How To Create a Proposal Evaluation Scoring System

proposal-evaluation

How do you create a scoring system so that business proposals are scored fairly? One way to do this is to develop a scoring system and award points for each part of the bid. You can further refine this by adding ‘weights’ to the scores, i.e. as some parts of the bid are more important that others.

Evaluating Proposals

Yesterday, we looked at how to setup the proposal assessment team. This team is responsible for evaluating bids, scoring the proposals, and making recommendations.

The next step is to decide how to evaluate the actual bid. Here’s a suggested approach:

During the Request For Proposal evaluation, evaluate the bids under the following five headings:

  • Project Understanding – The prospective contractor must have a deep understanding of what the government agency is trying to achieve and how it wants to achieve the solution. It is critical that the proposal demonstrates an appreciation of the business needs and technical requirements.
  • Quality of the Proposed Solution – The evaluation team will assess the fit between the proposed solution and the requirements of the ITT. This is the main part in the evaluation; bids should present how the system will be implemented at the business level and technical levels, with regard to the preferred technical environment and procedures.
  • Project Management – This covers aspects of the project including scheduling, resource allocation, risk management, issue management, quality assurance, and reporting.
  • Proven Ability – It is essential that prospective contractors have proven track records with the type of technical solution proposed; projects of this size; clients similar to government agency and ideally in the business area. The assessment of capability may require references and referees.
  • Completeness of the Proposal – The least significant (and lowest score), this ensures that areas that fall outside those listed above are evaluated and help score the overall completeness of the bid.

In evaluating each bid under these headings, create different forms and templates.

Guidelines For Scoring Bids

The score given to each section will depend to a certain extent on the project under evaluation, its size, the technology involved, the business division and timelines.

However as a general guideline it is proposed that the total Phase 1 evaluation is marked out of 1,000 marks, and that the weights of each of the five criteria are chosen to achieve this overall total. In addition, a threshold mark for each criteria should be agreed by the evaluators. It is important to note that should a proposal fail to achieve the threshold mark in any one criteria, then the proposal will fail overall.

For example, the marking scheme could adopt the following weights and thresholds:

  • Criteria – for example, Understanding of the Project
  • Threshold – for example, 40, 50 or 60
  • Weight – for example, .5, 1, 2 or 3
  • Max Possible (Weighted Score) – this is the total combined scored when all factors have been combined

For example:

1. Project Understanding    40    1.5    150
2. Proposed Solution            60    3    300
3. Project Management       40    3    300
4. Proven Capability            60    2    200
5. Completeness                      0    0.5    50

Make sure to add notes and comments when submitting these marks, i.e. to explain why you awarded these scores.

You may also want to reference any perceived risks not addressed in the proposals.

Free and Premium MS Word, Excel and Apple iWork Templates

Acceptance Test Plan

Contingency Plan

Software Development Templates

Acquisition Plan

Conversion Plan

Software Requirements Specification

Action Plan

Cost Benefit Analysis

Software Testing

API Documentation

Database Design

Standard Operating Procedures (SOP)

Audience Analysis

Datasheet

Statement of Work

Availability Plan

Deployment Plan

System Administration Guide

Bill of Materials

Design Document

System Boundary

Business Case

Disaster Recovery Plan

System Design Document

Business Continuity

Disposition Plan

System Specifications

Business Plan

Documentation Plan

Technical Writing Templates

Business Process

Employee Handbook

Test Plan

Business Requirements

Error Message Guide

Training Plan

Business Rules

Expression of Interest

Transition Plan

Capacity Plan

Fact Sheet

Troubleshooting Guide

Case Study

Feasibility Study

Use Case

Change Management Plan

Functional Requirements

User Guide

Communication Plan

Grant Proposal

Verification and Validation Plan

Concept of Operations

Implementation Plan

White Papers

Concept Proposal

Installation Plan

Work Instructions

Configuration Management Plan

Interface Control Document

Software Development Templates

Acceptance Test Plan

Maintenance Plan

Software Requirements Specification

Acquisition Plan

Market Research

Software Testing

Action Plan

Marketing Plan

Standard Operating Procedures (SOP)

API Documentation

Needs Statement

Statement of Work

Audience Analysis

Operations Guide

System Administration Guide

Availability Plan

Policy Manual

System Boundary

Bill of Materials

Project Plan

System Design Document

Business Case

Proposal Manager Templates

System Specifications

Business Continuity

Proposal Template

Technical Writing Templates

Business Plan

Quality Assurance Plan

Test Plan

Business Process

Release Notes

Training Plan

Business Requirements

Request for Proposal

Transition Plan

Business Rules

Risk Management Plan

Troubleshooting Guide

Capacity Plan

Scope of Work

Use Case

Case Study

Security Plan

User Guide

Change Management Plan

Service Level Agreement (SLA)

Verification and Validation Plan

Communication Plan

Setup Guide

White Papers

Concept of Operations

Social Media Policy

Work Instructions

Concept Proposal

Contingency Plan

 

Configuration Management Plan

Conversion Plan