Strategy Survival Guide

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Strategy Survival Guide Version 2.1 Prime Minister’s Strategy Unit home | strategy development | strategy skills | site index Strategy Development > Justification & Set Up Phase Tasks Output Justification & Set Up • Justifying the project • Clarifying the issues • Planing the project • Setting up the team Project proposal & plan > typical management issues in this phase > key questions to ask in this phase As the need for fresh strategic thinking starts to emerge, it is important to bring clarity to the scope, rationale and approach for the proposed work. At this early stage it is important to: • demonstrate the need for the project • identify and structure the issues that need to be addressed • plan how the project will be structured • pull together an appropriate team. Justifying the need for the project is key to securing buy-in from stakeholders and generating momentum behind the need to challenge conventional thinking. This will require a close examination of the issues in order to define and agree the scope of the project. It is also helpful at this stage to identify a Minister or senior official that can act as the project’s sponsor. Clarifying the issues to be addressed will also help to highlight logical workstreams for the project and hence necessary roles and responsibilities within the team. This should be documented in a project plan along with a commitment to particular outputs and milestones, an assessment of risks to the project’s successful completion, and a description of the proposed project governance structure. Even at this early stage the project plan should be accompanied by a plan for stakeholder engagement and a communications strategy. Throughout this phase it will become increasingly clear what kind of project team will be needed. By the end of the phase a team should be in place that is large enough to handle the expected workload, has all the necessary skills and experience and is acceptable to all the key stakeholders. It can take a significant amount of time to clarify and agree the issues to be addressed with stakeholders, to agree the project budget and to recruit the right team. As a result this phase can often take longer than initially expected. It is however a crucial foundation for the rest of the project and plenty of time should be allowed for it. Skills relevant to this phase include: > structuring the thinking > managing people and the project > managing stakeholders and communications Strategy Survival Guide – Strategy Development Page 14
Strategy Survival Guide Version 2.1 Prime Minister’s Strategy Unit home | strategy development | strategy skills | site index Strategy Development > Justification & Set Up > Tasks Justifying the project Before embarking on a project, it is important to define and justify the need for the project. This helps to assess whether the right questions are being asked, whether a review can really add value, whether someone else should lead it, and whether the timing is right. Rigor at this stage pays substantial dividends later on. The justification exercise should: • define the problem to be addressed • articulate the vision and values driving the need for the project • identify work that has been done to date on this issue • consider whether there is a clear rationale for government intervention • assess the feasibility of having an impact on the problem • anticipate the expected resource requirements • seek to establish a mandate for the project • identify a suitable sponsor for the project (for example: Secretary of State, Minister or Permanent Secretary). In some cases this exercise will make it clear that the timing isn’t right, or that someone else is better placed to do the work. If the exercise confirms the need for a strategic review it will help the project to hit the ground running. The desired outcome of this exercise is that the and all key stakeholders have common expectations and high level of commitment to the project. Establishing a mandate in this way before the project starts is important if the team is going to effectively challenge the status quo and develop strategy from first principles. Producing a project proposal or terms of reference document that answers the above questions will help secure such early buy-in. Useful links: > rationale for government intervention > first principles thinking Strategy Survival Guide – Strategy Development Page 15
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Reinforcing Loops A + Balancing Loo
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Revolution This is creativity at it
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in The Magenta Book) are rigorous m
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Expectations can be shaped by a num
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Collecting data - Surveys In Practi
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Collecting data - Interviews & focu
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Step One: Define the problem explic
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events. There are a number of diffe
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Multi-criteria analysis In Practice
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For further material, see the Ratio
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