Building a business case
The business case contains the rationale for change and will be used
to garner the support of external stakeholders.
- identify the target audience - know who you are writing for
and tailor your case for them
- focus on a strong political or curricular argument to highlight the
relevance of your case
- explain your goal so that there is a clear link to what you are proposing,
what actions you expect to be taken, the timeframe, staff involved and
expected outcomes
- explain your objectives so that it is clear what finance, skills
and information are needed to achieve your goal
- identify any anticipated risks and describe what actions will result
- clearly identify any contingencies and dependencies which may affect
meeting the objectives
- present the anticipated benefits and include your strategy for monitoring
and evaluating progress
Identifying your Audience
You should be aware of how the audience can contribute to or further
your case.
- Management
- Adopt new policies and support the case for adding new courses
- Colleagues
- Support your cause and work with you to achieve your goals
- External partners
- Provide you with evidence and confirm your well-argued business case
- Stakeholders
- Support information literacy and encourage awareness
- Parents
- Be aware and informed about the benefits
- Students
- Undertake new courses, acquire new skills and gain new qualifications
Building political
and curricular arguments
You may return to the original driver which you identified previously.
- Identify a hook for your argument - managers
are more likely to be influenced if you link your case to their political,
economic, social or curricular objectives
- the strength of the case depends on the ability to link it closely
with progress and the impact on the hook
- identify and discuss the most important issues and benefits, including
evidence
- explain where, in your view, the weaknesses lie in alternative courses
of action
- stress the consequences and implications for the organisation in failing
to act
- reflect on the overall impact of your proposals on the target audience
and the organisation
- Identify where, when and how you can present your case
- Summarise this with a persuasive advocacy presentation
Collecting evidence
Evidence can be collected by a range of methods.
- Consulting users, non-users, professional colleagues and staff from
other backgrounds
- Observing activities to obtain information which supports your theory
- Considering measurable outcomes - you may need to set up new
processes to do this
- Examining documentation and resources from a wide range of sources
Avoid collecting too much evidence, results which are not clearly robust
and other extraneous information. In short, your evidence should be based
on strong data, from reputable sources, which is relevant and backed up
with local examples if possible. It may enhance your case to include both
bad and good examples. The conclusions you draw from the evidence should
be logical, fair, transparent and balanced.
Securing support
- Different audiences will be impressed by different things and you
should consider your stakeholders - perspectives of your proposal.
This will help you to attract their initial interest, present the information
and will also aid effective communication.
- Some stakeholders might be motivated to provide support based on pages
of statistics but others will look for evidence of impact provided by
academic research.
- Catch the attention of stakeholders with a succinct and clearly written
case.
- Is your audience motivated by economic, political, social, technological
or cultural arguments? Consider how your project is going to help solve
your stakeholders - problems.
- It is important to clearly outline the mechanisms for measuring success
to stakeholders.
- Find an appropriate way of delivering your argument to various stakeholders,
bearing in mind the medium might differ in each case.
- You might find it helpful to identify a sponsor (not necessarily a
"funder") within your stakeholders who can champion your
case.
Partnership working
- be clear about the purpose of the partnership and its parameters,
especially in terms of time, action, funding commitments, legal responsibilities
and expected outcomes
- state the likely benefits and drawbacks to partners
- decide if a formal structure will help partners to interact
- take care to ensure the balance of power does not become an issue
in the partnership and that all voices are fairly heard
- be clear that individuals who represent organisations must ensure
that the rest of their organisation is 'on board'
- Use language which all partners understand and share, avoiding jargon
and acronyms
Communicating with others
- identify all the partners and decide what is the best method of communication
- written, email, telephone, through formal meetings, one-to-one,
small groups etc,
- get agreement from all partners on how communication should work -
what channel, how often etc
- if you are leading the development, it is your responsibility to ensure
that all colleagues are kept up-to-date
- make full use of agreed communication channels throughout the project
- circulate communication from others so that it is a mutual process
with your colleagues
- make regular reports so that decisions are understood and accepted
by all partners
- listen to others, making sure you hear the good and the bad so that
you can take action where necessary
- keep communication under review so that it is working consistently
and effectively
