Agile sprints position transport company to win major contracts
Agile sprints position transport company to win major contracts
Our client was a long-standing family business that delivered transport services across its home state.
Client sought support to prepare a bid
Having achieved profitability and excellent customer service following acquisitions and contract wins, our client was looking to take its business to the next level.
The state government presented a significant new opportunity when it chose to franchise some metropolitan transport services. Each represented nearly $1 billion over eight years in potential revenue.
The tender required bidders to demonstrate broad capabilities, including stakeholder and community engagement, innovation and meeting government transport priorities.
It was a pleasure to work with Nous. Their bid and strategy expertise provided the platform to ensure we put forward a strong and well-presented proposal. As the bid manager, Nous kept us and themselves accountable for the work to be performed, which ensured we met the tight deadline.
Director, transport company
Nous was engaged to provide several forms of support:
- managing the bid to provide a structured response to the tender
- lead authoring parts of the bid and coordinating advisers on legal matters, industrial relations, public relations and stakeholder engagement
- shaping elements of the bid that needed independent specialist review and input, including financial modelling.
Bid used agile sprints and subject-matter experts
Working collaboratively with our client, Nous developed the bid in four two-week agile sprints. Each sprint began with planning and prioritising tasks and ended with a retrospective and planning for the next sprint. This let us produce, review and iterate content to meet tight deadlines.
Along the way Nous drew on subject-matter experts, including in customer experience, transition planning, asset management, financial modelling, data analysis and visualisation and innovation.
Together we shaped the strategic narrative for the bid, assisted the client in defining its operating model for the proposed franchise and coordinated compilation and high-quality design of the bid document.
We ran periodic stress tests to review and drive bid progress, strengthen the key messages and ensure the client could fulfil the bid’s commitments, content and commercial details.
Process revealed paths to improvement
By reviewing, defining and documenting its operational processes and identifying opportunities for improvement, the client is making changes that will deliver significant value to its business, irrespective of the tender outcome.
These changes include enhancing the customer experience through making drivers customer service champions, better using data and analytics in service planning, and staff rostering and aligning asset management with ISO 55001 to improve risk management. It also involves lowering total cost of ownership, mapping out a transition to zero-emission buses, engaging more closely with small and medium enterprise suppliers, and creating more employment opportunities for Aboriginal people.
Our client awaits evaluation of the bid for the first operating area.
What you can learn from this project
- An agile sprint is a great way to achieve fast, iterative and robust outputs.
- Selectively drawing on subject matter experts offers the ability to flex to requirements, drives ownership of work and create high-quality outputs.
- A close relationship with a consulting partner can encourage accountability, understanding and ownership.
