What should you do if you don’t agree with the project business case? The answer depends on what about it makes you uncomfortable.
The project business case is the foundation for the project. Get it wrong and the likelihood of a successful project is low.? Here are four issues you might have about the business case and what you can do in each situation.
- If you believe the business case data lacks integrity: Immediately discuss your concern with your sponsor. Compare your experiences with what’s in the business case and work through the differences. Be upfront about how your experiences differ from what’s in the case and the concerns you have because of your intuition. The business case sets expectations, so you’ll eventually compare project outcomes against the business case. Don’t wait until the end of the project to challenge the business case. Act now!
- If you’re concerned the business case is too risky: Identify your sponsor’s risk profile. Your role is to ensure your sponsor and key stakeholders understand the project risks. Your role is NOT to ensure risk goes away. When you’re concerned with business case risk, point out the risks to stakeholders and develop response plans. Focus on the costs of executing those response plans. When you understand the level of comfort your sponsor has with risks and potential costs, you can support the business case accordingly.
- If the business case was not built collaboratively: Review the business case with key stakeholders. They usually focus on their own interests and perceptions of risk and may be uncomfortable with the business case or its approaches. Hold discussions to analyze and align the business case with key stakeholders. Moving forward with a business case that hasn’t been reviewed and agreed upon makes it difficult to get staffing and decision-making support.
- If the business case doesn’t address a specific problem or business opportunity (the WHY of the project is unclear): Ask your sponsor and key stakeholders questions to try to discover any alignment around the purpose of the project. In the interest of scope and clarifying the WHY for the project, recommend edits to the business case. If those recommendations are approved, transfer those clarifications into the Project Charter. If you can’t find alignment on a purpose, recommend against launching the project. If the sponsor decides to go forward with the project, add a risk related to identifying the purpose of the project. Ensure you include risk review points where scope expectation differences could cause trouble.
Have you found other issues with project business cases? What were they and how did you deal with them? Share with us in the comments section.
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Strategic Business Analyst | Power BI Specialist | Agile Facilitator | Driving Data-Driven Decisions for Improved Business Outcomes | Proven Track Record: SILO, Zain PMO, Zain Website, and RTA (TRASEL) Projects
1 年I agree with Bonnie Biafore If you don’t agree with the project business case, you should express your concerns and provide feedback to the project manager or the team responsible for the project. Be specific about the issues you have with the business case and provide alternative solutions if possible. It’s important to have open communication with the team to ensure everyone is aligned and working towards the same goals. Ultimately, the decision of whether or not to proceed with the project should be based on a consensus and a thorough analysis of the risks and potential benefits.
Teach Project Management courses to technical graduate students
1 年Nice topic/article! If the business case is based on product diversification which is usually a risky bet, the organization must really understand their market and include their startup and added overhead costs.
Entry Level Project Manager | Agile | Waterfall | Hybrid | Microsoft Project | Jira | Trello | Asana| Transforming Ideas To Reality|
1 年The whole essence of a business case is to accumulate enough WHY in favour of a project. Sometimes a business case may not have succeeded in a given situation due to many factors. Before a business case is outrightly being rejected, it's expected that a proper study as to why it failed previously and what mechanism which has been put in place to guarantee it success. Environmental, religious, political, technical and economic considerations should be put forth after which we could then know if such Business case should be rejected or not.
Director - Project Management | Strategy, Delivery and Growth focused | Agile Transformation | Account/ Program Management | Cross functional Leadership
1 年It is very important for a PM to align with business case. Whilst a PM might not always be in a position to NOT agree, it's important to flag risks and agree to a mitigation plan with key stakeholders and sponsors. It's also a good idea to create a strong communication plan and keep it collaborative effort.
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1 年My thoughts on this. It's important to approach any disagreements regarding the project business case with a mindset of constructive criticism and open communication. Rather than dismissing the business case outright, take the time to review it carefully and identify the specific areas where you have concerns. Then, seek out a meeting with the project sponsor or stakeholder to discuss your feedback and provide a well-reasoned, evidence-based argument for your position. By engaging in a collaborative dialogue and remaining open to feedback, you can work towards a mutually agreeable solution that addresses your concerns while also maintaining alignment with the project's goals and objectives. Ultimately, it's through this kind of thoughtful, respectful communication that the best outcomes are achieved. ??