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Sam's journey · Winning the work (tender) · Lesson 5

Can they actually do it?

Before you start

In the story

Six ticks. One laptop from 2009.

Back to the story

The right way

Tender

Each task team shows its evidence on people, skills and IT, not a tick. The lead checks it and rolls it up into one summary for the whole team.

Tender

Every gap gets a plan: training, licences, someone to help, or a different firm.

Get readyGet ready: Week one…
Week one

The groundworks firm starts with logins, a two-hour session and a checklist. IMG_4471 never happens.

Six ticksNo logins, photos of paper, and a month of training nobody planned.
Shown, not tickedEvidence for every firm, one team summary, and a plan for every gap.
Think like Sam

A tick isn't evidence. For each firm, what have you actually seen: their logins, their naming, a sample drawing? And not just the shiny models: who plans the work? That's the bit that fails quietly. Where you've seen nothing, what's the plan?

Continue Sam's journey

Story 6: The plan for day one

Everyone agrees mobilisation matters. Nobody plans it until it's happening.
The right way, explained

The right way, explained

Before a new firm moves into town, someone checks they can drive on its roads. Asking "can you drive?" and accepting a nod isn't a test.

If you're the client

If you're the client

Ask how capability was assessed across the whole team, not just the lead firm. The weakest link sets the pace.

In the town See it in the town: three team photos, and only one of them is honest.

Sam's view: a team photo for every firm. Look for the gaps, and believe the firms that show you theirs.

Three firms' team photos pinned up at tender, and two again on day one. The honest firm shows a gap with a sticky note; the polished firm is all ticks; on day one the honest gap is filled and three of the polished firm's people are missing.AT TENDERDAY ONETHE HONEST FIRMSURVEYMODELSCHECKS?Gap: modellertraining booked, wk 2THE POLISHED FIRMALL TICKSTHE 2009 FIRMALL JOBS2009THE HONEST FIRMSURVEYMODELSCHECKSTHE POLISHED FIRMStill one laptop.123
  1. 1 Each person carries what they can do (capability), the headcount shows whether there are enough of them (capacity), and the kit on the table shows the IT. The honest firm pins its gap on the photo, with a plan to close it.
  2. 2 All ticks and no gaps. Either they've done this exact job before, or nobody looked properly.
  3. 3 Day one: the honest firm's gap is filled. Half the polished firm's team is on the next bid. Check the photo again before any real work starts.

This is the Capability and Capacity Assessment!

Can each firm do it, has it got the people and the kit, and is it still the same team on day one?

For the audit What the auditor will ask
  • How did you assess each firm's capability and capacity?
  • What did you do about the gaps you found?
For the audit What good evidence looks like
  • An assessment for each firm, with evidence behind it.
  • One summary for the whole team.
  • Actions on the gaps, with training records.
From the standard
ISO 19650 Capability and capacity

ISO 19650 expects each task team to assess its own capability and capacity, and the lead to bring the results together into one picture of the whole delivery team.

For each firmIn plain words
CapabilityCan they do it: the skills, the know-how, the systems?
CapacityDo they have enough people and time to do it on this job?
The team summaryOne view across every firm, with the gaps showing
The gapsWhat will be done about each one, by whom and when

Based on the ISO 19650 series: the ideas come from the standard; the plain-English wording, examples and advice are InfoTown's. ISO 19650 is © ISO and BSI. You'll hear the same language across the industry. Read more for free in the Information Management Initiative (IMI) Framework guidance from BSI and nima. For the full requirements, use the standard itself.