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Want to improve your procurement approach? Try interactive tender process workshops.
For complex procurements, traditional procurement processes may not achieve the best outcomes.
A traditional approach can make it challenging to ensure tenderers and respondents understand your needs and technical requirements.
The cost to business is wasted time and resources evaluating tender responses that fall materially short of what was requested. Interactive tender process workshops may be a solution to close the gap and assist tenderers to hone their submissions closer to the issues and needs of your project.
An interactive tendering process can help you achieve a better quality match between your needs and the tenderers’ offer. Running an interactive tender process workshop can improve procurement outcomes for both parties. However, it is important to follow best practice guidelines to mitigate probity risks associated with increased interactions with tenders.
We have reviewed the benefits and drawbacks of interactive tender workshops, as well as curated some tips on managing conflicts of interest in procurement. The goal is to help you enhance your tender quality, improve your procurement project outcomes, and ultimately drive business results.
What is the difference between a traditional procurement project and an interactive tender process?
A traditional procurement project typically involves a process with these four steps:
- Issue documents
- Respond to questions from interested parties, clarifying any concerns
- Set a deadline date for submissions
- Evaluate tenders
However, this approach to procurement has some drawbacks. It limits your interactions with tenderers, giving them only one chance to ask clarifying questions. It also reduces the opportunities for innovation, collaboration and feedback. As a result, you might end up with lower quality tenders that do not meet your expectations or requirements. An interactive tendering process allows you to engage with tenderers throughout the procurement cycle. It enables you to:
- Test ideas and options with the tenderers and obtain feedback on their proposed solutions and methods
- Facilitate open communication and alignment between the buyer and the tenderer
- Challenge the tenderers to deliver innovation, value for money and quality outcomes
- Demonstrate the potential and effectiveness of the tenderers’ teams and their collaboration skills
An interactive tendering process can help you achieve a better quality match between your needs and the tenderers’ offers, resulting in higher satisfaction and performance for both parties.
Interactive tenders and probity risks in procurement projects
An interactive tendering process involves direct, face-to-face communication between the buyer and the tenderers. It allows both parties to test ideas, provide feedback and collaborate on solutions.
Interactive tendering processes became the standard approach for public private partnerships, where the complexity and scale of the projects required more dialogue and alignment between the parties. Since then, they have been widely adopted for other types of complex procurements, where innovation and collaboration are essential.
However, interactive tendering processes also pose some probity challenges, especially from a probity perspective. These probity risks need to be carefully managed and mitigated, to ensure the integrity, fairness and transparency of the procurement process are maintained to the highest standards.
With the right configuration, structure and training of participants, interactive tenders are an effective and efficient way to improve procurement outcomes.
What are the benefits of an interactive tender process workshop?
Interactive tendering process workshops are a valuable tool for business and clients to engage in a productive dialogue during procurement. They offer several advantages such as:
Enhanced communication: The workshops allow direct interaction between each Proponent and the Project Team, enabling them to exchange information, clarify expectations and address any complex issues related to the project documents.
Improved solutions: The workshops provide a forum for Proponents to test and refine their proposed solutions for the operational, technical, commercial and financial aspects of the project, and to receive feedback from the Project Team on their suitability and alignment with the State’s objectives.
Increased capability: The workshops help businesses improve their own processes, plans and proposals by leveraging the knowledge, expertise and input of the Project Team. They also help businesses learn how to interpret tender documentation, prepare effective capability statements, and respond to key criteria, as well as understand the relative importance of non-price and price factors.
Key probity risks associated with interactive tendering process workshops
Probity support and ethical guidelines play a significant role in managing risks associated with interactive tendering. When running an interactive tender workshop, it's important to follow relevant government or organisational procurement guidelines. This means you need to be aware of the key probity risks and to take steps to mitigate them. Some of the key probity risks associated with interactive tendering process workshops include:
Conflicts of interest: Make sure no one in the workshop has a conflict of interest that could affect the process. For example, someone who works for the buyer and also has a close relationship with one of the bidders.
Collusion: Ensure that the workshop does not facilitate collusion among participants that could jeopardise the integrity of the procurement process. For instance, buyer representatives conferring preferential treatment to one tenderer over others.
Confidentiality: Make sure the workshop does not share any confidential information that could affect the process. For example, someone telling another bidder what one bidder suggested.
It is important to recognise the significance of probity support and the implementation of probity requirements in tendering processes. These measures contribute to creating an impartial and ethical environment, supporting probity risk management, and ensuring the success of interactive tendering process workshops.
Best practice for conducting interactive tendering process workshops
An interactive tendering process workshop is a valuable opportunity to engage with prospective clients and showcase your capabilities in delivering the project. To ensure the success of these workshops, you should adhere to the following best practices:
Train Buyer attendees: Buyer attendees should be well-versed in the conduct and objectives of these workshops, so they can effectively and efficiently participate and collaborate. They should also be aware of the appropriate and inappropriate behaviors and statements during the process. If there are attendees who lack experience in these workshops, it is advisable to conduct a mock workshop or a role play exercise to enhance their confidence and competence.
Prepare for the workshop: Develop a clear agenda that outlines the key objectives and topics of the workshop for both parties, and select suitable participants from the buyer's side who can contribute to the discussion and decision-making.
Structure the workshop: Establish a clear structure for the workshop that ensures all participants have a role and a voice, and that clarifies the expected outcomes and deliverables of the workshop.
Follow up with tenderers after the workshop: This includes providing feedback on the workshop performance, addressing any issues or queries that emerge, and verifying that the workshop has met its intended outcomes. Conducting regular health checks during long duration procurements can be an effective mechanism to check-in with tenderers/bidders.
By following these best practices, you can conduct an interactive tendering process workshop(s)that complies with the established and recognised national guidelines and demonstrates your expertise and value proposition in the field. Maintaining these best practices is crucial for upholding trust, integrity and professionalism in procurement activities.
Probity and procurement support
If you want to learn more about probity (yes, it can be fun!), we are happy to talk to you and your procurement team. We can show you how probity and interactive tender workshops can add value and help you achieve your procurement goals, whether you have an ongoing or planned project. We have a team experienced in providing probity and procurement support for many projects that use these workshops, and we can demonstrate the benefits they can bring to your procurement outcomes.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
If you would like to learn more about the topics discussed in this article, please contact your local RSM office.
