As a project manager, keeping track of your benefits realisation plan is vital to ensure that the progress of all of your key milestones is not only being tracked but also identified across every benefit profile. That means monitoring benefits on a regular basis to ensure the project will deliver the intended business benefits.
In cases where it is required, the project manager may be needed to work with or even prompt the senior benefit owner in order to ensure that all of the planned review and measurement activities are being put in place. Any specific benefit targets should be added to an already existing, well-established business planning process.
It may also be that senior benefit owners want to incorporate benefit targets into their operational and strategic business plans. This will, however, depend on the level and priority of the benefit.
Why do some projects not deliver potential benefits?
If you truly want to understand the value of benefits realisation, then you need to understand the circumstances under which a project may not deliver the desired business benefits.
Sometimes a lack of results from a project is a clear indication that there was poor project planning in place from the very beginning. In the same way, benefits for the project may also be undermined as a result of ill-defined, unclear, poorly aligned goals. This is all too often down to a poor project management process or project leadership that is in some way lacking.
Sometimes projects can, in fact, have a solid framework, but this is not executed well. These cases can involve:
- Issues with resourcing
- Having too many stakeholders
- Unmet funding needs
- Poor change management handling
- Limitations that are imposed by otherwise-useful organisational rules
Under any of these circumstances, being committed to benefits realisation can assist in clarifying the connections that exist between the results and projects. The process provides insights that help stakeholders and leaders to make any necessary changes. This brings about projects that are stronger and offer outcomes that are more sustainable.
Benefits realisation can help
When a project is facing challenges, benefits realisation can offer the necessary framework that can help to make strategy execution simpler. This will ensure that every task within the project is created as a measurable value and on a more managed scale.
There are a number of benchmarks involved that can assist in keeping a project on track and keeping everyone involved accountable. These are ways in which you can measure and define the success of the project and avoid any major delays, prevent significant errors and ensure the resource consumption is equitable. When you keep on track of your benefits realisation plan, you ensure that, as much as possible, you are doing everything you can to help your project towards a successful conclusion.
