2-25.2 Identifying and Selecting Members

Members can be from the purchase/SCM team, other Postal Service specialists (e.g., Finance or Legal Counsel) or external experts (care must be taken to ensure that there are no organizational conflicts of interest if an outside representative is selected). Individuals selected for the proposal evaluation team must have the proper skills and the ability to support the evaluation. Each member will bring something unique to the team; his or her individuality helps make the team process powerful. The most important characteristics for consideration in member selection include:

• Availability, interest, and willingness to participate on the proposal evaluation team.
• Chemistry with other team members.
• Familiarity with all the different parts of the proposal evaluation process (each part of the process must be known by at least one team member).
• Skills.
• Relevant organizational representation.

Other important proposal evaluation team formation issues are:

• Level and type of authority to grant the team.
• Use of full-time versus part-time members.
• Decisions about collocating team personnel.
• Team effectiveness.
• Team size (larger teams are generally more difficult to manage and coordinate and can create role confusion among members).

The CO is responsible for forming the proposal evaluation team and will work with the purchase/SCM team to identify internal and external candidates. Depending on the complexity and importance of the RFP, the proposal evaluation team may comprise the writers of the RFP, subject matter specialists, and outside consultants; it should include only those members and functions that directly support the evaluation.