On Monday we wrote about why thinking about business cases rather than business plans could be a helpful shift in mindset. Today we want to share a tool that we are developing to support you in designing outline business cases creatively and quickly.
The Business Case Canvas
Susan
The Business Case Canvas (BCC) is a visual map of your business case made up of 10 boxes, each of which relate to an essential element of a strong business case. The Canvas should enable you to sketch, develop and test alternative business cases rapidly in an accessible, collaborative and hopefully enjoyable way.
At the top of the canvas you are invited to highlight the key elements of your current operating context. This could include internal and external factors and could draw on a recent SWOT, PESTLE or organisational self-assessment. They provide the context for your opportunity / problem and proposed solution. Pick the key factors, don’t list them all!
The seven boxes in the middle form the core of your business case.
- Opportunity or problem: what is the opportunity you want to exploit or the problem you are trying solve? Getting to a good opportunity or problem statement takes time but it is worth the investment. If you are able to re-frame your problem as an opportunity it is often very helpful in generating ideas and building support.
- Proposed solution: what is your proposed solution to the opportunity / problem you have outlined?
- Risks: what risks will you need to understand and manage to deliver the change you want to make?
- How will you need to work with your stakeholders to develop and deliver your new approach?
- Implementation: how do you envisage implementing your new approach if you secure the support you need?
- What resources do you have and what resources will you need in terms of both capacity and capability?
- Timeline: what will be the key milestones on your journey?
At the bottom are two boxes for the anticipated benefits and the expected costs. Both benefits and costs are likely to have financial and non-financial elements. The estimated costs includes a question about the changes you will need to make to deliver your chosen solution and the benefits box asks how you will measure the gains.
You can start your design work in any box but much of the strength of your business case will rest on your ability to identify a great opportunity (or to get to the root of a significant problem) and the quality of your proposed solution. These boxes are probably where you need to spend most of your time.
Some tips for working with the BCC
- This tool has been designed for you to work with in either the physical world with flipchart paper and post its or in the online world with a virtual whiteboard. Use a couple of words or short phrases to record your ideas; this is a high level thinking tool not a report.
- Do try and put something in every box but one idea in each may be all you need, especially at the discovery stage (remember the Double Diamond?).
- Once you have a clear idea of the opportunity or problem you want to address try developing multiple canvases with different solutions to address the challenge. You can then review the options you have generated and decide which one, or which combination of ideas, is the best approach.
- You can use the tool on your own or with teams. If you are using it on your own, do find a critical friend or two to give you some feedback. As we found in developing it, two heads are really much better than one.
- All of boxes need to be connected to each other so they build into a coherent, convincing argument. If you have any ideas or statements that seem to stand alone, take another look.
Dawn
You’ll notice that we have structured the canvas so the left hand side focuses on process and the right hand side is related to outcomes and impact; both sides are connected and supported by the clarity of your opportunity. The idea being that you can move from the practicalities of bringing the business case into being across to delivering your desired results. The opportunity should be supported by both your process and likely impact.
When exploring your solution, try and think in terms of three factors:
- Desirability: is it something that your customer or beneficiaries really need? This tests for whether your solution is solving the right problem/addressing the right opportunity
- Feasibility: are you building on the strengths of your current capabilities and capacity? Feasibility tests for whether you are strengthening your organisation
- Viability: does this support a sustainable business model? This tests for whether the solution is viable longer term
These are the factors that will help you innovate.
As Susan mentions above, and with all canvases of this type, don’t forget the inter-dependencies, each of the boxes should speak to the others. It will be difficult to deliver a solution you don’t have (or can’t get) the capability and capacity for. Likewise, there will be little point selecting an opportunity that no-one is interested in and doesn’t deliver any benefits.
With my artist hat on I’d also really encourage you to treat it like a canvas. Make marks, try things out, if they don’t work paint over them! Cut it into sections, fill them in and then put it back together again.
Draw it out on the largest pieces of paper you can find and write with huge marker pens; experiment and see what works best for you. If some of the headings aren’t quite right for you change them. If the prompts don’t work think of your own. Given the pace of change we’re encountering at the moment this should be a dynamic tool to help you think.
Let us know how you get on
The Business Case Canvas (BCC) is a prototype. We would really value feedback from our readers on whether you think it might be worth developing further and, if so, what changes would make it more useful to you.
Here’s a blank canvas to get you started.
Susan & Dawn