A tight RFP deadline with a small team feels like an impossible math problem: too much work, not enough people, not enough time. It's rarely actually impossible. It usually requires a different approach than simply asking everyone to work harder on every section at once.
Prioritize Based on What's Actually Being Scored
Not every section of a proposal carries equal weight in evaluation. Before dividing up work, identify which sections the evaluation criteria weight most heavily, and direct your strongest available time and attention there first. A polished, compelling response to the highest-weighted criteria matters more than evenly distributed effort across every section.
Reuse What's Genuinely Reusable: Carefully
Company history, standard qualifications, and boilerplate compliance language can often be adapted from previous proposals, saving real time. The key is careful adaptation, not copy-paste: reused content needs to be checked against this specific solicitation's requirements and tailored where it doesn't quite fit.
Assign One Person to Own Compliance
With a small team and a tight timeline, having one person responsible for tracking every requirement against the compliance matrix (even if they're not writing every section) prevents the kind of oversight that happens when everyone assumes compliance is "someone else's job."
Protect Time for Review, Not Just Drafting
Under deadline pressure, the instinct is to write until the last possible moment. Resist this. Build in a genuine review period (even if it's compressed) because a rushed final review is where formatting errors, missed requirements, and inconsistent voice usually slip through.
Know When to Ask for Help
If the deadline and workload genuinely exceed what the team can produce at the quality level needed, bringing in outside support for a specific section, a compliance review, or overall proposal management can be a more effective solution than everyone working unsustainable hours to cover the gap.
Key Takeaways
Prioritize effort toward the most heavily weighted evaluation criteria, not evenly across every section.
Reused content should be carefully tailored, not simply copy-pasted from previous proposals.
One person owning compliance tracking prevents oversights on a small team.
Protecting real review time, even under pressure, catches errors that rushed final drafting misses.
Protect the Response Under Pressure
Inclusive Strategies helps small teams organize requirements, ownership, evidence, and review time when an RFP deadline is approaching. Lesley Crane, a former IDOA Commissioner, and Megan Lawson, former leader of Vendor Management and Supplier Performance within IDOA procurement, bring firsthand process experience to this work. Find more practical support at inclusivestrategies.co.