What is the recipe for a business case to secure funding approval and set a programme up for success? Yes, it needs rigorous options analysis, a decent return on investment and a deliverable plan. But there’s something else that’s often overlooked that can make or break this success.
The Beatles needed George Martin for them to create their sound. All successful sports teams have an outstanding manager – think Wiegman, Guardiola, Gatland (first time around), Woodward, you get the gist. And the five cases, as set out in HM Treasury’s Green Book, need a similar coordinator or orchestrator; enter stage left the Sixth Case.
There are, coincidentally, six ingredients that make up this Sixth Case. They are:
- Golden thread. This is about consistent authoring and messaging across and between the cases.
- Executive summary. Helping the reader to understand upfront each of the case’s key features.
- Coherent narrative. Sets out the intended outcomes and way of getting there in non-expert terms.
- Stakeholder buy-in. An empowered engagement campaign to get all stakeholders supportive.
- Assurance. This sets out key milestones and stage gates, and the right-to-left assurance plan on how to get through them.
- Governance. This involves briefings upwards and outwards in advance of approval meetings.
There will of course be variation across these six depending on the scope and scale of a programme. But they are all required, and need to be formally called out as part of business case creation. There’s more behind each of these. So please get in touch if you’d like to find out how the Sixth Case can help you achieve your desired investment outcomes.
