While managing consulting project, companies focus usually on meeting customer’s demands. Obviously, this is what they are paid for, this is the key activity of every for-profit organization.
Sometimes, however, such superficial chase after customer’s satisfaction can have detrimental impact on transformation project, as those most of the time create value after vendor’s engagement are over.
This is why, Program Benefits Management school of thoughts is gaining increasing importance among all managers interested in sustainable value for their transformation programs.
Benefits management ensures that projects and programs deliver what they promise. It provides focus, demonstrates value-for-money, reduces the risk of failure and maximizes benefits achieved by evaluating project results against the defined measures and objectives. It also helps in:
- Comprehensive identification and accurate definition of Benefits
- Measuring to which extent, where and when Benefits have been realized by identifying the measurements needed to manage the realization of Benefits
- Planning for development and implementation of the programme
- Comparing the outcomes of the program with the strategy and measuring performance and taking corrective actions
- Establishing chain of benefits that measures the impact of one Benefit on another and helps to optimize the selection of benefits for the achievement of targets
- Expressing requirements in a relatively simple picture that can be used to facilitate consensus with associates and sponsors
Apart from identifying key benefits and connecting them vertically, important task is to establish metrics for their measurement. Along project lifecycle, measuring Benefits helps in:
- Ensuring that the Program is implemented and managed with a sustained focus on Benefits Realisation
- Tracking the progress of Benefit Realisation
- Communicating progress to management, so that corrective action is taken and the benefits maximized
- Motivating Stakeholders and sustaining their buy-in for the Project
- Identifying reasons why a higher level Benefit has not been reached and proposing corrective actions
- Enabling better decision making
- Comparing the outcomes with the strategy and measure how Programme contributes to the company’s vision and goals.
The chart below presents generic relationship between enablers, initiatives and benefits leading into realization of strategic goals. The example presents everyday struggle of an MBA Student.
Connecting enablers with initiatives and benefits of different levels helps project managers keep track of the progress of delivering value alongside project lifecycle.
Below graph depicts impact that a single initiative (I used sales and marketing example) can have on benefits of different importance and, ultimately, on company’s strategic performance tracked by BSC.
