By the end of this course, participants will be able to write a business case that:

• Focuses on the strategic benefit of the proposal

• Can be understood on first reading

• Clearly answers why action is required

• Uses evidence and data to support claims

• Applies AI techniques appropriately to polish the document

Introduction

• What is a business case?

• Difference between a proposal and a business case

• Shifting from documenting detail to articulating strategy

The business case lifecycle

• Idea

• Analysis

• Approval

• Implementation

What the reader looks for

• Why action is required

• What needs to be done

• How the issue will be addressed

• What resources are required

• Who will be responsible

Pre-business case considerations

• Clarifying the concept

• Identifying stakeholders

• Benefits of stakeholder engagement

• Conducting stakeholder interviews

• Questions to ask and skills to demonstrate

Components of the business case

Organisational templates

• Understanding what headings are asking for

• Examples of effective and ineffective business cases

Deep dive into key headings

• Defining the problem or opportunity

• Aligning the business case to the strategic plan

• Preparing a return on investment calculation

• Identifying non-financial benefits

• Using comparative tables to evaluate options

• Preparing a risk assessment

• Anticipating objections using a force field analysis

• Developing an implementation plan

• Supporting claims with evidence and data

• Defining success metrics and KPIs

Writing an executive summary

• Sitting at a strategic level above the detail

• Summarising the case clearly and concisely

General characteristics of effective business cases

• Factual

• Non-emotive

• Unbiased

• Conservative in estimating return on investment

Planning the business case

• Distilling information for the reader

• Using a spidergram to plan content

• Writing efficiently from the spidergram

Editing and proofreading your business case

Editing techniques to improve readability and comprehension:

• Sentence length and structure

• Main message first in sentences and paragraphs

• Active versus passive voice

• Plain English and appropriate word choice

• Eliminating wasted words

• Formatting using diagrams, tables and bullet points

• Using AI to polish the document

Proofreading techniques for accuracy and consistency.