How to Manage Teaming Partners in Government Contracting

The right teaming partner can help you win contracts you couldn't pursue on your own. The wrong one can cause missed deadlines, bad pricing, incomplete proposals, or even cost you the entire opportunity. 

One of the biggest mistakes I see contractors make is assuming every subcontractor or teaming partner understands government contracting. Most don't. They may be excellent at performing the work but have very little experience with the proposal process itself.

Managing teaming partners is just as important as managing your own proposal.

Here are some of the most common questions I get about working with teaming partners.

What are some of the biggest red flags when evaluating a teaming partner?

The biggest red flag for me is someone who can't meet deadlines.

I've been burned enough times to know that if a company struggles to deliver simple proposal information on time, they're probably going to create problems throughout the rest of the process as well.

Government contracting runs on deadlines. If one teammate is late, everyone is affected.

Pay attention to how quickly they respond, whether they follow through on commitments, and whether they consistently do what they say they're going to do. Small habits early in the relationship often become much bigger problems later.

Technical capability matters, but reliability matters just as much.

How can you tell if a teaming partner might try to cut you out of the opportunity?

You can't always know for certain, but you can reduce your risk.

One of the first things I do is search for the company's CAGE code. If they already have one, that tells me they're registered to do business with the federal government.

That doesn't automatically make them a bad teaming partner, but it does change the conversation. If they're actively pursuing the same opportunities you are, there's a greater chance they'll decide to compete directly or pursue the opportunity on their own.

I generally prefer working with companies that don't already operate in the federal market unless it's very clear they aren't competing with my business.

You should also pay attention to how they communicate. If they're reluctant to define roles, avoid signing agreements, or seem more interested in your customer relationships than the actual work, those are all reasons to slow down.

Trust is earned over time. Do your homework before bringing anyone onto your team.

What can you do to make sure teaming partners meet proposal deadlines?

Never give them the government's deadline.

Give them yours.

One of the best habits you can develop is setting internal deadlines several days before anything is actually due. That gives you time to review what they submit, request revisions if necessary, and deal with unexpected delays.

If a teaming partner misses your internal deadline, you still have time to recover before the proposal is due.

Waiting until the last minute leaves you with very few options.

Why do teaming partners lose contractors so many bids?

Because they don't understand government contracting.

A lot of subcontractors hear "federal government" and immediately think deep pockets. Their assumption is that because it's the government, they can charge significantly more than they would in the commercial market.

That's usually the fastest way to price yourself right out of the competition.

Government contracting is competitive. Winning often comes down to providing commercially acceptable pricing while still performing quality work.

Your teaming partners may be experts in their trade, but they may have no idea how federal contracting works. It's your job to educate them.

Walk them through the opportunity. Explain how contracts are evaluated. Help them understand that pricing too high doesn't protect them. It usually just eliminates both of you from consideration.

The better they understand the industry, the stronger your proposals become.

How can you make sure your teaming partner is pricing correctly?

Don't just ask them for a number.

Walk through the solicitation together.

Make sure they understand exactly what's included in the scope of work, the performance requirements, the contract period, and any special conditions that could affect pricing.

Many pricing mistakes happen because someone misunderstood what the government was actually asking for.

Taking the time to review the solicitation together also gives you an opportunity to explain how the contract will be evaluated and what a competitive price looks like. The more they understand the opportunity, the more likely they'll provide pricing that gives your team a chance to win.

What's the worst experience you've had with a teaming partner?

One of my worst experiences involved a painting subcontractor on a firing range project.

Because we were managing the project remotely, we didn't realize what was happening until it was too late.

The subcontractor was dragging the project out instead of completing the work efficiently. The longer the project lasted, the longer they continued getting paid.

The problem was that our contract included liquidated damages.

As the prime contractor, we were responsible for the late completion, which meant we ended up paying money back to the government because the project wasn't finished on time.

That experience taught me two valuable lessons.

First, don't assume work is progressing simply because someone tells you it is. Verify it.

Second, remote management has its limits. The farther removed you are from the work, the more important it becomes to have reliable oversight and clear accountability throughout the project.

Sometimes the most expensive lessons in government contracting have nothing to do with writing proposals. They happen after you've already won the contract.

Final Thoughts

Great teaming partners don't just help you perform the work. They help you win the work.

Take the time to vet your partners, educate them on how government contracting works, build realistic proposal schedules, and verify that everyone understands the opportunity before pricing begins.

The stronger your team, the stronger your proposal. That's what gives you the best chance of winning contracts consistently.

About Derek James

Derek James is the founder of GovKidMethod. By age 30, he had won 32 federal contracts worth more than $15 million. Since then, he's helped small businesses win more than $75 million in government contracts by teaching practical proposal writing, positioning, and bidding strategies that contractors can actually apply.

Ready to Go Further?

Reading about government contracting is one thing. Knowing exactly how to write winning proposals is another.

That's why I've made the first modules of my GovRFP Proposal Writing System available for free. They'll walk you through the foundation every contractor should understand before submitting bids.

Access the free GovRFP Proposal Writing System here:
www.govkidmethod.com/govrfp