Making the case for the function’s value.

A rejected business case exposed a wider problem.

The team’s leader, whom I’ll call Mike, had spent weeks preparing a business case for a strategic initiative. The leadership team rejected it.

The questions went beyond that initiative. The executive team could not see how the function’s work connected to business outcomes.

Change the work and make the contribution visible.

I worked with Mike and the team to remove low-value activity, including unread reports and time-consuming briefing production.

We redirected capacity towards earlier stakeholder engagement and developed measures connected to decisions the business needed to make. The changes gave Mike a clearer way to explain the team’s contribution.

A stronger case. A wider example.

Four weeks after the original meeting, Mike returned to the same leadership group with the changes to his team’s work. At six weeks, the business case was approved.

Six months later, the CEO publicly credited the team’s “Voice of the Community” programme with helping reduce risk around a major project approval. The CFO asked Mike to present the operating model to other functional leaders.

Client name changed. This is Richard’s account of the engagement; these outcomes are specific to this work.