The Lean RFP: Why Fewer People Build the Best Proposals

In the world of Medicaid RFPs, there is a common but costly misconception: a comprehensive proposal requires a massive drafting committee.

We've all seen it: the war room filled with 50 senior stakeholders, each adding a layer of complexity and in many cases, a conflicting opinion.

Typically, the result isn't a winning proposal; it's a Frankenstein document that’s difficult to read and even harder to manage.

To consistently win, you need to stop drafting by committee and start drafting in modules – this is our core belief at Athena Won and a practice we facilitate with clients. By moving to a modular team approach, you preserve the strategic win themes of your bid while significantly reducing the administrative overkill that limits momentum.

The Architecture of a Modular Team

A modular approach is based on lean pods. Instead of one giant group, you break the RFP into its logical components, Technical, Management, and Commercial, and assign a "Core Trio" to each:

1. The Lead Writer: Owns the voice and ensures the section and answers the prompt.

2. The Subject Matter Expert (SME): Provides the "raw" technical truth.

3. The Decision Maker: Has the authority to sign off on the solution without a secondary meeting.

By limiting the number of seats at the table, you eliminate the social chaos that occurs in large meetings. When three people are responsible for a module, there’s nowhere to hide, as accountability increases and the document's voice remains consistent.

Managing SMEs: From "Accidental Writers" to Specialists

One of the things we see a lot in RFPs is SME burnout. SMEs are brilliant at their jobs, but they often view RFP drafting as a distraction. A modular approach fixes this by changing how you interact with them. So, you can stop asking SMEs to write, and instead, ask them to validate.

For example, instead of sending an SME a blank page, have the Lead Writer facilitate a 30-minute interview. The writer builds the narrative outline, and the SME provides the technical muscle. This action reduces the SME's cognitive load and prevents them from wandering into sections where they aren't needed. A modular system also provides SMEs with a fenced-in area of guardrails. They know exactly which 500 words they own and what they don't.

Shipley with a Twist

One question that often comes up: Does this approach support the Shipley Method? The answer is yes, but with a caveat. We value Shipley's rigor, but we reject its bureaucracy.

The Shipley Method is famous for its “color team” reviews (Blue, Pink, Red). These are essential for quality control. However, a modular approach makes these reviews far more effective:

·         Cleaner Pink Teams: Because the initial draft was created by a lean pod rather than a committee, the Pink Team (early draft) is already cohesive. Reviewers spend less time fixing Frankenstein errors and more time on strategy.

·         Targeted Red Teams: In a modular system, you don't need every SME to sit through a four-hour Red Team meeting. You bring them in for a 15-minute review, then let them get back to their billable work. And – you save a lot of budget along the way.

How it’s Done

The best RFPs are not a collection of every thought your company has ever had; they're designed to answer a request and respond to a specific problem/need. Yes, you're shrinking the team at the table, but you aren't losing expertise; you're gaining clarity.

Use the modular approach to protect your SMEs, respect the Shipley milestones, and ultimately, deliver an RFP narrative that sounds like it was written by one smart person rather than a large, confused crowd.