I spent hours today working on a proposal.  Way more time than I should have. 

And it got me thinking…

The client had put out a tender which means other companies would be pitching for the same business.

I bet they didn’t spend hours putting their proposals together.  Who does in this age of AI?  ‘Charlie’ (my name for ChatGPT) could rustle up a pretty whizzy Proposal in no time.  

• ‘He’ would use all the key words mentioned in the brief.  
• He would recommend all the latest gimmicks like gamification, micro-learning and experiential learning.
• He would respond to every request – Methodology / Timelines / Evaluation, etc.
• And he would finish it all before your cuppa tea got cold!!

If it was then put into some fancy graphics (again, with the help of AI), that proposal would certainly stand out from the crowd.  And that company may well win the project.

But then what?  

Somebody – probably some poor freelance soft skills trainer – would need to understand the brief; make sense of the proposal; study the content (which may contain models they have never even heard of ?); find out as much about the audience as possible; then turn up on the day and deliver the content in an impactful and engaging way.  Ta daaaaa! 

But what if that didn’t happen?  What if the training company that sent in the proposal…

• Didn’t double-check the information Charlie spat out because it was TLDR (too long; didn’t read)?
• Didn’t check if it made sense or would meet your needs exactly?
• Didn’t work out if the logistics and timeline proposed were actually possible?
• Don’t actually have a trainer who is knowledgeable on the topic and can deliver the content? or
• Does manage to find someone knowledgeable on the topic but who speaks in a monotone voice, has no personality and has your precious employees falling asleep before the morning coffee break?  (After all ‘Charlie’ can’t drive to the training venue and deliver the content in a charismatic way… not yet anyway).

By then it’s too late to turn back the clocks.  A chunk of your training budget has ‘gone for a six’, your participants are all complaining and you still have a series of online, face-to-face and micro-learning sessions to be delivered by the same company. All because the proposal looked ‘the business’!

So, L&D managers, beware! With AI making tasks so quick and easy these days, it’s more important than ever to do your research.

Don't be swayed by a fancy proposal alone. Take the time to scrutinise the content, check it really does meet your needs (and that the models suggested do actually exist!).  Ask tough questions, and demand to meet the trainer who will be delivering the programme. 

Your employees deserve better than a monotone voice and a series of snooze-fest sessions. And you deserve a decent return on your training budget!

Corrina Cross is the Founder and Lead Facilitator of The People People.  

She specialises in creating engaged and high performing teams by developing leaders with great interpersonal skills.

For leadership development programmes that truly ‘hit the nail on the head’, contact Corrina on:  corrina@the-people-people.com; www.the-people-people.com https://www.linkedin.com/in/corrinacross/

 contact Corrina on:corrina@the-people-people.com; 

www.the-people-people.com       https://www.linkedin.com/in/corrinacross/