A great idea does not usually go straight from idea to implementation. You may think it would be a great idea to change the design of the office space in your department, but before anyone gives you the go ahead for such an expensive and time-consuming project, they will need to know that you have done research to ensure the idea is cost effective and will actually be workable for your employees.  Figure 10.2.1 breaks down the various stages a project might go through, and identifies some of the typical communication tasks that might be required at each stage.

The Life Cycle of a Project Idea

As shown, most ideas start out as a proposal to determine if the idea is really feasible, or to find out which of several options will be most advantageous. So before you propose the new office design, you propose to study whether or not it is a feasible idea. Before you recommend any specific office concept, you should propose to study three different concepts to find out which is the best one for your department. Your subsequent proposal assumes the idea is worth looking into, convinces the reader that it is worth spending the time and resources to look into, and gives detailed information on how you propose to do the “finding out.”

Once a project is in the implementation phase, the people who are responsible for the project will likely want regular status updates and/or progress reports to make sure that the project is proceeding on time and on budget, or to get a clear, rational explanation for why it is not. To learn more about Progress Reports, go to 10.4 Progress Reports.

Proposals

(How to write a Business Proposal in 10 Easy Steps, n.d.)

Proposals are some of the most common types of reports in the workplace. Variants of proposals include business plans and marketing plans. Proposals are persuasive documents intended to initiate a project often in response to a challenge with the aim of having the reader authorize the course of action proposed in the document. Proposals may be in the form of an informal, short document, addressing a localized need or challenge in your workplace, or the proposal may be a more formal and lengthy document that responds to a call for proposals for a complex project.

A proposal, in the technical sense, is a document that tries to persuade the reader to implement a proposed plan or approve a proposed project. Most companies and organizations rely on effective proposal writing to ensure successful continuation of their business by obtaining new contracts. With an effective proposal, the writer convinces the reader that

• the proposed plan or project is worth doing (worth the time, energy and expense necessary to implement),
• the author is the best candidate for implementing the idea,
• the proposed plan is realistic and feasible, and
• that the proposed course of action will result in intangible benefits.

Lengthy proposals are often written in response to a Request For Proposals (RFP) issued by a government agency, organization, or company. The requesting body receives multiple proposals responding to their request, reviews the submitted proposals, and chooses the best one(s) to go forward. Your proposal must persuade the reader that your idea is the one that most suitably addresses all the needs of the client.

Proposals may serve several purposes, which include seeking to obtain authorization to

• perform a task (such as a feasibility study, a research project, etc.),
• provide a product, or
• provide a service.

Figure 10.2.3 presents the general outline for proposals irrespective of purpose.

Four Kinds of Proposals

(Types of Business Proposals, n.d.)

• Solicited Proposals: An organization identifies a situation or problem that it wants to improve or solve and issues an RFP (Request for Proposals) asking for proposals on how to address it. The requesting organization will vet proposals and choose the most convincing one, often using a detailed scoring rubric or weighted objectives chart to determine which proposal best responds to the request.
• Unsolicited Proposals: A writer perceives a problem or an opportunity and takes the initiative to propose a way to solve the problem or take advantage of the opportunity (without being requested to do so). This can often be the most difficult kind of proposal to get approved and so should include a persuasive rationale for the proposed course of action.
• Internal Proposals:  These are written for someone within the same organization as the writers. Since both the writer and reader share the same workplace context, these proposals are generally shorter than external proposals and usually address some way to improve a work-related situation (productivity, efficiency, profit, etc.). As internal documents, they are often sent as memo reports, or introduced with a memo transmittal document if the proposal is lengthy.
• External Proposals: These are sent outside of the writer’s organization to a separate entity (usually to solicit business). Since these are external documents, they are usually sent as a formal report (if long) and introduced by a letter of transmittal. External proposals are usually sent in response to a Request for Proposals, but not always.

Key Elements of Proposals

A proposal designed to affect readers’ opinions about public policies differs from one that proposes to conduct market research for a company. Accordingly, the following analysis of key elements is presented as a series of considerations as opposed to a comprehensive blueprint. Always adapt your proposal to the context, audience, and purpose.

Define the Problem(s)

When you define the challenge that the proposal addresses, you are working to show the reader that you understand the need for what you are about to propose. Obvious problems can be defined briefly; whereas, more subtle problems may need considerable development. Thus, the length of this part of your proposal will depend on the amount of detail required to do the job. However, since proposals focus on the solution, the trend is to keep the problem overview as concise as possible.

When they read the introduction to your proposals, your audience is likely to ask these questions:

• Does this proposal address our needs?
• Who benefits from the proposal?
• Will the project have significant impact?
• Who is submitting the proposal?
• Do the proponents have a sufficient understanding of the issue?
• What is their interest in solving the problem?

