Question

Please read Chapter 17 on "Proposals" in Strategies for Technical Communication.

( in your own word please )

1.Can you think of any examples of verbal or written proposals you have made (this can be as a student, in the workplace, or in other areas of your life)? What are some of the different types of proposals described in the textbook?

2.Give an example of a specific proposal you can imagine someone in a technical field needing to write, and say who/what the audience and purpose for that proposal would be. What are some of the important organizational elements of a proposal?

3.Look at our assignment sheet for the Research Proposal, and then look at the strategies for proposals given in the book. What are two or three strategies that you plan to use as you work on your Research Proposal?

4.After reading the Research Proposal handout and the handouts in the Formal Report Information module, do you have some ideas for potential paper topics that you could explore in your Research Proposal?

5.Make sure they are technical topics--if you're not sure if a topic idea fits. Brainstorm and list a few possible topics below (try and list at least five ideas).

Answer 1

A proposal is a solution that is being offered to a problem by explaining the overview of the problem, solution, costs and benefits of implementation.

Example of a proposal:

For a start up company with no systems of documentation in place, the new joined manager takes steps to provide a proposal to the director of the company on introducing the standard operating procedure.

Overview of the Problem:   The present practices in the office is not healthy as every thing is executed on a adhoc manner. So considering the future growth scope of the company and its progress towards ISO certifications, its quiet necessary to introduce clear systems of practices through standard operating procedure.

Solution: The process owner of the particular department should list out,

- What they are doing on a daily basis with regard to their operations.

- What will be the agreed timeline of completing the tasks?

- Who will be responsible for what?

This description has to be clearly explained and should be supported with suitable reports as evidential to justify the happenings. For example to raise a requirement on adding new resources, the first step would be to raise the "Manpower requisition form" to HR inorder initiate the process.

Costs: This depends on the expenses that will incur towards the preparation of this SOP. For example a reasonable fee to be offered to an expert while taking his views and guideness.

Benefits: On successfully implementing the SOP in all the departments of the company will facilitate the process to run on a systematic manner irrespective of drive / push from anyone towards the execution. This will lay the ground for progressing the company towards ISO certifications. Also will create a name among the clients while explaning about their standards and process.

Types of Proposal:

a) Pre Proposal

b) Solicited Proposal / Request for Proposals (RFP)

c) Unsolicited Proposal

d) Renewal and Continuation Proposal

e) Supplemental Proposal

2) Example of a technical proposal to provide a description about the new product to the target group by explaining its introduction, features, costs and benefits of implementation. ( Usage of HRMS Software).

Key elements of a proposal are,

- Title of the Proposal

- Covering Letter

- Table of Contents

- Executive summary

- Services / Methodologies

- Pricing

- About us