Managing RFQs for project managers

Once your project has been approved, there is a good chance that in order to complete the necessary work you will require goods and services that come from an external source. To do this you will need to solicit bids from vendors and contractors, and this requires a specific type of documentation - a request for proposal, or RFP.

This is just one of the different types of forms that a project manager will need in order to collect information from interested parties that will allow them to make decisions on who will get contracts for the project. During project management training it is likely that you will already have become familiar with an RFP template. As a template, this gives you the spaces to fill in the appropriate information to ensure that you obtain a thorough quote.  This is, however, not the only type of request form that you may need and here we are going to take a look at the RFQ, or request for quote form to see what should be included.

What is an RFQ?

Often confused with an RFP there are a number of different request forms that you may need to consider and the RFQ or request for quote form is one of these. This is less detailed than an RFP and is simply focused on ascertaining information regarding how much the contractor or vendor requires for their service or goods. This form can also be used by a project manager who is looking to find out how a contractor or vendor will be able to meet the requirements of the organisation.

This should not be confused with an RFI, request for information, which is used for any occasion when an organisation knows exactly what it is that it required form a bidder but is just looking for more detail. This is a shorter form because you are simply looking to clarify a few pieces of information.

So, an RFQ, and an RFI, are subsets of an RFP. The amount of information that you require and the way in which you need to collect it will have a huge impact on which type of form that you will need to use. It is not uncommon to need to use all three documents at the same time, in a combination or even individually. PM certification courses will give you some insight into which one you need and when.

How to create an RFQ

How you create your RFQ will depend entirely on how you want to deal with things. Whilst there are templates out there, they vary from one company to another, and you can create them to suit your needs. There is also software that you can use to help you manage them.

In order to create your RFQ it is likely that you will have already obtained quotes for the service or product that you require and will now be seeking further information. Consider what information it is that you are missing and ensure that you include everything that you need on your RFQ in order to fill in all the gaps in the information you need. Once you have all the information to hand you will be able to make a more informed decision.