In order to answer these questions, provide specifics including statistics, quotes from authorities, results from past research, interviews, and questionnaires. Notice how the following excerpt works to convince with statistics. These statistics provide the background information that readers may need to understand a proposal written on the subject:

The new report, based on a survey of employed Canadians 45+ and retirees that was conducted by Pollara Strategic Insights, finds that the overwhelming majority of working Canadians have started to save for their retirement. But, despite this positive finding, only 20 per cent feel very confident about how to manage and grow their money once they enter their retirement years and just half (53 per cent) have given it any thought at all. (Mackenzie Investment, 2021)

You can ask an LLM to assist in defining a problem after you have done some investigation to collect context-specific information and determinants. LLM output would not be very useful otherwise. Be sure that you abide by privacy and confidentiality obligations.

Define Your Method(s)

How will you gather information (secondary research or primary research)? In the humanities, writers do not explicitly mention their methods; whereas, in business, sciences, technology, and social sciences writers often explicitly mention their methods. For example, if you are proposing to conduct research, your readers will want information regarding how you propose to conduct the research. Will your research involve Internet and library research? Will you interview authorities or conduct a survey? If you are proposing a service, readers will want know how those services will best serve their needs. Often in business contexts, research will involve surveys or interviews and other forms of data collection. Be transparent about how you will go about collecting your information.

LLMs can help you to refine your methods section. Once you have drafted the description, ask the LLM to help you revise the contents so that it is complete. By modifying the above prompt, you can ask the LLM to guide you in developing additional relevant methods or sources of evidenced.

Present Your Solution(s)

Successful proposals are not vague about proposed solutions. Instead, they tend to outline step-by-step activities and objectives, perhaps even associating particular activities and objectives with dollar figures–if money is sought to conduct the proposal.

Critical readers are likely to view proposals skeptically, preferring inaction (which doesn’t cost anything) to action (which may involve risk), so your proposed course of action must be well defined and specific. As they review the solutions you propose, they may ask the following three questions:

1. Is the solution feasible and realistic?
2. How much time will it take to complete the proposal?
3. Will other factors resolve the problem over time? In other words, is the problem urgent?
4. What will it cost to implement, and what will the financial gains be over time?

LLMs can assist you in refining your proposed solution(s).

Appeal to Character/Persona

People often imply or explicitly make “appeals to character.” In other words, they attempt to suggest they have credibility, that they are good people with the best interests of their readers in mind.

The persona you project as the author of a proposal plays a fundamental role in the overall success of your project. Your opening sentences generally establish the tone of your text and present to the reader a sense of your persona, both of which play a tremendous role in the overall persuasiveness of your argument. By evaluating how you define the problem, consider counterarguments, or marshal support for your claims, your readers will make inferences about your character.

To establish credibility, ensure that your approach is balanced, unbiased, and fair. Once you have a draft document at hand, you can ask an LLM to review it and provide feedback on these characteristics. You can also ask it to “play the devil’s advocate” to raise potential arguments against your proposed approach. Doing this will help you to formulate arguments to explain how your approach is feasible and cost-effective. Of course, honesty is important: avoid fudging the details. Honesty will go a long way to establishing the value of your proposal.

Key Approaches

Use the following approaches to refine your proposal so that it is specific to the situation at hand and supported with relevant and current evidence, includes concreate and specific detail, and is conveyed using a confident tone.

Tighten the Focus

Proposal writers bring focus to their proposals by highlighting the urgency of the problem and by providing the evidence readers need to believe the proposed solution can work. Having a solid understanding of the opportunity and challenge that forms the basis of the proposal will enable you to address the situation in a manner that is convincing and realistic, so always analyze the circumstances underlying the situation as you plan your work.

You can ask an LLM to review the evidence you have included in the section of the proposal that describes the proposed solution. Modify one of the prompts shown above to make the request for assistance.

Account for Various Stakeholders

Proposals inevitably affect people. The actions taken based on projects that originate from proposals will affect co-workers, management, the organization, and often the broader community. Ensure that your proposal is inclusive by accounting for the needs of various groups including Indigenous, older adults, peoples of color, LGBTQ+, and others as they apply to your proposed project.

Use Concrete Development

It’s true that some proposals are won on appeals to emotion. But ultimately, an argument needs to be based on reason and facts. You need to conduct research to find the facts, opinions, and research that support your proposed course of action or offer. Include context-specific research as well as research into what has been done previously and cutting edge approaches. Investigate what others have done in similar situations and which approaches have worked or have not been so successful. With this knowledge, you can then create your own innovative approach.

