PROJECT MANAGEMENT:
The Need for Benefit realization plan in Project and Programme management
HOWdo we account for benefits delivered by projects and programmes? Do our project and programmes produce ‘White Elephants’? What is a benefit and who is accountable for benefit realization in organizations?
A benefit is a positive measured outcome enabled by project deliverables. Therefore benefit profiling and mapping is of paramount importance to justify the need for projectization.
In our discussion this week we will look at benefit management approach and how it speaks to project and program management. Normally when we develop project or programme plan we need to also look at how benefits will be realized, measured and managed during and after project or programme closure.
Benefits need to be planned for, reviewed, accounted for and somebody specifically tasked to perform this duty. Therefore Benefit management involves the identification, definition, tracking, realization and optimisation of benefits within and beyond a project or programme life-cycle.
Most organizations have created a specific role of a Business Change Manager (BCM) responsible for benefits profiling and management, from identification through to realization, and for ensuring that the implementation and embedding of the new capabilities are delivered by the projects. This role can be given to more than one individual and can also be known as a ‘ change agent’.
The benefits of benefit management for organizations include ranking and prioritising projects according to measurable benefits. Resource conflicts can also be resolved through project ranking. Most importantly avoiding projects and programmes producing what is normally referred to as ‘White Elephants’. What's the meaning of the phrase 'A white elephant'?
And how many white elephant projects and programmes do we have in our midst. You can count them once you know the genesis of the phrase ‘ White Elephant’
Here is a brief history; References to Indian and Thai generation of white elephants dates back to at least the early 17th century. The first reference in English to the idiomatic meaning of the term 'white elephant' comes in 1851 G. E. Jewbury's Letters, 1892: "His services are like so many white elephants, of which nobody can make use, and yet that drain one's gratitude, if indeed one does not feel bankrupt."
We can avoid turning our projects and programme deliverables into white elephants by ensuring that we put in place project governance which
defines who is accountable for measuring benefits and its managements.
A benefit is normally defined as a measurable positive outcome resulting from an outcome perceived as an advantage by one or more project stakeholders. This can be achieved by having a benefits management approach for each project in our projects dossier.
The benefits management approach is not part of the project plan but rather a separate document which is expected to be produced during planning process.
Sometimes Business case and benefit management plan can be produced during project chartering and can act as a valuable input of project charter as well as the planning process.
During project execution, when assessing issues, a project manager, needs to consider whether it is worthwhile doing a detailed impact analysis, the impact analysis should consider the impact the issue has (or will have) on:
• The project business case, especially in terms of the impact on benefits
• The project performance targets in terms of time, cost, quality and scope, including
• Whether there are any other products that are within the project’s scope that will also be impacted by this request for change any other dependent products produced by the project
• The project risk profile, i.e. the impact on the overall risk exposure of the project. necessarily part of the programme. Proactive risk management increases the chances of
When projects are closed, the two documents which are not closed are the business case and the benefits management approach for obvious reasons that these documents need to live post project in order to allow for benefit management. In the case of project closure project manager needs to update the business case and the benefits management approach for further approval of sponsor and corporate. These documents will help corporate to account, track, measure and confirm post project benefits.
Final thoughts, it is highly recommended for organizations and companies embarking on projects and programmes to ensure that they have in place a benefit management strategy or approach to define the framework in which benefits are to be realised and who will be accountable to measure and confirm benefits.
The whole process can include producing benefits management artefacts like the benefit maps illustrating the relationships and dependencies between benefits, benefits realization plan for the entire programme used to track the
realization of benefits and also set benefits review control.
You can also use benefit profiles to define each benefit and each dis-benefit in order to provide a detailed understanding of how their realization will be achieved during and post project. To learn more on benefit management, it is highly recommended to certify on MSP® - Managing Successful Programmes standard.
This article was written by Dr Laban Mwansa, MSP®, PMP®, PRINCE2® Practitioner, Agile®, Laban is a consultant and trainer in project management and specifically trainer/ coach in PMP®, PRINCE2® Practitioner, and PRINCE2 Agile® in Zambia, South Africa and Europe for many years. He was in the executive committee of ICTAZ as technical chair. He is also the managing partner of Betaways Innovation Systems and can be reached at: Laban.Mwansa@ betaways- innovations. com, +260975280392 or WhatsApp +27817029669. He is also a professional project management member of PMSA and PMI-USA.