Is Knowledge Management Slowing Your Bids Down?

In the fast-paced world of bidding, deadlines loom large and pressure is constant. Amid the chaos of writing, reviewing, and managing submissions, one crucial discipline often slips down the priority list: Knowledge Management.

During recent coaching sessions with bid and proposal professionals, a familiar story emerged. While many teams have a designated person responsible for knowledge management, the reality is that it’s often treated as a side task, something to be squeezed in between the more urgent demands of live bids. Over time, knowledge libraries become dumping grounds for outdated documents, scattered stats, and mismatched material.

The result? Teams waste valuable time searching for the content they need, whether it's performance data, customer testimonials, case studies, or win themes. When the knowledge isn’t readily available, they fall back on informal routes: reaching out to subject matter experts, operational leads, or previous bid authors. And while these colleagues are usually helpful, it creates a time drain during an already tight window.

Operational teams grow frustrated by repeated requests. Bid teams feel unsupported and stuck. Collaboration starts to break down. The whole process becomes sluggish, inefficient, and stressful.

And then there’s the bigger risk: knowledge walking out the door. As virtual teams grow more dispersed and staff turnover continues, valuable insights and lived experience are lost if they’re not actively captured and shared. Too often, organisations rely on the “go-to” person who knows where everything is, until that person leaves.

So what’s the answer?

Effective knowledge management isn’t just about storing documents. It’s about building a culture and a system where knowledge is actively curated, regularly refreshed, and accessible to everyone. It’s about moving from hoarded expertise to shared intelligence. That doesn’t happen by accident, it requires intention, time, and collaboration across departments.

As team coaches, we support bid teams to build smarter, more resilient ways of working, and knowledge management is a key part of that. Because when knowledge flows, so does success.