Three Key Things to Highlight About Your Program Manager in Orals

As I discussed in a recent blog post, oral presentations to the Government are often about more than just technical capabilities and experience. The Government wants to know how well your team can work together and provide the critical support and services they require. A critical subset to that is the impression made by your proposed program manager. During orals, highlighting three critical points about your PM will make them stand apart from the crowd and highlight the value they bring to the client.

Point 1: They Have the Capabilities. The table stakes for any PM candidate is they have the ability to do the job required. Assuming you have already submitted a detailed resume for the candidate, how do you show this in your oral presentation? First, during the candidate’s introduction, focus on the most relevant, high-level experience examples that will resonate with the client. After introducing themselves as “your proposed project manager,” the candidate should lead with their direct management experience. How many people have they led, and for how long, in a similar environment? In addition, they should focus on the highly relevant projects they have led and worked on. For example, if they are leading an Agile development bid, how many teams have they worked with? How many builds and deployments have they overseen?

Second, the PM should be our lead speaker. They should book-end the presentation, being the first and last speaker of the presentation. Wherever possible, they should at least lead off the technical approach discussion and, depending on the balance of speaking roles across the team, present at least one major topic. This allows the client to see your PM not just as a manager but also as someone with deep technical knowledge and expertise in the subject matter.

Point 2: They are the Boss. In the end, the PM is the head honcho for your team during execution. You want to show that throughout the presentation, both in subtle and upfront ways. For example, be deliberate in where your PM sits during in-person oral presentations. I am a huge fan of the PM being in the center of the presentation team. This puts the PM directly in the center of the evaluator’s eye when looking at the team. It also makes the logistics easier during the question and answer (Q&A) session, which I will discuss next. 

Most oral presentations include a time for the Government to ask for clarifications or further details from the team. Q&A is the perfect opportunity to show your PM is in charge. Some of the tips below are dependent on the format the Government uses. For example, if the client asks questions directly to a presenter (which occurs rarely), then you would obviously not follow this approach. But in general:

• The PM should acknowledge the question from the Government, thank them for the question, and ask if the team has an opportunity to caucus
• If you can caucus, the PM leads that short session. They should direct who they would like to answer what, in what order, and what the main points will be. If the team cannot caucus, then the PM should direct answers to members of the team and assign, on the fly, the main talking points and order. For example, “first, Henry will provide context on how we develop our Agile teams, and Mary will include detail on how we hire the right people to meet your needs.”
• At the end of the answer, the PM says, “that concludes our response. Does that answer the question for you?” Even if the client does not provide feedback on the adequacy of your response, it shows them we have completed our answer.

Point 3: They Know Their Team. I mentioned in my previous post how important it is for team chemistry to come across in your oral presentations. Therefore, it is critical the PM shows their knowledge and familiarity with the entire team. Do this from the start, when the PM does the introduction. They should not only introduce the topics and areas of focus but also who will be presenting each topic. Secondly, as detailed in the Q&A point above, the PM’s must steer questions to the right person to answer them. In short, a good leader knows what their people can do, and the PM needs to do this throughout the oral presentation.

Conclusion. Oral presentations provide your teams the opportunity to prove to the Government that not only can you do the work but you can also be the right team to help the client succeed. Having a talented program manager heading not just your execution team but your bid is critical to helping you win the work and be a successful partner for the Government in the future.

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