The document provides 25 guidelines for effectively working on a proposal team. The guidelines stress asking to be on the team, taking on tough assignments, meeting deadlines, avoiding problems and superlatives in writing, remaining positive, giving credit and taking responsibility, mentoring others, and coordinating with other team members. Following the guidelines could help team members have a great experience despite the hard work of drafting a proposal.

1. On a Proposal Team? Act Like You've Been There.
By: Jim McCarthy, AOC Key Solutions
A proposal team—a team thought to function best when hastily assembled, populated with
strangers and pontificators, and forced to work long hours in cramped conditions under pressing
deadlines. Your company is putting together a team to slog through the proposal trenches. If you
really want to add value and distinguish your performance, remember these guidelines.
1. Ask to be on the team.
2. Be willing to take on tough assignments--ones that test and stretch you.
3. Volunteer to help a colleague in need.
4. Check your work. Upload your drafts to the server at least daily.
5. Beat, don't just meet, your deadlines. Come in at, or under, your allotted page count.
6. Offer options and solutions, never problems.
7. Create a whine-free zone around your cubicle.
8. Implement your team's approved themes--not your own.
9. Support every proposal claim with a proof or metric. For every major feature, include a
benefit—to your customer.
10. Avoid superlatives in your writing--they are almost always untrue.
11. Come to work early, leave late.
12. Meet your commitments.
13. Listen and learn from each other.
14. Inject a dose of humility--you don't know it all.
15. Remain positive. Avoid cynicism.
16. Give honest compliments.
17. Give credit, accept responsibility, and make no excuses.
18. Mentor a younger or less experienced colleague.
19. Be patient when others make mistakes. One day you may make one too.
20. Write in an active, not passive, voice. Don't know the difference? Look it up.
21. Quantify. Specify.
22. Support your proposal manager in public. Recommend corrective actions in private.
23. Respect your competition. Never mock your customer.
24. Be alert for "red faces," it means trouble is brewing.
25. If your section "touches" another’s, coordinate your approach.
Just imagine if everybody on the team complied with these guidelines. You might surprise
yourself and others by actually having a great experience amidst all the hard work.