Activity 4.1: Define Funding Strategy and Make Decision
In this activity, the capital planners and budget planners are providing lead support services to the decision makers to determine whether to fund the Integrated Plan that was approved in Step 3 including the source of funds and timing of funds availability. The other planners, such as architects, provide support services during this activity including any required clarifications or interpretations of the Integrated Plan. The key output of this activity is a defined funding strategy and a decision to approve the investment of required funds.
Several of the outputs from Step 3 are critical to perform this activity. Specifically, in Step 3 the governance structure was defined for how the implementation would be governed. This governance structure is first put into use during this activity. However, most of the investment decision process will also involve the more established investment decision governance groups and processes within the organization.
In addition to the governance structure, there are additional Step 3 outputs that are used during this activity. The actual recommendations to be implemented, the sequencing plans and milestones, and the Integrated Plan all contain information that is essential for defining the funding strategy and performing the investment decision process to obtain a decision to proceed.
Within this activity, there are many groups that have important roles. These groups all must collaborate effectively to make decisions and proceed with implementation. The architects perform a support role in interpreting the Integrated Plan and explaining the sequencing of milestones. The governance and investment decision makers need to have a working and advisory relationship with the architects. Additionally, the performance planners need to be part of the governance advisory function to explain the performance improvements that are expected. The budget and capital planners need to work in an integrated manner to bring about a funding strategy that is grounded in the project and funding realities of the organization.
Throughout this activity, the role of governance is a critical component to establishing a funding strategy and making the investment decision. The project governance structure defined in Step 3 will represent the interests of the project to the investment governance structure. The investment and budget governance structure will make the ultimate decisions as to the investment and whether funds should be assigned so that the implementation can proceed.