Canadian Government Executive - Volume 22 - Issue 8

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Organizations often emphasize a “shared
accountability” so that project manage-
ment offices (PMOs) can track and mea-
sure benefits. However, Beyond the Proj-
ect: Sustain Benefits to Optimize Business
Value shows the disconnect between what
project managers measure and what exec-
utives actually care about. Leadership re-
mains a critical factor in creating a success-
ful benefits management culture. Executive
leaders set the tone at the top, indicating
the value they place on BRM—and why.
They embed that value into the organiza-
tion’s culture and assign responsibility for
benefits management to leaders and their
teams—on both the project and operations
sides of their businesses.
The work after the project is just as vital
as the work during the project. It requires
the same attention, including leadership
support, as project-level activity. It also
requires a commitment to monitoring and
measuring progress — and responding to
any problems that interfere with benefits
realization.
Organizations follow through on projects
because they are intended to add value to
an organization. Projects are meant to ad-
vance organizations’ strategies and make
companies more competitive in an aggres-
sive business environment. However, the
value that projects add depends on wheth-
er projects deliver on their intended ben-
efits. As part of a comprehensive project
management practice, focusing on benefits
realization ensures that projects and pro-
grams add lasting value to the enterprise.
A failure to do so leaves organizations
foregoing their very own strategy.
Craig Killough,
Vice President,
Organization Markets,
Project Management
Institute (PMI).
Special Report
When organizations embark on
projects and programs, they
do so with a clear mission: to
add value, advance strate-
gies and increase competitive advantage.
While global organizations are becoming
more aware of the value associated with
project management, however, most or-
ganizations are still missing significant op-
portunities to add strategic value to their
project management framework because
they lack a formal and focused approach to
identifying and managing benefits.
When project benefits are properly iden-
tified at the start of a project to align with
an organization’s strategic goal — and are
managed well throughout the process —
organizations realize the greatest results
on their projects.
But what happens once that project is
completed?
Over the past year, PMI has researched
benefits realization management, begin-
ning with two Pulse of the Profession® in-
depth reports – both of which were fea-
tured in Canadian Government Executive
– that look at the importance of identifying
benefits at the start of a project and moni-
toring benefits throughout the project’s life
cycle. The research from our latest study,
Beyond the Project: Sustain Benefits to
Optimize Business Value, includes key in-
formation related to benefits sustainment
after a project’s transition to operations.
Administered earlier this year to more
than 1,100 project management profession-
als, we found organizations that invest in
benefits realization management — from
benefits identification to project execution
to benefits sustainment — approach it as a
discipline and achieve quantifiable gains as
a result. According to the study’s findings,
few organizations report a high degree of
benefits realization maturity, but those that
do see an average of 50 percent more proj-
ects meeting original goals and business
intent. The findings point to actions every
organization can take to sustain benefits
once a project has been moved into ongo-
ing operations.
Based on the conclusions of PMI’s third
report, there are three recommended ac-
tions that organizations should take:
By Craig Killough, Vice President, Organization Markets, PMI
Visit
to download the reports.
Invest in benefits realization
management
• Organizations with high benefits realiza-
tion management maturity invest in the
discipline and establish its value organi-
zation-wide. These organizations waste
significantly less money due to poor per-
formance; specifically, US$112 million less
for every US$1 billion invested in projects
and programs — and achieve better proj-
ect performance and realize expected
benefits at higher rates.
Stay focused on benefits beyond the
project
• Organizations that commit to the tran-
sition and sustainment activities exhibit
higher benefits realization management
maturity than other organizations and
see 69 percent more projects meeting or
exceeding forecasted ROI.
Communicate cross-functionality
• High benefits realization management
maturity organizations sustain benefits
over time by establishing clear commu-
nication among the project team and
organizational leaders. Among organiza-
tions with more mature benefits realiza-
tion management practices, 92 percent
make project teams aware of the success
or failure of benefits after the project
ends — and 77 percent make their project
teams aware of unanticipated benefits
that have been realized.
One of the reasons organizations fail at—or
simply ignore—benefits realization is be-
cause they don’t assign, or know to whom
they should assign, oversight. Almost half
of the organizations in our earlier study*
(46%) said the project manager is primar-
ily responsible during project execution
for revisiting the benefits identified in the
business case. Nearly two in three organi-
zations (63%) report that project manag-
ers are also responsible for communicating
with business owners about any benefits-
related issues. And, nearly two in five or-
ganizations (38%) report that the project
manager is primarily responsible for en-
suring that project benefits stay aligned
to strategic objectives. *Source: Delivering
Value: Focus on Benefits During Project Ex-
ecution
Realizing Benefits Beyond the Project
Are Your Projects Adding Lasting Value? Implementing a Benefits
Realization Management Approach Equals Big Results for Organizations
October 2016 // Canadian Government Executive / 23