposed staff member will bring to the project -- a skills matrix.

Ten pages doesn't seem like much, but it's amazing how long it takes to write those pages.