Summary

We commission projects to deliver benefits. To deliver a new business end state that is more beneficial than doing nothing. If it wasn’t more beneficial we wouldn’t do it.

So benefits are the real goal of a project. Yet, benefits are poorly understood.

For many organizations, “benefits” only means financial benefits — yet our research has shown that if you only focus on financial benefits you miss many other benefits as well as leaving 25%+ of the project’s potential value ‘on the table’.

Benefits are treated as if they were immutable, but the value of the financial benefits in particular can legitimately change during the course of the project and therefore they need to be tracked to both ensure the project’s continuing viability and calculate the maximum value available when delivered.

“Understanding Benefits” clarifies many of the misconceptions and non-conscious assumptions that cloud effective benefits management. This cloudy thinking explains why so few organizations even try to track and measure their benefits, and why even those that do so often fail to achieve their true goals.

This Guide enables Benefits Management to claim its rightful place as the central focus of the project.

1. It dispels myths and misunderstandings so that you have a realistic and sound basis for planning your benefits management program
2. It explains why so much benefits value goes missing so you can avoid these traps
3. It defines what ‘tangible’ benefits really means so that you can maximize your project’s value proposition
4. It explains how benefits are delivered so that you can track the right measures to ensure you realize your targeted benefits
5. It provides you with “The Value Equation™” a simple and powerful approach to understanding benefits and value that you can build your project and business case around
6. It explains why current approaches to benefits management actually work to minimize targeted value rather than maximize it. How, the approaches commonly used to control benefits actually reduce them! Now you’ll be able to avoid these mistakes and maximize your benefits.
7. It defines the relationship between KPIs and benefits so you don’t rely solely on KPIs to ensure your benefits are realized.
8. And, it deals with accountability for benefits and how this can be leveraged by The Value Equation™ approach.

“Understanding Benefits” is designed for

1. all those accountable for establishing or running a benefits measurement program (including CFOs) — to understand what works and what does not, and all of the dimensions involved
2. those trying to justify their project by identifying their potential benefits and value — developing the value proposition of their business case
3. those accountable for validating and evaluating business cases
4. those accountable for tracking and measuring benefits on an ongoing basis.

Who should read

1. Project Investment Committees - to understand the nature of benefits
2. Governance teams (Sponsor/Steering Committee) - to understand the dynamics involved
3. Project practitioners - to understand what benefits management is all about
4. PMOs - so as to manage their portfolio’s benefits
5. CFOs - to ensure their benefits management program will work effectively
6. Boards and Executives - to understand the issue and opportunities
7. Vendors and Consultants - who want to justify their proposal’s benefits
8. Auditors - to understand the characteristics of benefits and their realization.

Contents

1. Understanding why benefits are important
2. Understanding what a benefit is
3. Understanding how benefits are delivered
4. Understanding how to state a benefit
5. Understanding (and avoiding) the ‘gap’
6. Understanding why most business cases miss >25% of the benefits
7. Understanding how to avoid benefits duplication
8. Understanding how a benefits’ value can change
9. Understanding the cost of mis-manged benefits
10. Understanding tangible versus intangible benefits
11. Understanding the different natures of benefits
12. Understanding benefits timing
13. Understanding benefits accountabilities
14. Understanding benefits and KPIs

Each topic refers to further sources of information where you can access more in-depth knowledge or take action using the relevant “How to …” tools and Guides.

Bonus

Managing the benefits
A comprehensive article that discusses the problems with conventional approaches to benefits management and describes a more effective approach that can be easily understood by all project participants and makes every value dimension of the project measurable.