Last month I suggested that the phenomenon of deadline anxiety might be enjoying a harrowing resurgence among the ranks of veteran estimators as of late. Yes, it’s true, I’ve seen it. Even the most jaded bidmeisters in the business are experiencing fearful flashbacks of a sort that we haven’t known since we cut our teeth on that first pencil-and-calculator nail-biter that nearly rendered us incontinent all those years ago.
But under scrutiny, we find that it isn’t the creeping awareness of growing somewhat long in the tooth that’s causing us to revert back to the sleepless nights of our early bean-counting years. No, we point the finger of blame at three malignant conditions inherent in our business and their increasingly deleterious effect on our confidence that are the root cause of our bid-day uneasiness: poorly rendered bid documents, lack of adequate time to prepare and diminishing markup rates. Not that we haven’t always dealt with this dastardly trio to some degree throughout the years, but it is their growing influence—partly due to the stalled economy, I suspect—that is the real boogeyman behind all of this deadline dread.
Furthermore, taken together, each element of this treble threat seems to support or amplify another. Bad docs require more time, not less. Less markup provides less buffer against the potential inaccuracies resulting from bad docs and diminishing time frames, and so on. Moreover, the intransigent nature of these sinister forces presents a formidable obstacle to overcoming their alarming effect. Given all of the above, it’s no wonder that we are losing sleep.
Enter Dr. Samuel Johnson with his oft-repeated quote that fits so many such situations that beg for remedies: “People need to be reminded more often than they need to be instructed.” In that vein, I offer a few reminders to help ward off the demons of foreboding.
Let Me Be Clear
Clearly, the best antidote for the kind of ambiguity we are seeing in the current wave of bid docs is clarity, and the best path to clarity is through the question-and-answer process. As we all know, most bid instruction packages on projects of any consequence provide for a period of questions or RFIs to be presented to the design team to clarify its intent. Presumably, this forum exists to give us quotesmiths a crack at trying to make some sense from what is often times nothing more than a mystifying collection of lines and dots. This sounds like a reasonable remedy on its face, but it has its faults. Time constraints frequently do not allow for questions that emerge any later than the earliest stages of the estimating process. Then too, architects are notorious for answering questions in a non-sequitur fashion—i.e., missing the point entirely and rambling on an unrelated issue.
But who said this was a perfect world, anyway? If a possible path to clarity is offered, we must make every effort to use it to our advantage, regardless of its shortcomings. Scanning the bid docs when first received with the purpose in mind of gleaning contradictions or ambiguities up front can help. Start a handwritten list of notes and questions from the get-go, and add or delete as you delve deeper. Then, submit a refined version just before the cut-off date. If questions emerge after the cut-off, submit them anyway with an apology and an explanation for their delinquency. Chances are you’ll get an answer, deadline notwithstanding. Failing this, watch for answers to your competitors’ questions—they are likely to mirror your own unpublished ones.
Take Your Time
The antidote above illustrates one of the primary maxims of time management: “Begin at the beginning.” Of all the quotable adages from the musings of Lewis Carroll, this one may be the most valuable to time-starved estimators. Taking the time to establish an ordered sequence to our approach up front can save us precious time in the long run. One rule I try to follow faithfully in my initial efforts is to scan all of the documents before making a single mark on the takeoff tab. I find that most diligent estimators page through the plans, scanning for information (and potential issues and questions) as they rename relevant pages and establish links. Then, they peruse the specifications and bid instructions before starting the takeoff. Less thoughtful estimators may leave the bid instructions for bid-day morning and are unpleasantly surprised by breakout requirements and scope extents that might have streamlined their approach to the bid from the beginning.
Needless to say, there is a mountain of published material on time management—most of it helpful and relevant to the estimator’s plight in terms of the shrinking allotment of time. But nearly every dictum will require some faithful investment of that precious commodity up front to reap the benefits in the long run. Which brings us always back to the King’s advice to the White Rabbit: Begin at the beginning. There’s a reason why he’s King.
Are the Odds with You?
The final specter in the ominous trio that seems to be haunting bidmeisters of late comes in the form of a mixed blessing: shrinking markups. To restate the obvious, lower markups increase the odds of a win but also are less forgiving in cases of oversight and omission. Again, I’ve seen resourceful quotesmiths come up with an antidote, but it’s an ace in the hole. If the first two boogeymen have had too much impact on a project, responsible estimators will approach their superiors, confess their lack of confidence in this particular bid and recommend additional markup to buffer against a potential stinker. Of course this lessens the likelihood of award but guards against a debilitating blow. One note of advice: Save this one as a last resort, or you may project yourself into a fatal losing streak.
In sum, I want to lend some reassurance to my colleagues that if they are experiencing a wave of deadline dread, they are not alone and their fear is not unfounded. But there are remedies to the causes of uneasiness slumbering in our collective memory that may well minimize the foreboding and boost the confidence level previously enjoyed.
Now, get some sleep.
Vince Bailey is an estimator at E&K of Phoenix.
