The second day at the 2022 Victorian all-female Big Build Bridge Program is all about moving outside your comfort zone as our cohort battle in their respective teams to come to terms with their first major project milestones in the run-up to Friday’s tender deadline.
Why is this area of the program so challenging? Because most of our participants have never been involved in a tender submission, they have not been part of the challenging process of specifying and pricing a major project, experienced the pressure of the looming deadline, or faced the reality of trying to cover every aspect of the client’s requirements while developing a commercial approach that will work for their team, the client and the project. As anyone who has ever seen a tender team demobilises after a submission, it’s pretty evident to see just how hard everyone has worked to prepare their bid and then presented it to the client in the hope of securing a contract.
But, unlike most tenders, our teams don’t have weeks or months to prepare. They have two days, two days in which they have to form a team, learn new skills, develop their bid, create a presentation and manage the pressures, challenges and opportunities of going from uncomfortable to high-performance.
But the good news is that they are not alone, and thanks to our amazing partners, we can surround them with some of the sector’s best and brightest to advise, mentor, support and challenge them through the process.
Offering their time, experience and guidance on day two were Seymour Whyte’s Brianna Lugg, Matt Owen and Hayley Brown, Arcadis’ Zubair Syed, Bentley’s Mark harper, Luke Read and Luke Titmarsh and MRPV’s Sarah Straus and Yulia Kasatkina.
Harry, Brianna, Matt and Alex took both teams through their approach to tender success and construction methodology, sharing their knowledge of major projects, understanding clients, shaping their bids and articulating their stories.
Zubair was on hand to look offer expertise in engineering and design support for their structure, sharing the in-depth knowledge of the Victorian Big Build Bridge and the challenges that construction will pose and the considerations required to meet the brief.
Safety in Construction was the centrepiece of our lunch and learn as Sarah and Yulia outlined MRPV’s approach to safety on projects, reinforcing to the team the values and expectations that drive performance but most importantly, ensuring that team members work collaboratively, look out for each other and ensure that at all times safety is the main priority on any project. Thanks to Sarah and Yulia for sharing their knowledge with our cohort and passing on valuable insights that will stand them in good stead for build week.
The team from Bentley worked with our teams to familiarise them with Synchro Perform, how to integrate their methodology into the system and how best to track their schedule and costs so that they will be confident and in control of budget and schedules if their tender is successful.
And while all of that was going on, the teams had to work towards their first major deadline, which rolled around very quickly at 5 pm for the early tender deliverable of their respective procurement lists.
Constructionarium’s Alex Ibarra has participated in a build as a cohort member and is now a central part of Constructionarium Australia’s training and delivery team, so we caught up with Alex to capture his throughs on the cohort’s progress, “Both teams are performing well. They have had a lot to take in as well as adapting to be part of a fast-paced training program. I’m pleased with how they are asking the right questions, not making assumptions and are forming strong bonds as a collective team and within their individual teams.”
“Both teams delivered their first requirement on time, and while that’s always a ‘sigh of relief’ moment, they all know just how much work is ahead of them. Come tender review and presentation time, they will be evaluated against 11 core criteria and their presentation. And I can guarantee this is not a tick box exercise, our tender review panel will treat their submissions just as they would in the real world. The tough questions will be asked, their methodologies will be strenuously assessed, and the winning team will be held accountable in build week for the promises they make if they secure the contract to build the All-Female Big Build Bridge.”
“I’m suspecting there could be a few hours worked this evening as they finalise their submission and prepare their presentations, but from experience, I know that we will see some exceptional work presented tomorrow, and we are all excited to see how far our teams have come in two days.”
And as day 3 dawned, the teams spent the morning finalising their tenders ahead of their 12-noon submission deadline. Working with Matt and Alex, they worked tirelessly to finalise the devil in the details, dot the i’s and cross the t’s on their documents.
As noon approached, success was achieved with Team Else and Team Merle delivering their completed submission to the client.
For our lunch and learn, we were joined by Seymour Whyte’s Courtney Hoops, who outlined the organisation’s approach to undertaking major projects and the values that underpin its success. Another fantastic insight that provided our cohort from client and design organisations with a thorough understanding of the approach taken by contractors who will work in collaboration with them to deliver vital infrastructure.
It was then time to refine the tender presentations, with both teams retreating to their respective offices to prepare to face our panel of experts, outline their submissions and tell their story of their approach to construction, safety, project controls and more.
Today’s panel comprised Julia, Harry, Alex, Moshika and Matt. Armed with evaluation criteria and curiosity as to what our teams would deliver, it was time for the moment of truth.
Once again, the teams’ work has to be seen to be believed. It was outstanding. From never having undertaken a tender to delivering outstanding submissions and fabulous presentations in under two days while attending presentations, classroom sessions and more is remarkable. Well done to everyone involved with the closeness of the final scoring testament to how well each team performed.
But there can be only one winner, and the organisation chosen to build the All-Female Big Build Bridge was Team Merle.
Following the signing of the contract, it was time for reunification as two teams became one ready to tackle build week, which commences on Monday. Until then, we reckon our cohort deserves a well-earned rest over the weekend so they can return with recharged batteries ready to move to the construction phase.
