Revolutionary Information

Updated September 2026: in 2018 I wrote about returning to the office on a Monday with two bids on my plate, only to lose one because we lacked expertise in the client's applications, and being given another the next day. I have rewritten it into advice on handling a bid your team cannot support.

After taking a client call on the drive back from my home town, I returned to the office on Monday worried about two bids and a demanding delivery expert. When I logged in, I found we were back to one bid, because our team lacked expertise in the applications the client used. The remaining bid had little work for me, so I asked the delivery expert to send details to the account team directly, with me copied, so the work would still be tracked against my name. The next day, I was assigned another bid.

When should a team decline to support a bid?

When it cannot deliver what the client needs at a credible level. Bidding without the skills risks a poor proposal, a lost deal, or worse, a won deal that cannot be delivered. Saying no early, with a reason, protects the account team's credibility.

How do you say no to an account team?

• Be specific: name the applications or skills you do not have.
• Offer alternatives: a partner, another internal team, or a narrower scope.
• Put it in writing: so the decision is recorded.
• Do it quickly: late withdrawals damage relationships far more.

Is it fair to let others do the work while you are copied?

It is efficient when your role adds nothing, and many teams track presales activity by mail threads. It is fair only if your tracker shows your actual contribution. Claiming work others did undermines trust once people notice, and they usually do.

What does losing a bid mean for your workload?

Usually a new one soon after. Use the gap to update standard content and note what expertise the team lacked, so the next similar bid can be answered or declined faster.

What should you tell your manager?

Which bids are live, which were dropped and why. Managers plan capacity from that information, and it shows you are thinking about the team's pipeline, not just your own tasks.

Keep reading

• When a Colleague Drops Out Minutes Before a Client Call
• Your Work Went Unacknowledged? Make It Visible
• Feedback That Goes to Your Manager Instead of You

Updated September 2026: in 2018 I wrote about being assigned a new bid where the account team said upfront they would need weekend support on a tight timeline, after a bitter experience with a delivery expert on the previous bid. I have rewritten it into advice on bids that ask for weekend work from day one.

After doing nearly all the work on the previous RFP with no acknowledgement from the delivery expert, I moved on to a new bid. This time the account team's first mail said they would need support on weekends and were working to a tight deadline. I was a little alarmed about the expectations. On the first day, I called the delivery expert, who seemed knowledgeable and supportive, and the initial requests were normal, though more were expected in the coming days.

What does "weekend support" really mean?

It can mean anything from being reachable by phone to full working days. Ask what is expected, on which days and for how many hours. Vague requests tend to grow into full weekends if they are not clarified.

How do you limit weekend work on a tight bid?

• Front-load your part: finish your sections early in the week.
• Agree a weekend window: for example, two hours on Saturday morning for review changes.
• Share a contact plan: who is on call, and how to reach them.
• Ask for time off in lieu: many companies allow a compensatory day.

How do you recover from a bad experience on the last bid?

Leave it behind with the new team. Judge the new expert by what they do, not by the last one. A supportive first call is a good sign, and a quick thank-you encourages more of the same.

Should you ask for acknowledgement?

You can ask your manager to note your contribution, particularly if someone else's name will appear on the submission. Recognition is easier to secure at the time than months later at appraisal.

Is weekend work unavoidable in presales?

Occasionally, around deadlines set by clients. It should be the exception, planned and compensated, rather than routine.

Keep reading

• Feedback That Goes to Your Manager Instead of You
• Your Work Went Unacknowledged? Make It Visible
• Reviewers Silent Until the Call? Getting Comments Early

Updated September 2026: in 2018 I wrote about the 2015 Chennai floods, when I kept online by running my broadband from my MacBook Pro as a hotspot and then shut my office laptop at 30% battery, only to regret it later. I have rewritten it into a guide to staying connected during a power cut, including where I went wrong.

With no electricity, I connected the modem's cable directly to my MacBook Pro, then turned the Mac into a hotspot for my phone and office laptop. I spent the day on social media and YouTube while showing myself as working. By around 4pm, with the rain still heavy, I told my team lead the power had been out a long time and I would not be available, and I closed the office laptop with about 30% battery left. Only later did I realise how valuable that 30% was.

Can you keep broadband running in a power cut?

Only if the whole chain has power: the modem or ONT, the router and, for fibre and cable, the equipment in the street. A small UPS for the router keeps home Wi-Fi alive for a few hours, but during a citywide outage the network itself may go down. Mobile data is usually the more reliable fallback until towers lose power too.

What is the best way to share a connection?

• Use the phone as the hotspot: phones use far less power than laptops.
• Connect only what you need: each device drains the hotspot faster.
• Avoid video: it uses the most data and battery.
• Keep one device fully charged and switched off: as a reserve.

Should you tell your manager you are unavailable?

Yes, and honestly. In a real outage, saying so early is the right thing to do, and managers understand. Presenting leisure time as work, as I did that day, is not something I would recommend; it wastes the battery and the trust you may need later.

What would I do differently now?

Keep the office laptop's charge for work that matters, use the phone for news and messages, and treat every percentage point of battery as something to save, not spend.

