Instructor: Rick McKeel

Description: For this assignment you will write a 3-5 page single-spaced professionally-written proposal to a former boss with a plan to address a business-related problem.

Proposals take many forms, but generally they describe a problem/identify a need/opportunity; recommend a solution/response; and provide a plan for implementation. (Some suggest several potential solutions/responses and recommend one over the others.)

While many proposals are formal documents authored by consulting companies and used to persuade other organizations to retain their services, less formal proposals, particularly those made by one employee to another inside an organization, abound daily.

There are many activities that we may propose others in our organization do in response to a perceived need or problem.

For example:

? You could propose your company adopt new technology or conduct research on the customer base.

? Perhaps you believe they should explore the capacity for growth in a certain market sector.

? Perhaps you would like to propose they develop a new product.

? You could propose an employee policy regarding absences/leave or suggest alternatives to scheduling, hiring or training.

? You might have suggestions to curb theft.

? You may have ideas on how to make a process more effective or efficient.

There are limitless problems you may encounter. But there are some very specific and important approaches to formulating your proposal so that it is persuasive and taken seriously by decision-makers. Toward that end, include the following in your proposal.

Make Sure Your Proposal Contains the following:

A. Current Situation. Introduce the problem to your boss(es). Explain/describe what motivated you to consider the phenomena to be problematic. Provide enough background information to enable a reader who is unfamiliar with the situation to understand the issue, including the negative consequences that this problem incurs. Consider who, what, where, and when to determine if you have provided adequate description of the problem.

B. Goals. Clearly explain the goals of your proposal. This will entail describing the positive consequences from addressing the situation. Frame them in terms of your audience's goals, not your own. (E.g. If your boss doesn't care about making computer repair service calls shorter but wants to reduce call-backs from 15% to 3%, then frame the recommendations mainly in these terms, even if your recommendations will improve both time-to-repair and reduce call-backs.)

C. Proposed Methodology ("Implementation Plan"; "Schedule of Events"). Describe how you would improve the problem through a set of recommended steps to lead the organization to meeting their goals. (Remember to frame the recommendations in terms of your audience's (i.e. bosses') goals, not yours. See above.) Consider who, what, when, and where for these recommended steps and describe why these changes should be made. Account for Equipment, Facilities, Financial and Other Costs (e.g. disruptions in service during renovation), and Personnel.

? Note: Avoid telling your boss what to do. Use words like could or might, not would or will. E.g. "You will offer 3 training sessions to help employees learn to use the new software" versus "you could offer 3 training sessions to help employees learn to use the new software." Use "modal verbs" such as can, could, may, might, shall, should, will and would.

D. Time and cost. Thoroughly explain the time and cost requirements for each step in the methodology, based on your calculations. (In consultants' business proposals, this section would also specify how you would be billing the client, and when payment would be expected.)

E. Your Background/Qualifications. In a consultant's business proposal, this would be included in a separate section fully describing why you and your company are best for this job; it would include information based on your competitive strengths and on the proposal's evaluation criteria.

However, for this assignment you are an internal employee, and you will want to remind your boss about your length of employment and your accomplishments while you have been there.

Just as you did for cover letters and resumes, you can describe your aptitudes and experiences (e.g. formal coursework in business or customer service experience) then provide supporting evidence for how this makes you qualified to evaluate the situation and recommend solutions.

For instance, you might say that in your formal coursework at VCU, you learned how to evaluate social marketing campaigns and this enables you to see untapped opportunities in your present organization. As with cover letters, qualifications might include factors such as passion for improving the situation, willingness to commit extra effort to solving the problem, or ability to motivate others to assist with making changes to address the problem.

F. Benefits. Discuss the benefits the organization will receive by implementing your recommendations. Be sure to TRANSLATE "consequences" into "benefits." In other words, "connect the dots" here; don't presume these links are obvious in a reader's mind! Be sure you also connect the dots between the goal your proposed improvement will fulfill and the overall goals of the company (e.g. if you propose to reduce meal prep time in the restaurant's kitchen, describe how this would enable wait staff to give customers hotter, fresher meals and quicker service, AND that this in turn would increase customer satisfaction).

E. Brief Conclusion. Recap the problem and your recommendations. As with a cover letter, end with a "call to action": tell your boss you would like to set up a meeting and discuss your ideas.

You can organization these elements the way that best serves the problem and your audience. For example, you might choose to add subheadings as you see fit. However, make sure the organization functions to impart information and persuade your unique audience.