A prestigious project reference attracts attention. A relevant reference helps the reader understand why your team can deliver the assignment. Selecting past projects therefore deserves as much care as writing their descriptions.
The aim is straightforward: connect verifiable experience with the capabilities required in the tender, without making the proposal unnecessarily long. Each selected reference should have a clear reason for being there.
Start with what you need to demonstrate
Before opening the reference library, review the tender documents. Note the requested number of references, relevant time periods, required formats and any supporting evidence. These conditions vary from one opportunity to another.
Then identify the capabilities to demonstrate: understanding a sector, handling a particular volume of work, operating across several sites, managing a technical constraint or supporting users through change.
Turn each capability into a concrete question. For example: “Which project shows that we can organise a rollout across multiple locations?” This makes selection depend on the buyer’s need rather than the prominence of a client name.
Compare projects using clear criteria
Create an initial shortlist, then compare the projects against a few shared criteria:
- The relationship between the services delivered and the proposed assignment.
- Similarities in scale, timescales or organisational constraints.
- The actual role played by your company.
- The availability of reliable information and supporting documents.
- Whether the client can be named and the selected details shared.
A recent but narrower engagement may complement an older project that covered the full scope. Explain that relationship rather than leaving the evaluator to infer it.
Avoid artificial comparisons. If your involvement covered only one work package, name that package and state your precise responsibility. The reference will be more credible when its boundaries are clear.
Write a concise, evidence-based project summary
Each summary should be easy to scan. Present the context, the client’s need, your assigned scope, the work performed and the documented results. Finish with a sentence explaining its relevance to the current tender.
Consider a fictional example. “Supported a network of twelve branches” describes a setting. “Prepared a shared toolkit, then adapted the materials for the twelve branches” explains the work completed. The second description becomes useful when the new assignment requires a multi-site delivery approach.
Include figures when their meaning and source are available. If a result was not measured, describe the deliverable or observable activity instead. Do not turn a qualitative assessment into a numerical performance claim.
Verify the facts before reuse
Ask someone familiar with the project to confirm the dates, scope, team’s role and stated results. Check any names and contact details you plan to share as well.
Maintain an approved reference summary and adapt its presentation to each tender. Rewording must not change the underlying facts. When a detail remains uncertain, have it confirmed or remove it from the client-facing version.
A tender knowledge base can support this selection process by helping the team organise reusable material.
Organise references in MyWiseDocs
Project references can be imported, corrected and selected in MyWiseDocs while preparing a response. This helps the team assemble a relevant set from the experience available.
The team remains responsible for selecting projects, verifying their information and checking their fit with the requirements. Before finalising the offer, read the references alongside the technical proposal: the capabilities and responsibilities described should remain consistent across sections.
Request a MyWiseDocs demonstration to explore how to organise project references and prepare their selection for your tender responses.