Building an Effective Business Case

WORKSHOP DESCRIPTION

Every day, organizations face decisions about which project or idea to fund. And competition for resources and funds is keen. This is where a good business case comes in. It provides senior management with information that allows them to confidently make a decision on a proposed change.

Unfortunately, few people are familiar with the details, organization, and writing style required. In addition, they often confuse it with a proposal or recommendation report.

Building a Business Case is a half-day workshop designed to provide participants with the tools they need to organize a business case and to ensure they provide senior management with the right information “to sell” their proposal.

WHO SHOULD ATTEND:

• Anyone who needs to persuade senior management to spend money on a project/product/service
• People who want to make a change within their organization that requiresfunding

YOU WILL LEARN TO:

• Prepare a document that effectively “sells” a project/service/change to senior management
• Provide strong arguments that link to the readers’ needs
• Use proven tools to assess strengths and weaknesses in a businesscase
• Identify specific questions that must beanswered
• Prepare a strong cost/benefitsanalysis
• Use words that sell

COURSE OUTLINE

Introduction

• Understanding different businessdocuments
  • Recommendation reports
  • Proposals
  • Businesscases
• Defining a businesscase
• Understanding why some documentsfail
• Preparing a business case: 3Steps

Pre-Writing

• Identifying the reader’sneeds/objectives/concerns/questions
• Setting the objective and linking it to the reader’sneeds
• Using two proven tools that ensure the readers’ questions areanswered

Organizing

• Reviewing the parts of an effective businesscase
  • SituationAnalysis
  • Solution
  • Options
  • Cost/benefits Analysis
  • RiskMitigation
  • Timelines
  • Conclusion/Recommendation

Writing/Editing

• Reviewing the seven guidelines for effective businesswriting
• Making information easy toread
  • Sentence and paragraph length

• Choosing the rightwords

Summary and Evaluations