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Inter Agency Policy and Projects Unit
Department of Premier and Cabinet
Project ManagementFact Sheet:
Developing a Project Business Plan
Version: 1.1, June 2008
DISCLAIMER
This material has been prepared for use by Tasmanian Government agencies and Instrumentalities.It follows that this material should not be relied upon by any other person. Furthermore, to the extent
that „this material is relied upon‟, the Crown in Right of the State of Tasmania gives no warranty as to
the accuracy or correctness of the material or for any advice given or for omissions from the material.Users rely on the material at their own risk.
 
 
Page 2 Tasmanian Government Project Management FrameworkProject Management Fact Sheet: Developing a Project Business Plan, Version: 1.1, June 2008
No matter how small the project, a cleardefinition and statement of the areas ofimpact and boundaries (scope) of theproject needs to be established. Thescope of the project includes the objective,outcomes, customers, outputs, work andresources. This should be fully detailed inthe
Project Business Plan 
.
What is a Project Business Plan?
The
Project Business Plan 
is the high levelmanagement document for the project. Itis owned, maintained and utilised by theProject Sponsor and/or SteeringCommittee to ensure achievement ofdefined project outcomes.
Why would you develop a ProjectBusiness Plan?
A
Project Business Plan 
is developed toprovide:a comprehensive overview of all theproject components, how you intendto produce the outputs and describesthe roles and responsibilities of eachof the parties in the governancestructure of the projectthe Project Sponsor and/or SteeringCommittee (depending upon the sizeof the project) with a documentedframework to ensure the achievementof defined project outcomes and toeffectively monitor the project fromstart to finisha formalised agreement between theProject Sponsor and/or SteeringCommittee and the Project Managerof what needs to be done and whenThe document expands upon the original
Project Proposal 
or the approved option inthe
Business Case 
enabling detaileddefinition of the scope and management ofthe project.
When would you develop a ProjectBusiness Plan?
Approval to proceed to develop a
Project Business Plan 
is usually obtained from theacceptance or approval of a precedingstage such as
Project Proposal 
or
Business Case.
The
Project Business Plan 
expands the approved proposaldeveloped in these documents in order to:provide specific details on the scope,governance, budget, resources, workplan and milestones of the projectdefine the project and qualitymanagement processes to be usedthroughout the projectgain authorisation to proceed to thenext step of the projectIt should be developed before the projectactivities begin.
Who is responsible for developing theProject Business Plan?
The Project Manager, once appointed bythe Project Sponsor, will usually developthe
Project Business Plan 
.
Who has ultimate accountability?
The Project Sponsor has ultimateaccountability for the development of the
Project Business Plan 
.
How do you develop a ProjectBusiness Plan?
The following is one way to develop yourProject Business Plan. It consists of aseries of steps that take you through aplanning and scoping exercise that willprovide the basis for your ProjectBusiness Plan. It is strongly recommendedthat, where possible, you work through thefollowing steps with others beforecompleting the template.Please note that the process is iterativethroughout the life of your project.
 
 
Page 3 Tasmanian Government Project Management FrameworkProject Management Fact Sheet: Developing a Project Business Plan, Version: 1.1, June 2008
Step 1: Collect relevant information 
Make sure you have enough informationand a good understanding of the reasonsfor establishing the project. If you were notinvolved in developing the
Project Proposal 
or
Business Case,
(if there isone) make sure you know how the projectwas initiated, the key business drivers andenough about the background to be ableto successfully carry out Step 2, which isfully scoping the project.
Step 2: Scope the Project 
The scope of any project includes theobjective, target outcomes, customers,work and resources. The following is aseries of questions to assist you inscoping your project. Remember it isbetter to conduct this exercise with at leastone other person if it is a small project,and with the project team as a minimumfor a larger project. (Use a whiteboard!)Objective: What is the major goal ofthe project, what is it expected toachieve? What is the relationship
between your project‟s objective(s)
and your agency/organisationsobjectives?Target Outcomes: In order to achievethe project objective, what are themajor outcomes the project will realiseif successful? Keep these to aminimum
1
and detail how theprogress towards the realisation ofthese will be measured. Targetoutcomes should be described in
measurable terms such as “reduce
d
level of motor vehicle theft”. What
performance indicators will be used,qualitative or quantitative, to measurethe achievement of each targetoutcome, when and by whom? (Onceagain try to keep simple.)
1
As a guide approximately 1 for small projectsand no more than 5 for large projects.You may wish to include other desirableoutcomes which are not measurable.
Outputs & Project Customers:a) What are the new or modified products,services or business processes that theproject will develop and deliver in orderto achieve the project outcomes? Onceagain keep to an acceptable level
2
.When you have these listed, make surethey relate directly to the outcomes and
that there are no “leftover” outputs or 
outcomes. If there is an output with norelated outcome you may be missingan outcome
, or the output doesn‟t
belong to your project. If there is anoutcome with no related outputs, youmay be missing an output, or theoutcome is not relevant to your project.This does not have to be a one to onerelationship, for example you may havethree outputs to be delivered andutilised in order for one target outcometo be realised.b) Who will be directly using the projectoutputs to generate the outcomes?These are the Project Customers.c) For each output, identify who will be theBusiness Owner. They are responsiblefor ensuring that the project outputsmeet the corporate businessrequirements and the other project
customers‟ requirements. They are also
responsible for managing the outputs,once delivered to them, on an ongoingbasis, to realise the outcomes.d) Identify how each output will be used,by whom a
nd the quality or „fitness
-for-
purpose‟ criteria for each output. This
can be done by using a simple table.
2
Try to express these at a reasonably highlevel so you don't end up too many. Youcan break them down into sub outputswhen doing your detailed work planning.
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