Options Appraisal/Business Case
As with all projects you will need to develop a Business Case at an appropriate level of detail.
If you are doing something along the lines of refurbishing a classroom or a single area you may find it useful to look at our resources on developing a Business Case.
Overview Of Business Cases
Making A Business Case
Hints & Tips For Developing A Business Case
Business Cases for Change Management Projects
JISC infoNet has information on Business Cases in its Project Management infoKit and a worked example for implementing an Electronic Document and Records Management System that is easily transferable to a Learning Space Design project context. A Learning Space Design Project can result in some quite major management of change issues and we also have some guidance on developing a Business Case for a change management project.
The JISC-funded Espida project at the University of Glasgow has developed a model that can make Business Cases for 'proposals that may not necessarily offer immediate financial benefit to an organisation, but rather bring benefit in more intangible spheres'.
If you are considering whether to refurbish or rebuild an entire campus or thinking about how to proceed in the light of a merger then you will need to do a full Options Appraisal.
Options Appraisal is a technique for setting objectives, creating and reviewing options and analysing their relative costs and benefits. HM Treasury has produced a comprehensive guide to Options Appraisal in its Green Book and the DfES has a guide entitled Finding the Right Solution that looks at Options Appraisal from a schools perspective and includes some worked examples of a rebuild v refurbishment scenario.
