Paul Rogers, Chair of The Nigels judging panel, crams 10 tips into 600 words to help you submit a better entry to the Procurement in Practice Excellence Awards aka The Nigels.
There’s no need to ‘read between the lines’ but there are some things to avoid ‘like the plague’. If you want to ‘cut the mustard’ then ‘knowledge is power!’
1. ‘You can’t win it unless you are in it!’
It is easier to complain about being under-appreciated than to sit down and craft an entry.
The first tip is to ‘seize the day’ and commit to entering. If you want recognition, why not use the process of creating an entry as a learning experience about business storytelling? Who knows, you may even get shortlisted!
2. ‘Barking up the wrong tree’
Score points with every sentence by structuring your content to follow the evaluation criteria. This is what the judges will score you against, so ‘stick to the script’ and don’t make the judges ‘read between the lines’.
3. ‘In a nutshell’
Brevity is your friend. Bullet points are fine. There’s no need to ‘wax lyrical’ or to use ‘flowery prose’. It ‘boils down’ to making a ‘long story short’ to get your point across without your entry being a haiku.
4. ‘Many a mickle makes a muckle’
Why is this project significant to the organisation? Every procurement team does good things, so what is it about this project or this team that makes it stand out? Give some context so that the judges can understand why this project is noteworthy.
5. The ‘proof of the pudding is in the eating’
Unsubstantiated claims won’t score as many points as claims backed up by evidence. Not all initiatives succeed, but it helps if you can provide a testimonial or quantified results. If you are claiming improvement, provide some proof!
6. ‘Hide your light under a bushel’
I have never seen a bushel in an office, but I do know that it is better to use the active voice (“I spoke directly to the key stakeholders, listening to their feedback”).
The problem with the passive voice (“stakeholder engagement was undertaken”) is that it is never clear ‘who did what’, especially if multiple stakeholders are involved.
7. The ‘red thread’
One option is to start with a single theme and make sure the theme runs through your entry like a red thread. This builds coherence and helps the reader understand the ‘why’ as well as the ‘what’. Demonstrate that you have thought about the ‘secret sauce’ that led to the outcomes you achieved.
8. ‘Singing from the same hymn sheet’
Even the Lone Ranger had Tonto…and all improvement initiatives involve other stakeholders. Whether internal or external stakeholders, make clear the role and contribution of other parties.
If you engaged external support, such as a consultancy, don’t airbrush their role from the narrative. Maybe get them to contribute part of the content?
9. ‘A picture speaks a thousand words’
Graphics can communicate some concepts quickly and clearly. Consider using images when they enhance (and don’t duplicate) the contents. If you are discussing transformation, consider a table of ‘from/to’ statements to quickly show the dimensions affected.
10. ‘Avoid cliches like the plague’
The Nigels is not a writing competition and your entry will not be judged on the quality of your prose.
So, if you don’t know your iambic pentameter from your flux capacitor, fear not. As long as you write in English and the judges understand what you are trying to say, you are in with a chance.
