Get Your Boss to Approve Your Idea12/8/2020  You’ve got an idea! Maybe it’s to optimize a process, save the company money or to develop a new product. Many of us at one point or another in our careers will come across this situation where we have a brilliant idea but we don’t know how to implement it. Once we have the idea what we do after the fact is what makes or breaks our ability to turn into reality.
The steps below can help you organize your thoughts in a formal manner so you can further vet your idea while positioning yourself (and of course your idea) for the best possible chance to get approval from the powers that be. Step #1 – Develop A Business Case A business case captures the reasoning for initiating a project or task. It is often presented in a formatted written document outlining everything from the reason for the project, problem(s) it solves and the ROI. Components of a business case document may include:
Once you’ve compiled your business case now it’s time to present it. Set a meeting with your boss, or the appropriate party who would most likely approve your idea and or project. Inform them ahead of time what the purpose of the meeting is and arrive prepared with multiple copies of your business case both to reference and present from. Leave the approver with a copy of your business case and an action item to keep them engaged and thinking about your presentation. Well look at that! You did such a good job compiling your thoughts and presenting your idea that your boss granted you approval to move forward in the project. Excelsior! Now that you have approval, which is a fancy way of saying “we like your idea enough to put money behind it”, you will need to build out the project in detail using a ‘Project Charter’ to ensure it meets a successful conclusion. Note: What’s the difference between a ‘Business Case’ and a ‘Project Charter’? A business case comes first as it is an assessment or feasibility study of an idea or task; the sponsor (person who has the idea) pitches their case to the funding stakeholders (typically your boss or people in management). If approved, a project charter is completed outlining the project in detail. The information within the charter is the constraints for which success will be measured. Step #2 – Develop a Project Charter As mentioned above, the project charter is a document which clearly defines the project scope, objectives, and participants involved. Components of a project charter may include:
You’ll note that much of the work that was done initially for the business case can in turn be used in completing the project charter. If your project is big enough it may be worth looking into project management software, like Basecamp or JIRA, to electronically track your projects activities and deliverables. Now that you’ve got your main documents guiding you through the project out of the way the next step will be to kick off the project and get underway. I recommend doing the kickoff meeting in person if possible, or via video conference call, where the team can openly talk about the needs of the project and how tasks will be divided up. All resources involved in the project should have a copy of the project charter along with clear expectations on what their role is and timeframe to deliver those tasks. Now that you have a basic foundation for what is needed to get your projects approved and kicked off the next step is to look into resources like the Project Management Institute (PMI) and their primary resource guide called Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK). These resources will help you stay on track while providing vast amounts of information on how to move projects through to successful completion.
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 Executive Summary: Businesses of all sizes must make strategic decisions to ensure its operations and outputs are optimized, functioning at an effective level to help them grow, increase speed to market, improve ROI, etc. One tool which helps to achieve those metrics, and more, is outsourcing. For the purposes of this paper we’re define ‘outsourcing’ as the act of packaging internal work to be sent outside to an external supplier to facilitate on behalf of the company, now client. There are many positive attributes of outsourcing, yet there are a bevy of deltas which accompany outsourcing if the client doesn’t carefully vet and manage their suppliers. Outsourcing, a valuable strategic business tool, is best experienced where expectations are managed while relationships are allowed to develop overtime. This produces fruitful outcomes for both client and supplier. Author: Travis Smith Contributor(s): Bill Colone, Achilles Young To view the full article click on the download link below: 
About the AuthorTravis Smith is the founder and managing director of Square-1 Engineering, a life sciences consulting firm, providing end to end technical project services to companies which design, develop and or manufacture products in Southern California. He successfully served the life sciences marketplace in SoCal for over 15 years specializing in engineering services, consulting, project outsourcing and leadership development. In 2019 he was recognized as a ‘40 Under 40’ honoree by the Greater Irvine Chamber of Commerce as a top leader in Orange County, CA. Archives
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