Project documentation and why do we discuss documentation? Also get a sample proposal document from us!
Well simply put, to ensure successful start and delivery of your project.
As a startup firm, it goes without saying that clients are the most important aspect of the growth equation. One needs clients, both new and existing, to expand business and to generate a healthy revenue stream. Especially for existing clients, we need to pay extra focus in order to generate repeat business. One of the key objectives that we are focusing in this blog is documentation.
Documentation is essential across each stage of the project and not just at the beginning. One should ensure that before a project is wrapped up and client sign-off is taken, all the requisite documentation is in place.
Why is it so important?
- Project scope gets clearly defined and is fixed
- Project remains in-line to the end objectives that were set during the project kick-off
- It helps to keep the project on Track
- It ensures that all the stakeholders are on the same page
- It enables you to move to the next phase as you can get a formal closure on the work done in the previous phase by requisite sign-offs from the respective stakeholders (ensuring all of their requirements were met).
Moving on to what should be the specific steps in the process of documentation and we’ll also try to cover the sections that we think should be included in each of them. These are not just off-the-shelf standard practices but are practical tested approaches which we have actually used with our sales team and these have helped us in bagging many projects.
In the end we are including a link to download sample document that you can leverage to start-off. The actual version of these documents needs to be built and customized as per the client and the project requirement but this sample should provide a good idea on how you can organize your documentation set.
It may take a while for you to build these templates and probably a lot of hit and trial. This will happen after you have submitted a good number of proposals, worked on multiple projects as you’ll then gradually self-realize what works for you. Moving forward, you would just need to modify your drafts and not really create from scratch. From a technical standpoint, you might need additional documentation such as:
· API documentation
· Code Documentations
· User Journey Map
Please visit this link to download the sample document for creating proposals. This document has helped us in improving our conversion rates and has been improved time and again.
Frequently asked questions
Is documentation to be handled only by non-developers?
Well, it depends as in order to build a great document you may need to have information handed over from the right person either Technical or a business user as input to the document. However, if the document is about how to build the product then you would need that specific information from the developer. The sales/marketing team alone wont be able to come up with a good quality article if it involves technical information. In such cases, either the developer should give a handoff and create a good Technical section in the document or should actively take interest in doing the documentation. Either ways, it should be ensured that there is no repetition of work and the documentation should clearly depict the AS-IS stage. People often consider documentation to be a menial task but if the project approach is well-documented, it will drastically increase the efficiency and will reduce the TAT the next time any similar approach needs to be created or this framework can be referenced as a skeleton for various other approaches (with some minor tweaks.)
Should I outsource my documentation work?
This is one of the most frequently asked questions we often get to hear from our clients. Creating good content is the backbone of any organization. It is often seen for companies that do NOT have content generation plan or calendar not unable to focus on converting leads.
It’s important to understand here that the documentation partner should only be a trusted person/company. Whether it’s an internal team member who is doing the work or an outsider, it’s your intellectual property and artifacts which needs to be shared in order to create a good documentation. Hence it should be handled carefully and it should be ensured that your client confidentiality is maintained. Therefore, as long as the person creating the document is trustworthy and is a subject matter expert, the documentation exercise can be conducted internally or even outsourced.
Now moving on to some practical tips:
Proposal Document Section
This is the first document that you send to the client after you receive a RFQ or a RFP
Dos;
- Cover Page: Create a cover page which has the right layout and a logo of your client
- Executive summary: High-level overview of the deliverables that you will submit as part of the project approach
- Do a version Management to capture any revised information sent to the client
- Include a proposed end date to ensure there is a timely response from the client and if they delay then the price may change.
- Project Description: 1 -2 Para of what the project would be about. Ensure you cover all details as mentioned in the client requirement
- Solution Overview: Ensure you mention all key deliverables, include a system diagram, the basics of what all the client should expect after the project will be delivered.
- Scope: This section should clearly define the project scope i.e. both the in-scope and out-of-scope project aspects
- Resource Loading: Ensure you create a plan which clearly mentions the number of resources as well as hours that they would be putting in during the course of the project. Also include a brief bio of the resources that will be deployed such as 10+ years of experience, Full stack developer etc.
- Timelines: Create a Gantt chart that will showcase the overall project duration split across months/ weeks.
- Reference for similar work done in the past: Include certain referral projects as it gives the clients additional confidence that you have done similar projects in the past and hence you will be able to handle this one as well. Try to include such referral projects that have a similar scope of work to the projects in hand.
- Assumptions: In order to deliver the project in a cost-effective manner without compromising on quality, you plan to deliver the project in an off-shore/on-shore delivery model but the client is expecting the majority of the resources to be deployed on-site. Hence, mention all assumptions clearly beforehand so that no unwanted surprises pops-up later
- Payment Terms and Estimates: Payment terms and estimates should be flexible. Give the client a per hour rate and a fixed price rate. Mention clearly whether costs quoted include taxes and whether any additional charges should be anticipated.
- About Us: Mention essential facts like when did the company came into existence, your employee strength, website, email and other requisite factual details
- Client and Partner Network: Include details of your ecosystem i.e. how the clients and partner network looks like for your company.
- Policy statements: Include your policy or mission statements like Client confidentiality, customer engagement, best practices that you follow etc. but in brief, ideally 1 page only.
- Attach an excel of all detailed steps you plan to cover with hours/days marked against them. This helps the client to do the calculation themselves
You could also add any achievements, Awards etc which gives you an edge.
Don’t
- Remember not to start your proposal document about how good your company is and what all things you do. As a client is coming to you for a specific requirement and they’ll be least interested in all of that. Try to put it in the end
- Keep your proposal short and to the point, not more than 10–12 pages
- Do not exaggerate about what all you can do. Make it simple yet powerful and exclude all irrelevant project details
- Do not include any other client’s personal information or details about any of the on-going or finished projects as-is in your document. Provide masked details and if your client insists, you can share these details verbally. If they insist on submitting these details in written, get the buy-ins from the requisite clients before you share anything in written form
- Do not mention any personal details about any of your resources as the client project may start over the period of next 2 months and you cannot commit at that time what resources would be available to be deployed on the project.
Hope you found it useful. Please comment and let us know if it helped you.
Thanks a lot for taking out time to read our blog.
Just if you have missed adding again the link to download the sample document for creating proposals. This document has helped us in improving our conversion rates and has been improved time and again.
