The project’s business case with its value proposition is usually generated by the project or some other team but it’s contents are the accountability of the Governance Team (Sponsor/Steering Committee/Project Board). The business case is the governance team’s commitment to the organization — you give us the resources requested in the business case and we’ll give you back this value in return.

The governance team, therefore, has to thoroughly understand and agree with the business case. It has to know what questions to ask of each information item to be sure that the value proposition is deliverable by this project and will withstand detailed scrutiny.

This Guide takes members of the governance team through a thorough business case assessment process so that they can fully own the outcome and support it throughout the organization and at every evaluation forum. (NB If the governance team does not own the value proposition and business case the project should not be approved as no-one owns the delivery of the business results.)

This assessment process is based on the Value-focused business case format.

Benefits

This guide

1. provides a common basis for discussion between the project and governance teams
2. provides insight to the project team as to what questions the business case will be subjected to
3. covers in depth all five dimensions of a business case — why are we doing this project? what’s the value? what’s required to deliver it? how will it be delivered? and, who is going to deliver it?
4. enables the governance team to discover weaknesses in their business case/value proposition before it is validated and submitted for approval
5. provides a common basis for business case assessment across the organization.

Who should read

1. Governance team - to enable them to thoroughly evaluate each and every business case (including subsequent revisions)
2. Project team - to inform them as to the questions that their business case needs to be able to answer
3. PMO - to ensure standard, thorough assessment of all business cases

Contents

1. Understanding the project justification dimensions
2. Understanding when you need to justify your project
3. Understanding the value proposition and business case
4. Understanding the ‘contract’ role of the business case
5. Understanding the end-to-end project evaluation process
6. Understanding the simplified business case design principles
7. How to assess your project’s rationale
8. How to assess your project’s ‘value proposition’
9. How to assess the required resources
10. How to assess your project’s workload and risks
11. How to assess your project’s accountabilities
12. How to validate your project’s potential value to the organization

Bonus

Why business cases only tell part of the story
A value delivery management article by Jed Simms on the deficiencies of many business cases and the downstream ramifications when these gaps are not recognized and addressed. It explains why so many seemingly ‘good’ business cases result in undeliverable or low-value projects.

Wrong time, wrong place
A value delivery management article by Jed Simms on the current trend to bring the business case too far forward in the project delivery life-cycle, resulting in unsubstantiated estimates, false expectations and downstream disappointments. Assessing your business case before you know your requirements and design, for example, is an exercise in futility.

The Jaws of Death
A value delivery management article by Jed Simms that describes how the ‘jaws of death’ (increasing costs and decreasing value) consume many a project’s initial value proposition resulting in marginal-to-negative realized returns.

The Simplified, Value-focused Business Case Template
The comprehensive business case format that enables any type of project to fully justify its value to the organization, its requirements of the organization and how this value is going to be delivered.

How to submit a Project to the Project Investment Committee (PIC)  (and template)
A simple guide to the information required to be submitted to the PIC by the project/governance team after the project’s business case has been validated. Summarizes the key points from the business case in a standard format the PIC can get across easily and fast while giving the governance team the ability to ‘sell’ their proposal.