Use Confident and Logical Language

Proposals are fundamentally persuasive documents, so paying attention to the rhetorical situation—position of the reader (upward, lateral, downward or outward communication), the purpose of the proposal, the form, and the tone—is paramount. Your task is to use a confident tone to convince the reader that your project is accurate, feasible, realistic, and beneficial to the reader. While employing persuasive writing strategies, it is important to avoid common logical fallacies. To review the principles of persuasive writing, please go to: Chapter 3.4: Writing to Persuade

Generally, the following principles will help you develop a style that is suited for proposals:

• Clearly define your purpose and audience before you begin to write.
• Be sure you have done the research so you know what you are writing about.
• Remain positive and constructive; don’t blame people or dwell on the negative; rather, focus on the path forward.
• Be solution-oriented; you are seeking to improve a situation.
• Make your introduction very logical, objective, and empirical; don’t start off sounding like an advertisement or sounding biased.
• Use primarily logical and ethical appeals; use emotional appeals sparingly.
• As always, adhere to the 7 Cs by making sure that your writing is
  • Clear and Coherent:  Don’t confuse your reader with unclear ideas or an illogical structure.
  • Concise and Courteous:  Don’t annoy your reader with clutter, unnecessary padding, inappropriate tone, or hard-to-read formatting.
  • Concrete and Complete:  Avoid vague generalities; give specifics. Don’t leave out information necessary for decision-making.
  • Correct:  Don’t undermine your professional credibility by neglecting grammar and spelling or by including inaccurate information.

Once you have a draft of your document, you can enlist the assistance of an LLM to review the text to ensure that you meet the above criteria.

Additional Considerations

All proposals must be convincing, logical, and credible, and to do this, they must consider audience, purpose and tone. They are persuasive documents, so all components must be carefully considered as you integrate them into the document. You should also do the following:

• Describe your qualifications to take on and/or lead this project; persuade the reader that you have the required skills, experience, and expertise to complete this job.
• Include graphics to illustrate your ideas, present data, and enhance your pitch.
• Include secondary research to support your claims and to enhance your credibility and the strength of your proposal.
• Choose the format according to the context; is this a memo report to an internal audience or a formal report to an external audience? Does it require a letter of transmittal?

Proposal Organization

Each proposal will be unique in that it must address a particular audience, in a particular context, for a specific purpose. See the sample proposal below for an example of a formal proposal structure. The following Table 10.2.1 offers a fairly standard organization for many types of proposals:

Table 10.2.1 Typical formal business proposal format (Moxley, 2009, 2012, 2018)

Sample Informal/Short Proposal

Here below in Figure 10.2.4 is a sample short research proposal formatted as a memo report.

Why Project Proposals Might be Rejected

A proposal or recommendation needs research to convince the reader that the idea is worth pursuing or implementing. A project proposal could be rejected for any of the following reasons related to insufficient research:

Unclear Problem: The research problem is not clearly defined, so the research plan has no clear focus (your ideas are too vague and not well thought out)

Unnecessary Project: This issue is already well-known or the problem has already been solved (or is in the process of being solved). For example, proposing that the school cafeteria should replace plastic cutlery with compostable cutlery, when it has already done so, would result in a rejected proposal.

Impractical Scope: Access to information, resources, and equipment needed to complete your proposed study may not be available; adequate conclusions cannot be reached in the designated time frame and with resources available. For example, if you propose to do a study that will take two years, but your project is due in two months, the proposal will be rejected.

Be sure to submit your proposal to a thorough review before sending it to the procurer.

References

Ewald, T. (2017). Writing in the technical fields: A practical guide (2nd ed.). Oxford University Press.

Greeg, U. (n.d.). Types of business proposals [Video]. Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mTSah0Sf_fU

[Lightbulb image].  https://www.iconfinder.com/icons/667355/aha_brilliance_idea_think_thought_icon. Free for commercial use.

Mackenzi Investment. (2021, September 23).Mackenzie Investments Retirement Study: Canadians are saving for retirement, but majority lack confidence on how to manage their nest egg. https://www.mackenzieinvestments.com/en/media-centre/press-releases/_2021/2021-september-23-mackenzie-investments-retirement-study-canadians-are-saving-retirement

McMurrey, D. (1997-2017). Examples, cases, and models. Online technical writing. https://mcmassociates.io/textbook/models.html

Moxley, J. (2009/2012/2018). Proposals. In Professional and technical communication (2019). OER. Suzie Baker, Adapter. https://www.oercommons.org/authoring/54645-professional-and-technical-writing/7/view

[Proposal image]. [Online]. Available: https://pixabay.com/en/couple-love-marriage-proposal-47192/. Pixabay License.

Williams, V. (2020). Business proposals. Fundamentals of business communication. OER.  https://pressbooks.bccampus.ca/businesswritingessentials/chapter/chapter-13-business-proposals/

SMB Guide. (n.d.). How to write a business proposal [Video]. Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6kTK6HfS4Y