Business plan check and challenge

Basically this is a business plan review. You all have a business plan so that's nothing new but through this review we will help projects operate this plan in a viable and appropriate way.

It is unlikely that any organisation will have a business plan that stays static through from conception to completion, and so we have developed this review to ensure practical operation of the business, rather than delivering a document in a set format. We will ask questions such as:

• Who needs the business plan, when, and what for?
• How does the business operate and what is the best way to plan for the future?
• What plans exist, and are they fit for purpose?

The result will be a developmental pathway for the plan - that is to say how it needs to evolve over time - so managers can produce relevant and useful plans that deliver results for the business.

There are three stages to the check and challenge: the pre-assessment review, the meeting, and the reporting. In the pre-assessment review we will attempt to gain an understanding of the history of the business plan; only then can we move forward with it. Most business plans will have been through several iterations and so doing this will save time in working out where to go next. The second stage will involve a meeting between ourselves and key members of the project team, whereby various topics will be discussed, such as governance and leadership, needs and market understanding, vision and story of change, resources required, and costs and income. Stage 3, the reporting, is where we go away and do our thing. Obviously, we will be in regular contact with the project throughout this time and then we will come back with our findings and recommendations.

BIG expects all projects to undertake this review and it really is in your best interests to do so. It will make life easier in the long run if the business plan is properly put together and is working for you. We are not going to be barging in saying you're doing this and that wrong; we want to work with projects to ensure the business plan is as good as it possibly can be.