Management Case: Deliverability and Assurance
What the management case must prove
The management case shows the proposal is deliverable and will be managed properly. Candidates must understand the delivery plan, governance and assurance arrangements, roles such as senior responsible owner, project and programme management, risk management, change control, stakeholder engagement, benefits realisation and post-implementation review. It should also cover readiness, dependencies and contingency.
Traps
Questions often imply that a Gantt chart is a management case; it is only one artefact. Another trap is a plan with no named accountable owner, no assurance gates or no benefit owners. Also watch for benefits claimed in the strategic case but with no measurement plan here. Change control and risk escalation are frequently missing. Assurance should be proportionate to risk, not bolted on at the end.
Worked example and rule of thumb
A benefits register lists 'reduced overtime: 300k per year from month 9'. The management case needs an owner (operations director), a measure (monthly payroll overtime), a baseline, a review date and a response if the benefit is late. Rule of thumb: every benefit needs an owner, a measure and a review point; every major risk needs an owner and a mitigation.