15 Benefits Management Flashcards
A) Understand what is meant by Benefits Management B) Understand the importance of aligning benefits with strategic objectives and ways in which the benefits of a project can be communicated to stakeholders
What is a Benefit?
A positive and measurable impact of change
What is Benefits Management?
Identification, definition, planning, tracking and realisation of benefits
What is Benefits Realisation?
Practice of ensuring that benefits are derived from outputs and outcomes
What is a tangible benefit?
A benefit that is quantifiable and measurable
Who is responsible for Benefits Realisation?
Project sponsor
Why should benefits planning involve benchmarking?
Provides a baseline against which changes can be assessed
What are the five stages of benefits management?
- Identification
- Definition
- Planning
- Tracking
- Realisation
Why should benefits be identified?
Unidentified benefits cannot be managed and therefore ROI can be missed
In what document are benefits defined and why?
- Benefits Management Plan
- Clear approach to management
- Assigns responsibilities and roles
Why are benefits are tracked?
Informs when changes are needed to the scope or timescale and ensures outputs are supporting benefits
What are the six phases of a Benefits Management Lifecycle?
- Identify and Quantify
- Value and appraise
- Plan
- Realise
- Review Results
- Review
What activities occur during the Identify and Quantify phase?
- Stakeholder identification and involvement
- Benefit alignment to strategic objectives
- Benefit mapping
What activities occur during the Value and Appraise phase?
- Produce an OBC
- Establish baseline measurements
- Establish realistic benefit targets
- Stakeholder analysis
What activities occur during the Planning phase?
- Benefit and change description
- Establishing responsibility for benefits realisation
- Benefits categorisation and structuring
- Establishing change success criteria
What activities occur during the Realisation phase?
- Monitoring, tracking and reporting of benefits realisation
- Optimising changes for maximum benefits realisation
- Evaluating realised benefits
What activities occur during the Results Review phase?
- Identifying additional benefits
- Identifying the benefits possible through business changes
- Identify the benefits possible from further investment
What activities occur during the Review phase?
- Assess Benefits Management Capability development
- Identify how to improve the benefits management process
How are benefits aligned to strategic objectives?
- Business Case
- Benefits mapping
- Benefits identification and measurements
What should the Business Case detail?
How the contribution of benefits will aim to achieve the operational, organisational or business strategy
- What is the difference between End and Intermediate benefits?
- End benefits occur when a strategic objective is achieved
- Intermediate benefits occur on the way to realising an end benefit
How should benefits be communicated to stakeholders?
- Workshops
- Emails/Intranet updates
- Regular reports
What should you consider during communication?
- Tone and Language (What’s typical in the organisation)
- Organisational Values / Mission objectives
- Accepted/Default Method of communication in organisation
- What does the achievement of intermediate benefits demonstrate?
Progress towards the end benefits
What does DOAM stand for?
- D - Described
- O - Observed
- A - Attribution
- M - Measurement
What are the success factors of Benefits Management?
- Active
- Evidence based
- Transparent
- Benefits led
- Forward looking
- Lifecycle Management
What should a negative outcome be recorded as?
Dis-benefit
What impact do benefits have on an organisation and what does this require?
Transformative impact - open discussion regarding benefits must be accommodated by the organisation
Why is it important to get affected parts of the business involved in benefits management?
To ensure the necessary changes happen
Give 2 characteristics of benefits management being introduced as a capability in an organisation
-Benchmarking against similar organisations
-Networking and knowledge sharing facilities
What is a benefits framework and name 2 things included in it
Optional portfolio-level framework used to support benefits management across projects and programmes
-Benefits mapping
-Evaluation
