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Building an Effective Business Case

Analyzing and Communicating Business Opportunities

 
Course: 212     Type: RealityPlus     Duration: 3 Days

Quick Enroll    

You Will Learn How To
  • Analyze, create and communicate a successful business case to meet your organization's unique needs
  • Translate a concept or initiative into a range of viable options for achieving organizational goals
  • Identify and compare costs and benefits of alternative solutions
  • Apply risk assessment techniques to forecast and mitigate potential problems
  • Prioritize alternative solutions according to key decision criteria
  • Present the business case effectively to critical stakeholders to gain acceptance

Course Benefits
A business case is a tool for projecting the financial and business consequences of an organizational initiative. Organizations can miss valuable opportunities and make less-than-optimum decisions because of poorly constructed and communicated business cases. In this course, you carefully analyze initiatives to construct a clear business case that enables organizations to make better decisions. You also apply a library of tools and templates for real-world application.

Who Should Attend
Business analysts, project managers and anyone who creates business cases to justify investment in a program, product, or purchase; plus business and technical evaluators who evaluate and report on business cases.

Throughout this course you are immersed in a computer- and video-enhanced experience which simulates a real-world business case analysis that yields tangible work products and deliverables. Activities include:
  • Developing and presenting a real business case
  • Analyzing your stakeholders
  • Applying key interview skills
  • Determining user scenarios for the proposed process or product
  • Identifying and prioritizing alternative solutions
  • Performing cost benefit analysis
  • Capturing and prioritizing risk using a business case Risk Register
  • Prioritizing alternative solutions to align with key business criteria
  • Creating a persuasive executive summary

Course 212 Content
Introduction
  • Fundamentals of a business case
  • Where the business case fits into the project life cycle
  • Recognizing decision makers
  • Business case as an Organization Process Asset (OPA)
Defining the Business Case
The six-step process model
  • Focusing on the required elements
  • Examining the role and value of the steps
Identifying the benefits and risks of the process
  • Clarifying the business drivers
  • Proving that benefits are realized
Scoping the Business Case
The two-step scoping process
  • Harvesting stakeholder perceptions
  • Collecting the business requirements
Applying the stakeholder perception matrix
  • Creating the problem and opportunity statement
  • Writing business requirements
Detailing the Initiative
Conducting stakeholder analysis
  • Identifying business-level stakeholders
  • Eliciting tacit knowledge from stakeholders
Analyzing user scenarios
  • Structuring and interpreting the scenarios
  • Diagramming as an effective tool
Analyzing Your Options
Developing possible alternatives
  • Practical tools for researching alternatives
  • Investigating your options to derive alternate solutions
Comparing costs and benefits
  • Categorizing tangible and intangible benefits
  • Evaluating and selecting financial appraisal methods
Forecasting benefits
  • Creating a benefits rationale
  • The impact of time and risk
Applying basic cost models
  • Four common financial analysis tools
  • Creating a cost model
Managing Risk in Your Business Case
Risk assessment methods and tools
  • Creating and using a risk register
  • Applying the risk assessment matrix
Prioritizing risks
  • Framing risk with your stakeholder analysis
  • Aligning risk evaluation results with stakeholder point of view
Prioritizing Alternative Solutions
Examining decision processes
  • Evaluating three common decision-making models
  • Heuristics: rule-based decision making
Delivering and positioning the solution
  • Prioritizing and selecting alternatives by key decision criteria
  • Aligning the business case with decision processes
  • Selecting the business case delivery methodology
Crafting a Persuasive Executive Summary
Preparing the document
  • Outlining the format and contents
  • Overcoming the business document paradox
  • Minimizing content to get maximum results
Polishing the summary
  • Avoiding common mistakes
  • Applying fundamental tools and techniques
Presenting the Business Case
Organizing the presentation
  • Revisiting key decision maker hot buttons
  • Preparing the message
  • Sequencing the content
  • Tailoring your presentation to the audience
Selecting the delivery medium
  • Communicating your case with confidence
  • Templates to build powerful presentations and wall-walks
Improving the presentation
  • Validating your presentation
  • Practicing your role
  • Generating feedback for improvement

Related Courses

PMP is a registered mark of the Project Management Institute, Inc. RealityPlus is a trademark of Learning Tree International.
  
 
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Save an EXTRA $200 on a 10-Day Training Pass!

Building an Effective Business Case
Upcoming Dates
Oct 8 - 10, 2008
 Washington, DC (Reston, VA)
Nov 12 - 14, 2008
 New York
Nov 19 - 21, 2008
 Washington, DC (Rockville, MD)
Nov 26 - 28, 2008
 Ottawa
Dec 17 - 19, 2008
 Los Angeles
Dec 17 - 19, 2008
 Toronto
Jan 7 - 9, 2009
 Chicago (Schaumburg)
Feb 4 - 6, 2009
 Washington, DC (Alexandria, VA)
Feb 18 - 20, 2009
 New York
Feb 25 - 27, 2009
 Washington, DC (Rockville, MD)

Building an Effective Business Case
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Course Tuition
$ 2,250 Standard Tuition
Tuition with a Savings Plan
$ 1,580 10-Day Pass
$ 1,665 Training Passport
$ 1,830 Flex-Pass
$ 2,095 Voucher 10-Pack
$ 2,025 Alumni Gold Discount
$ 2,000 Government Discount
 

 

Building an Effective Business Case


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