Outline
I have an idea how for an improvement. How do I pitch the idea in business to start a project to make the idea a reality?
From an idea to a Project
Charter
The answer differs from organization to organization. In the best case, every employee from CEO to frontline staff would follow a process that start with making a business case. Before even planning the duration of a project, the possible stakeholders, and staffing requirements, a more prominent question has to be answered: What is the current situation and what do we want to achieve?
2 documents try to answer this question: The business case and the project charter. Let us have a look at both documents on a high level.
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All these reasons have in common that people are looking for better tools to organise their finances and thus would be potentially open to new technologies such as open banking.
My personal approach
Take a piece of white paper and sit together with someone who is either passionate about new ideas or has come up with the idea in the first place. Brainstorm and outline first assumptions how the idea could benefit the organization, who else could help pursuing the idea, and what the next first steps would be.
The business case
That is
where what a business case tries to answer on a very high level.
Independent
of the template, a business case should answer four main questions:
- What is the current situation and
what are the expected results after a successful project completion - What are the costs and expected benefits of the project?
- How the target outcome relate to the strategic objectives of the organization?
- What are the key assumptions and
risks?
The business case can be simpler, the main focus is to make some thoughts and
gather basic information to transform the idea into an initiative that results
in a project. The better the numbers are backed up, the more trust is created
among the important stakeholders who need to accept the project.
Template
There are different templates that can be used. A good example for a starting point can be found here from MyPM, which covers the main points.
The Project Charter
A project charter transforms an idea, which is first expressed at a very high level in a business plan, to a more concrete shape on a little more detailed level. Normally, this is where money is invested to verify the initial estimates of the business case and develop more insights about project costs and length. Based on this document, organizations approve and decline the investment of funds for the project.
The project charter has two purposes: First, it refines numbers and initial estimates listed in the business case, such as costs or risks. Second, it complements the information of the business case (which is part of a project charter) with more information about the project.
- A clear problem statement with metrics to measure the impact/success of the project.
- A list of all key stakeholders that need to support the project with their roles and responsibilities.
- An overview of the main deliverables with a section about what is in and out of the scope of a project.
- A rough overview of key milestones and high-level timeline.
The project charter is an upgrade to the business case and provides the basis for an organization to decide whether to invest in a project or not. For this reason, the project charter is properly researched to cover the main assumptions, risks, and critical stakeholders.
Template
Smartsheet provides some great templates to use that cover the main points.