Workstream: Process / Implementation Phase: Analysis
Develop Strategy and Business Case
Developing Strategy
The strategy should clearly state your overall goals and the means
you intend to use to achieve these goals. A key element to successful
CoP development is to be clear about what you want to achieve
before you consider how to do it. Goals should be expressed as
quantifiable criteria that must be met for the project to be considered
a success. Objectives are usually expressed in a descriptive manner
and should exhibit the following characteristics:
Simple: What needs to be achieved should be expressed unambiguously;
Measurable: The objective must be described in such a way that it is possible to determine if the desired condition has been attained;
Agreed: Consensus and commitment to the objectives must be achieved among the major stakeholders;
Realistic: Objectives need to be achievable; and
Timely: A clear understanding of the time scales associated with the objectives needs to be defined.
If possible you should develop a high-level project plan that can be refined as the project progresses. The plan should consolidate all the milestones and activities into a consistent and coherent document. The strategy and project plan demonstrates all aspects of what is involved in achieving your goals. Specifically, it will:
Guide project execution;
Document planning assumptions and constraints;
Document the project approach and help identify the components of the work;
Facilitate communication among stakeholders and build consensus and commitment;
Provide a baseline against which progress can be monitored; and
Document risks and approaches to mitigate them.
In general terms, your strategy and project plan should contain the following
elements:
Major milestones and their associated target dates;
Team members required and their responsibilities;
Project management activities;
Planning assumptions and constraints;
Dependencies;
Effort and schedule start and end dates; and
Cost budgets.
There are many ways to organize and represent the integrated project plan. The integrated project plan may consist of one or several layered plans depending on the scale and complexity of the project. Different representations of the integrated project plan are often necessary for particular purposes or audiences.
It is critical that major stakeholders reach consensus on the planned approach. Planning should be seen a process involving the major stakeholders since each stakeholder has skills and knowledge that may be useful in developing the integrated project plan. The COP leader must create an environment where the stakeholders can contribute appropriately. Exactly who contributes to developing the strategy, what they contribute, and when they contribute will vary. In some situations, it is appropriate to run planning workshops to help facilitate the development of the integrated project plan. Such workshops help to ensure that stakeholders and team members accept and are committed to the targets set in the plan. The use of an automated planning tool is highly recommended for all but the simplest CoPs (e.g., Microsoft Project).
Developing a Business Case
A business case is vital to demonstrating the value of the CoP
to management and related stakeholders. There are many elements
to consider when developing a business case. You should consider
the overall benefits to be achieved and the costs of implementation.
Benefits should be clearly identified and, wherever possible defined
in quantifiable terms (e.g., number of hours saved seeking information)
and operationalized as dollar amounts. Costs considered should
include Process Changes, Technology (purchase, development, testing
and implementation), Change Management, Content Management, Training,
and Maintenance/Support. All assumptions made during estimating
must be fully documented. Estimates should quantify the amount
of effort required to complete the implementation. Cost estimates
should indicate the range of possible values and the assumptions
made. The following points should be considered in estimating
costs:
Where possible, estimates should be derived from recognized estimating guidelines to establish an acceptable level of confidence in their accuracy; and
The use of a second set of estimates, based on a different estimating technique or through comparison with similar projects, helps to validate the original estimates.
