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Member Interview - Brian Thomas

Brian Thomas

Last company was Converge Inc
(Sept 2011).

Question:  How long have you been a proposal manager/specialist/ writer?

Brian:  Approx 14 years as a bid & proposal manager writer and an additional 10 years as an IT Project Manager.

Question:  How did you become involved with proposals?

Brian:  First time was in 1994 I was asked to support a bid project office at EDS as part of a consortium bid in London to the Royal Air Force.  On this bid I was first introduced to the Shipley training and methodology.

Question:  Do you work in a “corporate office” or “home office” environment? 

Brian:  Mostly corporate office.

Question:  What do you like best about working in your current environment? 

Brian:  Looking for work right now – but mostly ‘working with other people and being in a team’.

Question:  What do you like least?

Brian:  The final stages of a bid when you are the last person in the chain and ‘others’ have been late on their deliverables (your then forced to focus less on quality)!

Question:  What do you feel is the most challenging aspect of your job?

Brian:  Communication –and people, getting this right is always the most difficult challenge.

Question:  What shortcuts or helpful best practices about working with proposal teams could you share?

Brian:  Following a process and making sure everyone buys into that process and assignments early on in the process.

Question:  Why did you join APMP?

Brian:  Professional recognition and to help raise the standard.

Question:  What is your method for successfully working with your proposal teams?

Brian:  Again, its people.  They don’t always like you but if ‘can get others on board’ it is a great plus – getting the best out of people is really key.  I like to think I am good at that.

 Question:  Which type of proposals do you do most? Commercial, government or other?

Brian:  In the US It’s mostly commercial to date.   In the UK where I had a clearance I did a lot of defense work which I enjoyed.