Off-The-Shelf IT Solutions - extras - Templates for stage: Evaluation and selection - shortlist

8 Detailed evaluation – assessing the shortlisted candidates

Evaluation tour itinerary format

Your detailed evaluation will usually involve a tour of meetings featuring multiple people, places and dates. To avoid anybody getting lost or missing their slot, exploit the headings in this format. Send to all evaluation team members, including those attending by video-conference. See usage at book sections 8.3 and 8.4.

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Timed meeting schedule format

This format allows you to plan the length of each session (one session per category or section of the requirements document), based on the number of requirements in that section. This helps establish the running order. You can allocate people to slots, assuming a smaller ‘standing’ scoring team and specialists who only attend a small number of sessions. You don’t need to process the requirements document from 0001 to 9999. Indeed you will usually ‘jump around’ at category or section level to match the availability of expert members of the evaluation and response teams. See usage at book sections 8.4 to 8.5 and again at 9.9.

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9 Scoring – establishing degree of fit and ranking

Session allocation spreadsheet

You can use the same format as at Timed meeting schedule format in Chapter 8, for the same reasons. You also have a similar process of planning session length and allocating people to their session or sessions. See usage at book section 9.9.

Weighted attribute scoring spreadsheet

Normally, the weighted attribute matrix (WAM) is the most important format in the whole procurement project – central within your selection and the basis for all remaining stages. If you have followed the recommendation to divide requirements into categories or sections, note the formulae at the sub-total rows and the outlining in this spreadsheet are valuable and non-trivial to recreate. Therefore, the most efficient way to transfer your requirements list into this format is to extend each Category block – add new rows in the middle of each section and fill down to complete the formulae without damaging the sub-total rows. When you have enough sections and each section has enough rows to accommodate the respective requirements, transfer each of your Category names into the top row of a block to name the sections themselves. Then, paste across your requirement numbers and titles in section blocks. Finally, delete any surplus requirement rows or candidate columns. See usage at book sections 9.8 to 9.11.

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Definitions document format

Note the definitions format for your scoring meeting needs two prior inputs to mail merge processing. Download both these documents into the same folder.

• For the merge ‘Recipients list’ you should populate the two columns of the associated Excel spreadsheet with your list of requirement titles and their respective requirement numbers. Delete any redundant rows.
• In the Word document, adjust the default wording of the definitions within the table to match your document reference. Use the Mail Merge Manager to ensure this is the Main document and the type of merge is set to Catalog.
• The merge run (it is usually safe to continue if errors come up) will create a third document. Verify all requirements are represented, that it has one page per requirement, with the titles in place and provision for recording issues and definitions during the scoring meeting.

See usage at book section 9.5.

Download input list format (.xlsx)

Download main document for merge (.docx)

10 Demonstrations – proving the best fit

Demonstration attendee feedback form

You can be more sophisticated than this if your internal infrastructure or external services feature an online survey tool. If not, you can collect attendee reactions with the tick-boxes on this basic paper format. See usage at book sections 10.6.4 and 10.7.5.

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Feedback analysis spreadsheet

This is the analysis spreadsheet to process the completed demonstration feedback forms. See usage at book section 10.8.

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11 Reference sites – real customer feedback

Semi-structured reference site interview form, with some standard questions

This format has standard headings and entries to adapt before your reference site conversations. See usage at book sections 11.5, 11.6 and 11.8.1.

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