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John Cowan
John is the Director of Chacefield Associates and leads our input on projects
Strategy Development and Options Appraisal
It is very important when planning a project to ensure that adequate work has been done developing a strategy and undertaking an effective appraisal and evaluation of options. Chacefield Associates has significant experience in developing strategies in partnerships with clients, identifying needs and potential solutions, before conduction options appraisals in order to determine the optimal solution and project to take forward.
This process can be iterative and need revisited and refined a number of times. In particular it is important to challenge risks, uncertainties and potential biases at all stages, and to feed these challenges into subsequent iterations. Nevertheless, our process follows 3 basic steps:
Justify the Action
The first step is to ensure that there is a clearly identified need, and to demonstrate that the proposed project is likely to be cost effective. This typically would provide an analysis of the current position with regards to the issue to be addressed, highlight any changes required which result in a need for action (for example due to budgetary pressures or legislative changes) and also of the likely consequences of both delivering the project, and also of non delivery.
Objective Setting
The second step is to set out clearly the desired outcomes and objectives of the project in order to identify the full range of options that may be available.
Option Appraisal
The third step is to carry out an option appraisal. This is typically the most significant part of the analysis. Initially we work with clients to identify a wide range of options which we review individually. This helps to set the parameters of an appropriate solution.
Using the objectives set previously we then create a shortlist to keep the process manageable. The ‘do minimum’ option should always be carried forward in the shortlist, to act as a check against more interventionist action. Each option is then appraised using decision criteria and judgment to select the best option or options, which should then be refined into a solution by establishing a Base Case. Procurement routes should also be considered, including the role of the private sector.
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