4iP Blog

We’re emerging from contract-a-thon like a ‘hodgeheg’ from hibernation. The 4iP commissioners are rubbing their eyes and starting to take in the bright light of new and existing proposals from the submission system.

Spending a month on contract-a-thon was vital.  We now have lots more projects contracted and we’ll announce many of these later this month.  By focusing on one aspect of the commissioning process as a team we have been able to get things done more effectively.

So, as I hinted at in my last post we’ve decided to move to a tranche funding model to coordinate investment and commissioning activity across the team.

Spinning plates

Our current process is this:

• You submit a proposal
• One of our 4iP Commissioners reviews it and may either decline to take it forward or will discuss it with you and develop the idea, a business case and a spec.
• We meet as a team and with our partners and editorially and financially approve all proposals.
• We draft and negotiate a contract.
• We start a project, monitor, evaluate, iterate, phase…etc

And it looks like this.

This process takes anything from seven to fourteen weeks and longer in some more complex cases. This process works but gets complex when commissioners and the rest of the team are spinning many plates, trying to run different projects and deals, at different stages and at different paces.  This was fine when we started out but has its limits.

For example the Commissioners would be reviewing many ideas and meeting new companies, whilst also trying to nail the detail of a spec and contracts.  Such diverse activities don’t always make easy bed-fellows.

The level of interest in 4iP has outstripped our expectations and generated some fantastic projects and products.  The downside of this is that there are approximately one hundred proposals in the system that are waiting for a response and many of these have been in the system for over twenty eight days and some for over three months.

One slice of pie at a time

Moving to a tranche funding model will help us synchronise and focus our efforts as a team.  The process steps will remain the same as above (i.e. submit, review, approve, contract), but synchronised, and over a more realistic timescale.  At any one point of time the whole team’s efforts will be focused on one aspect of the process, be that reviewing proposals, specifying projects, seeking approval or drafting contracts.

Our first tranche will start on 21st May and run through to 9th August. During this period we’ll review and feedback on the ideas submitted before the 21st May.  Some of these ideas will make the slate for our first tranche and will be up and running and announced at the beginning of August.

The perceived downside to a tranche model is the delay from submission to response but we needed to devise a process which actually worked with realistic timescales for responses and which gave more focused time around development and contracting.

So the best case scenario is that you submit an idea before 21st May and we get back to you and contract within seven weeks.  The worst case scenario is that you submit an idea after the 21st May and you have to wait until early August for a decision on whether you idea will be taken forward.

So, if you’ve been waiting a while for a response you’ll be glad to know we’ll be getting back to you very soon. If you’ve yet to submit a proposal then you’ll benefit planned activity in association with our partners to communicate more about the ideas 4iP is backing and to encourage the development of new proposals.