Project Management For Dummies®, UK Edition

Chapter 21

Ten Tips for Writing a Convincing Business Case

In This Chapter

Being prudent and not ‘over-egging’ the Business Case

Being clear on what are benefits and what are technical features

Seeing things from a business, rather than a project, viewpoint

A project needs to be justified, not just done for the sake of it. You often need to set down that justification in the form of a Business Case, which, as the name suggests, explains the case for the project from a business perspective. It’s easy to go off track in a Business Case so that managers in the organisation who have the authority to approve the project simply aren’t convinced and so don’t give the go-ahead. This chapter sets out ten tips to help you get the Business Case right first time.

Starting with a Bang

Your project will normally have a number of benefits, and it can really help to start with the best one – start with a bang. That grabs the attention and gets people on side quickly. Don’t exaggerate this benefit, but do let it have its full impact in the way that you write it. For example: ‘This project will save £1 million in reduced wastage in the first three years of operation.’ Notice that the £1 million figure is rather more impressive than saying £333,000 a year. If you think that sounds a bit like a sales pitch, you’re right – don’t shy away from that. You need to ‘sell’ the project idea in order to get the green light.

On the other hand, this is a business document, so although you should sell the idea, ...