.
Developing a
Business Case
To stand out as a manager, you can’t just preserve the status quo. You need
to pitch new ideas that create real value for your organization—and op-
portunity for you. Maybe you’re responding to a pain point, like the rise
of a disruptive new competitor or changing needs of your customers. Or
perhaps you’re chasing a positive opportunity, like a potential tax break.
Whatever the motivation, you’ll need to develop a business case that will
mobilize others to support your plan.
This work draws on soft and hard skills we cover elsewhere in this
book, such as strategy, infl uence, communication, and fi nancial analysis.
You’ll need to gain the trust of many different actors in your organization,
from decision makers to factory fl oor workers. These relationships, as well
as the creative sessions you lead with your project team, will require great
emotional intelligence. But you’ll also need to perform and present clear,
rigorous fi nancial analyses to model your plans.
298Managing the Business
Stakeholder perspectives
Building a business case is about selling your idea and yourself to other
people. If you’re frenzied with pulling numbers and practicing a pitch,
it’s easy to focus only on the fi rst two parts of that equation: “Is my idea
compelling enough? Am I credible?” But as with any persuasive commu-
nication, your fi rst question should be, “To whom?” Who is your proposal
supposed to move? Whose buy-in do you need? You’re not making your
case to the void; you’re making it to a particular group of individuals who
all have their own interests and objectives. Understanding these decision
makers will help you tailor your presentation and position yourself as com-
pelling and credible to the people whose opinions matter.
Step 1: Identify your decision makers
Start by asking your boss who will be reviewing your idea, and how the
fi nal decision is likely to be made. Will a committee take a vote? Does one
higher-up make the call? Corroborate this information by looking at proj-
ects that have gotten the green light in the past. If you notice that propos-
als from the fi nance department get a lot of traction, for example, you can
safely conclude that the CFO has a lot of pull.
You may already have an instinct for where real infl uence lies in your
company. “In most organizations, there’s a dominant department, and its
leader wields informal authority, regardless of title,” write product devel-
opment expert Raymond Sheen and HBR editor Amy Gallo in the HBR
Guide to Building Your Business Case. “You can assume that the dominant
department’s objectives will trump others when decision makers review
your case.”
Step 2: Align with a champion
A champion is someone who advocates for your idea when you’ve left
the room. In many cases, they’re not the most infl uential person in the
decision-making process, but they understand the value of your case and
can articulate that value to everyone else. To fi nd a champion, look for
someone on the review committee who will directly and powerfully feel
Developing a Business Case299
the benefi ts of your project. Then reach out, before you’ve fl eshed out the
details of your case and when you’re still in an exploratory, information-
gathering mode. Ask what this person’s major priorities are right now, and
what problems they’re trying to solve. Then explain how your initiative
could help, and use their feedback to make your plan an even better fi t. If
the person is willing, have them review your business case when it’s ready.
You want to build a case that speaks directly to your champion’s motiva-
tions, so that they advocate for it as a favor to themselves, not to you.
Beyond providing feedback and a vote in your favor, this person can
support you in a few different ways. Consider where their infl uence and in-
terests lie in the company. Then make a specifi c ask. Can your champion:
• Provide a favorable introduction to key stakeholders and decision
makers?
• Help you secure resources as you develop the project, like funding
for fi eld research?
• Knock down roadblocks or encourage others in the organization to
cooperate with you?
• Strategize with you about how you’ll win over holdouts?
• Play a role during the presentation itself, for example, by vocalizing
a key point of view?
Step 3: Understand your audience’s objectives
To ensure that your idea resonates with the other decision makers as well,
review your division’s or your company’s strategic priorities. Understand
how your idea supports these priorities and how it will help the judges
achieve their goals.
Of course, each person you’re pitching to likely has different objectives,
depending on their position inside the company. Talk to your bosses and to
your stakeholders directly to fi nd out what these are. Ask questions like:
• What are your primary objectives this year? What barriers stand
in your way?
300Managing the Business
• How do you measure success?
• What past projects have you supported, and what are your success
stories? What made these initiatives work, in your opinion?
Your business case probably won’t address each of the needs and pref-
erences you surface. That’s because you’re trying to solve a problem for the
business, not for any one person inside it. But you’ll use this insight during
the next stage of the process: clarifying the need you propose to meet.
Clarifying the need and value
Once you understand the goals and perspectives of your stakeholders, you
can examine more closely the problem you want to solve and the value of
your proposed solution.
First, identify the need behind your business case. What goals are at
stake? What processes aren’t working, what performance targets aren’t
being met? For example, if you’re aiming to take advantage of a tax break,
you might formulate the need this way: “Our wastewater treatment facility
hasn’t been updated in ten years and doesn’t meet the latest state envi-
ronmental standards. We’re wasting $300,000 a year in operating costs
on last-generation technology, missing out on $2 million in tax incentives,
and risking our reputation as a green company.”
Second, explore the value that your solution brings to the company.
How will your idea contribute to the company’s strategic objectives? How
will it enhance performance, improve customer experience, increase prof-
its, or lower costs? In the earlier example, you might urge the company to
put the savings from its tax bill toward its new growth initiative, or to in-
corporate the upgrade into an environmentally conscious marketing strat-
egy. The better you outline why your proposal is good for the business, your
clients, and your employees, the more likely you are to get to yes.
Here’s how:
Step 1: Talk to benefi ciaries
These are the people whose job responsibilities bring them into immedi-
ate contact with the problem and who would be affected by your solution.
Developing a Business Case301
Sheen and Gallo suggest you ask them questions like: “When did the prob-
lem start (or when will it start)? How does it manifest itself? How often?
How does the problem prevent their teams from doing their work effec-
tively? Who else in the company does it affect? What customers are we not
serving well?”
Ask for relevant data or documents (customer complaints, reports,
sur veys), and follow up on any referrals you receive. If you can, perform
a little fi eld work. Observe a manufacturing process, shadow a customer
service rep, ask for a plant tour, sit in on a training session.
Sheen and Gallo urge managers to keep probing during these sessions.
“The benefi ciaries may not know the underlying reason for the problem . . .
[or] they may have a solution in mind. But sometimes what they want isn’t
the best fi x. Of course you need to look into this option, but it might not
be your fi nal recommendation, especially if it’s costly or diffi cult to adopt.”
Instead of rushing to judgment, gather as much information as you can
about these employees’ experience of the problem, and make sure they un-
derstand that you value their insight and want to help them. Their support
will make all the difference when it comes to implementing your idea, and
it might infl uence the decision makers reviewing your case.
In some cases, you’ll need to talk with clients or industry experts to
understand needs and opportunities. As a manager, you benefi t greatly
from maintaining open dialogue with outside parties who can inform your
strategy and business plans on an ongoing basis.
Step 2: Agree on what the solution should accomplish
Now that you know more about the issue at hand and the scope of a po-
tential solution, go back to your stakeholders to check your understand-
ing. Sheen and Gallo suggest using the following questions to guide your
conversations:
• Where will the solution be used? In what offi ces and facilities? In
how many countries?
• Who will be affected by the solution? A single department or the
entire organization?
..................Content has been hidden....................
You can't read the all page of ebook, please click here login for view all page.