Involving Stakeholders in Crafting a Digital Business Case: Opportunities and Challenges
The business case is a slightly elusive thing. Some industries avoid it like the plague; some are “death by case”. And given the ever changing landscape within digital, the case for change is often hard to articulate.
If you work in a firm dedicated to technological change its quite simple - and usually a few PowerPoint slides will suffice. The environment is primed for change, the stakeholders expect change, and really the case is a technicality to map out the financial elements and the sprint plan. If you’re in a industry that’s a bit slower paced and not focused on digital transformation, crafting a compelling case is like stepping into unknown terrain.
Whatever the industry, crafting a digital business case is a critical step in the process of transformation, as it outlines the rationale, objectives, and strategies for digital initiatives. However, creating a successful business case involves more than just numbers and projections; it requires a comprehensive understanding of stakeholder needs, which can only be achieved by involving them from the beginning. You have to get stakeholders involved in a digital business case and discuss the challenges and opportunities that come with including all stakeholders and users in the authorship of the business case through appropriate workshops.
Why Involve Stakeholders?
Stakeholders are individuals or groups who have a vested interest in the success of a project or initiative. They’re also people responsible for key aspects of the projects success. They can be internal (e.g., employees, managers, finance) or external (e.g., end-users, partners), and their perspectives and needs are invaluable in shaping the direction of a digital project. Here are some compelling reasons to involve stakeholders in the business case development process:
Shared Vision: Involving stakeholders ensures that everyone shares a common vision for the project. This alignment is crucial for securing buy-in and support throughout the project lifecycle.
User-Centric Approach: Engaging end-users from the outset helps prioritize features and functionalities that directly address their pain points and requirements, resulting in a user-centric solution.
Risk Mitigation: Identifying potential issues, concerns, and objections early on allows for proactive risk management and mitigation strategies to be developed. This is particularly important when gaining perspectives from a wide range of internal stakeholders, who can pre-empt some of the issues that may arise when working across departments.
Better Decision-Making: Incorporating diverse perspectives leads to more informed and well-rounded decision-making, reducing the likelihood of costly mistakes.
When to Involve Stakeholders
The timing of stakeholder involvement in the digital business case development process is crucial. Here's a general guideline:
Initiation Stage: Stakeholder involvement should begin during the initiation stage, even before the formal business case is initiated. This early involvement ensures that the project aligns with strategic goals and objectives. The SRO and senior technical lead is critical in this mission, and should be leveraging any communications support that is available.
Scoping and Planning: As the project scope and planning evolve, stakeholders should be engaged to provide insights and clarify expectations. This ensures that the project is feasible and aligns with stakeholder needs and priorities.
Business Case Development: Stakeholders play a central role in crafting the business case. Their input helps in defining project objectives, outlining benefits, and identifying potential challenges. This should be in the form of useful workshops that focus on their concerns and what they would want to see from the case.
Review and Refinement: Throughout the business case development process, stakeholders should have opportunities to review and provide feedback. This iterative approach leads to a more robust and well-informed business case.
Opportunities in Stakeholder Involvement
Despite the challenges, involving stakeholders in business case development presents numerous opportunities:
Innovative Solutions: Diverse perspectives lead to innovative ideas and solutions that might not have been considered otherwise.
Improved Stakeholder Relations: Engaging stakeholders fosters positive relationships, enhancing trust and collaboration.
Enhanced Project Success: Projects with strong stakeholder buy-in and support are more likely to succeed.
Challenges in Stakeholder Involvement
While involving stakeholders in the digital business case is essential, it comes with its set of challenges:
Differing Agendas: Stakeholders may have conflicting priorities, making it a challenge to reach a consensus on project objectives and scope. Arrangement and choice of stakeholders is crucial in overcoming this issue. Make sure there is a clear outcome from the work to overcome this issue.
Resource Constraints: I find this to be the biggest challenge. It can be resource-intensive to involve a broad range of stakeholders, especially if they already have heavy workloads centred around the current business. And given that some projects fail to launch, getting people to prioritise prospective work is often difficult. But this can be overcome by focused, short meetings with clear agendas that focus on their expertise.
Resistance to Change: Some stakeholders may resist change, leading to resistance and pushback during the development process. I’ve seen this one time and time again - and in a lot of ways, this is pretty difficult for a project professional to change. This requires strong assistance from the top, while you cultivate champions on the ground.
Conducting Stakeholder Workshops
Thinking about the challenges above, the workshop acts as the critical technique to move things forward. These stakeholder workshops are an effective way to involve and engage stakeholders in the business case development process. The advice below is no different from how you would conduct a successful meeting and gain stakeholder buy-in, but as a reminder:
Define Workshop Objectives: Clearly define the objectives of the workshop, such as gathering user requirements or addressing specific project challenges.
Select Participants Carefully: Invite a diverse group of stakeholders, including end-users, decision-makers, and subject matter experts.
Facilitate Communication: Use facilitation techniques to ensure open and constructive communication among participants.
Document Insights: Record all insights, feedback, and decisions made during the workshop for future reference.
Follow Up: After the workshop, share a summary of key takeaways and next steps with participants to maintain transparency.
Conclusion
Involving stakeholders in the development of a digital business case is not just a best practice; it's a strategic imperative. By engaging stakeholders early and often, businesses can ensure that their digital initiatives are well-aligned with organizational goals and user needs. While challenges exist, the benefits, inclusive of innovative solutions and enhanced project success, far outweigh these challenges. Leveraging stakeholder workshops as part of the process can help bridge gaps, foster collaboration, and drive the success of digital transformation initiatives.
