In order
to get stakeholders or management to approve your project, you will need to
build a business case to demonstrate why the project is needed and what the
benefits of the project will be when it is finished. The reasons and benefits
of your project may seem perfectly obvious to you and others who are intimately
involved with it, but to stakeholders and other decision makers it may not be
so obvious. Oftentimes, they are dealing with a myriad of different business
units and objectives and tasks that need to be done. A well-prepared business
case can help your project standout in the crowded field of everything that is
happening in the company and might just be the key to getting approval and
finances for your project. Here are the basic steps for creating the business
case.
Step 1:
The "As Is"
The first
step is to document the "as is". If you do not understand where you
have been (or where you are currently), how can you demonstrate where the
project is going to take you or the company? This applies to software
development just as much as it does to business organization or any other
industry in which projects are executed. Documenting the "as is"
should involve a careful evaluation of the current business model and the tasks
that are completed by the people who are directly involved in the processes.
You might need to interview certain subject matter experts or follow a day in
the life of the workers who are on the front lines of the business in order to
document the "as is". Most importantly, all assumptions must be
challenged and researched so that there are no surprises down the road when the
project begins to change the "as is" to something new and better.
Step 2:
The "To Be"
Once you
know where you are or where you have been, then it is time to document the
"to be". This is your time to shine by showing off what the project
will do for the business. It might be a better software system or a new
business process flow. Alternatively, it might be restructuring the office organization
to provide better support for the sales people. Whatever your project is going
to do for the business should be documented just as carefully as the "as
is" was documented. Again, challenge all the assumptions, work to evaluate
carefully everything the project is going to accomplish. The final
documentation of the "to be" becomes the initial scope statement for
the project.
Step 3:
Going From the "As Is" to the "To Be"
Now that
you have a picture of the "as is" and a picture of the "to
be", it is time to document the steps that will take you from the starting
point to the end of the project. This does not have to be a detailed project
schedule or task list, but it should give a high level overview of how the
project team is going to take the business from one point to the next. This
overview should include the resources and time that will be involved in the
project. This road map will show the decision makers and the stakeholders how
they can help make the idea into a reality and get the project off the ground.
Step 4:
The Return on Investment
The last
part of the business case is to show the return on investment. This is a vital
piece for the stakeholders involved and the organization’s management. Answer
the question of how this project is going to help the business. If the organization
is willing to provide the time and resources to execute the project, what are
they going to get out of it? This may be something like improved productivity
for office staff or quicker processing of documents in the office. If the
return on investment can be quantified into dollars in the form of savings or
returns, then that will be a great help in building your business case; it is
difficult to argue with hard numbers. Of course, all assumptions about the
return on investment will be challenged closely, so be sure to do your homework
very carefully when creating your business case.
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