Business management involves ensuring, among other things, the smooth running of operations and the well-being of employees. It also includes research, development, digital transformation, etc.

Managing a business means knowing how to seize the various opportunities that arise according to our needs. Start from a business need to define them. A need could be a more secure management of your database or even a technological upgrade of your installations.

What projects would you like to undertake? What projects are you going to undertake? How will you go about choosing which ones to start?

Make a list of potential projects that you could undertake. This is the first step when you look at this field in your business management.

Evaluate the needs of your business management to better choose the projects to start

Here is a list of questions that will help you choose the most important and urgent projects.

• Will ongoing projects be followed up?
• Are some of your systems reaching the end of their life?
• Are you facing new regulatory obligations that your organization must comply with?
• Do changes in organizational structures require the establishment of new systems?
• Will your business buy a new business or sell one of its business sectors?
• Does a new accounting standard or a new industry standard require you to make changes to your processes and information systems?
• Are there projects that, even when completed, did not deliver all the features that were expected?
• Are there business processes for which you have performance problems or for which you have important issues to solve?
• Does the company's business strategy require your organization to equip itself with new systems so that you can deliver your portion of the strategy in question?
• What are the projects in other sectors of the company that will have an impact on your organization? Do you have to provide prerequisites for some of these projects? Conversely, will some of these projects provide you with prerequisites?

Build a solid business case

Once the list of potential projects is drawn up, you will need to prepare a business case. You will have to produce one for each of the projects for which you will be applying for funding. Each of your business cases should include a cost assessment. In this regard, note that it is preferable to present a range of potential costs rather than a single amount. The estimate you currently have in hand is still preliminary and at a high level. Moreover, you should always plan for a range of potential costs in all areas of your business management. You will avoid unpleasant surprises.

You should also explain how and why these projects will benefit your business. List all the positive impacts, whether financial, strategic, quantitative or even qualitative. These projects can also have an impact on cost savings and avoidance. You will have to present the solutions considered in each of the files. It will then be prudent to find out about the level of maturity and robustness of the solutions considered.

Your business files will be updated throughout your projects and will allow you to guide the major decisions you will need to make during the course of your projects. It is important to fully understand the process of prioritizing and allocating funding for your business. You will thus optimize the presentation of your files. The more profitable your projects are and aligned with your business management strategy, the better their chances of being selected by senior management.

When preparing your business case, you should meet with experts in your field of business. Learn about current best practices in your industry and meet software companies that offer potential solutions. For example, at PlanAxion, we offer you a completely independent opinion. We are in a position to guide you to the solutions and software packages that really meet your needs.

Don't forget about human resources

It is wise to prepare a human resources plan for each of the projects you are working on. This plan will help you determine if your organization is in a position to provide all of the required expertise. You can then decide which ones will come from outside.

Some expertise specific to your company cannot be acquired on the market; it will absolutely have to come from your staff. This is often the ultimate constraint that will dictate how quickly your project portfolio can be delivered. In fact, you can read our article on recruitment before starting your project and forming the team that will lead it to success.

It is not uncommon for a trade-off to be made between projects aimed at the rarest resources within a company. In several organizations, this arbitration is not carried out systematically and is exposed to political hazards. However, this approach does not necessarily lead to the best decisions.

So what projects will you add to your roadmap?