Project Sponsor
Project Manager
Users
Steering Group
The project sponsor owns the business case for a project. They are responsible for delivering the benefits outlined within the business case and as such will review the business case as the project progresses to ensure the project manager is managing the project in such a way that it is progressing towards completion and realisation of the benefits. An example of this is the Mayor of London for the Olympics.
The project manager may assist or write the business case on behalf of the project sponsor. The project manager will help identify the benefits of a project, the risks within the project and the cost of the project. This will enable the steering group and sponsor to make a decision to proceed with the project as long as the benefit to the organisation of carrying out the project exceeds the cost to the organisation.
The users will contribute to the business case as they will be the reason for the project in the first place. Users will be engaged with prior to the project to understand their requirements. This has a key impact on the business case as it will helps define the rationale for the project and ensure there is a benefit in carrying out the project.
The steering group will be made up of peers of the project sponsor and will provide the ‘buy in’ to the business case. The steering group will sign off the business case on behalf of the organisation and will enable the project to proceed to the Definition phase of the project life cycle.
Dan
Good answer, don’t forget to add examples for each paragraph. You cited the Mayor of London for the Olympics in your first paragraph, you could have used this example throughout. The project manager was the Olympic Delivery Authority, the Users were the athletes and organisers of the games, the steering group was formed by local politicians and sports people including Seb Coe.