Keep reading

• On Leave When a Crisis Hits: Staying Informed Calmly
• Swollen Laptop Battery? What to Do Right Now
• Why Microsoft Left Phones: Windows Phone Revisited

Updated September 2026: in 2018 I wrote about working out my hike percentage from my revision letter, then learning that colleagues had similar or much larger hikes. I have rewritten it into a guide to calculating a salary hike correctly and dealing with comparisons.

As soon as I downloaded my revision letter, I opened the Mac calculator and tried rough numbers, starting low so I would not be disappointed, until I reached what looked like a middling hike. At the office nobody mentioned hikes for a few hours. Then a colleague asked about mine. I gave him a figure slightly below my own and asked about his, and was surprised that his was almost the same. I told myself he must have had a better rating than me.

How do you calculate a hike correctly?

• Use fixed pay: new fixed annual pay minus old fixed annual pay, divided by old fixed pay.
• Treat variable pay separately: it depends on targets and is not guaranteed.
• Check the effective date: a backdated revision changes what you receive this year.
• Look at take-home pay: after tax and deductions, on the first new payslip.

Why do colleagues' hikes differ from yours?

Ratings are one factor. Others include where you sit in your salary band, market rates for your skills, retention risk and budget differences between units. Two people with the same rating can get very different hikes for reasons neither can see.

Should you discuss hikes with colleagues?

Many employers ask staff to keep pay confidential. Sharing numbers often causes more upset than insight, especially when the figures are rounded or, as I did, understated. If you want context, market salary surveys are more reliable than office conversations.

What should you do if you feel underpaid?

Collect evidence: your rating, your achievements and market data for your role. Ask your manager how the hike was decided and what would change it. That conversation is more useful than comparing numbers in the corridor.

What did I learn from checking my own numbers?

That a quick calculation done in a hurry can be wrong in either direction. Take the letter home, work it out once with the correct figures, and only then decide how you feel about it.

Keep reading

• Stay or Switch? Assessing Your IT Job Honestly
• Feedback That Goes to Your Manager Instead of You
• Controlling What OneDrive Syncs on a Mac

Updated September 2026: in 2018 I wrote about a complex bid where my trusted delivery expert moved to another project, the new expert deflected to him, and after I took a week off I came back to find the bid in a panic. I have rewritten it into advice on taking ownership of a bid.

At the kick-off we had to share our questions with the client. The new delivery expert said he was tied up and asked me to check with the expert I usually worked with. That expert told me he had moved to a new project and could give only a little time. I passed that on without realising how complicated it would become. The new expert said he would review and provide what was needed. It was early and quiet, so I took a week of personal leave. When I returned, people were pressing panic buttons, and I had to take ownership of the bid.

Why do bids drift when no one owns them?

Because each person assumes someone else is coordinating. Experts answer questions when asked; account teams chase dates; nobody joins the pieces. The presales lead is often the only person placed to do it.

What should you set up before taking leave during a bid?

• A named cover: someone who knows the bid and has the files.
• An open-items list: with owners and dates.
• A note to the account team: your dates and who to contact.
• Agreed inputs: what each expert will deliver while you are away.

How do you take ownership when you return?

Call a short meeting of everyone involved, confirm the deadline, list what is missing and who owns it, and send the list by mail the same day. Then chase daily. People respond to a clear owner.

What if two experts will not work together?

Split the work so each owns a clear part, and bring them together only for decisions. Keep your manager informed; personality clashes are a resourcing problem, not yours alone.

Keep reading

• Writing a Firm Note About Ownership Before Leave
• A Project Crisis While You Are on Leave: What to Do
• When a Colleague Drops Out Minutes Before a Client Call

Updated September 2026: in 2018 I wrote about discovering, on a long client call, that an important team meeting on key opportunities and annual targets had been scheduled that day, and my relief that it was cancelled. I have rewritten it into advice on keeping track of meetings that matter.

Checking office mail during a call, I was shocked to see an important meeting scheduled that day about key opportunities and the team's targets for the year, with my manager and senior leaders. It had been cancelled, which was a relief, because I would not have been prepared. I went back to the call, which was still on topics unrelated to my work, then rushed to the office, a few minutes late again. On the short drive I spoke to my wife and missed a call from a delivery contact, since family comes first.

Why do important meetings get missed?

Because they arrive in the same inbox as everything else. A planning meeting with leaders looks like one more invite until the day it happens.

How do you keep track of meetings that matter?

• Review the week on Monday: scan the calendar for meetings with senior people or targets on the agenda.
• Accept or decline every invite: so nothing sits unread.
• Prepare the evening before: a few notes on your bids and numbers.
• Set a reminder: 30 minutes before, not 5.

What should you prepare for a targets meeting?

The status of your live bids, your wins and losses this year with reasons, and one or two ideas for improving the team's win rate. Leaders remember people who arrive with facts.

How do you balance family calls and work calls?

Set simple rules: some calls can wait ten minutes, others cannot. Call back promptly when you skip a work call, with a short message first. Both sides respect a clear pattern more than constant availability.

Was the cancellation lucky?

Yes. It was also a warning to check the calendar properly, which is a habit worth keeping.

Keep reading

• When a Colleague Drops Out Minutes Before a Client Call
• Writing a Firm Note About Ownership Before Leave
• On Leave When a Crisis Hits: Staying Informed Calmly