Canadian Government Executive - Volume 22 - Issue 7

13 / 32

be derailed due to changes in the busi-
ness, resource challenges, or even exter-
nal forces.
More specifically, 63 percent of those
surveyed said their project managers are
primarily responsible for communicating
with business owners and keeping them
informed about benefits-related issues.
Forty six percent of respondents made
their project managers responsible for
revisiting expected benefits while 38 per-
cent have them ensuring project benefits
stay aligned to the organization’s strate-
gic objectives.
This is something every organization
expecting to carry out a favorable project
must implement — and the results show
that. Maintaining a clear focus on expect-
ed benefits and the responsibilities that
exist before, during, and after project ex-
ecution is imperative. We believe it’s time
for organizations that implement project
management frameworks to incorporate
a benefits management model that iden-
tifies collaborative roles and responsibili-
ties for those involved with the project.
Craig Killough,
Vice President,
Organization Markets,
Project Management
Institute (PMI).
Special Report
As an organization, adopting a
sound project management
model as a method to control
costs and reach intended proj-
ect outcomes is a shrewd financial and
business decision. However, your com-
pany may be missing out on reaching its
expected project outcome by failing to
implement a necessary — and sometimes
overlooked — step of the project manage-
ment process.
Focusing on benefits during project
execution — and aligning project ben-
efits to the overall strategic objectives of
the organization — is a critical process to
ultimately ensuring that a project is suc-
cessful and delivers on its benefits to the
organization. I define a project as being
successful only if it achieves the benefits
that the organization desires. This outlook
is essential for companies that are looking
to focus on maximizing their investments
in an economy that is becoming increas-
ingly more complex and competitive.
Project Management Institute (PMI) re-
vealed its most recent Pulse of the Profes-
sion® report in late June which explored
the key components of benefits realiza-
tion management during project execu-
tion. As background, PMI’s research on
benefits during project execution was
conducted this past April among 717 proj-
ect management practitioners. Additional
in-depth interviews were conducted with
senior executives to gain deeper insight
into how various roles and responsibilities
align with benefits.
The research supported PMI’s thought
process toward the importance of ben-
efits management. While organizations
that implement a sound project manage-
ment framework may excel at completing
Visit
to download the reports.
projects on time and within budget, these
same organizations struggle with con-
necting their projects back to the overall
business objective. This severely impacts
the ultimate value of a project.
The main reason described by those
surveyed is because they have not identi-
fied the intended benefits before the start
— and during the execution phase — of a
project. Benefits realization management
assures that the desired goals and out-
comes of a project align with the overall
purpose of a business.
Not surprisingly, through our research
we discovered that organizations that
successfully deliver on strategy have the
right tools and processes in place to mea-
sure benefits. These organizations make a
worthwhile investment in benefits realiza-
tion management and implement a proj-
ect management approach that incorpo-
rates this very item.
Our research confirms that organiza-
tions with the aforementioned practices
in place are more profitable and efficient.
In fact, those that have a fully prescribed
process for reporting benefits realization
reported an average of 38 percent more
projects that meet or exceed forecasted
ROI. Those that have fully standardized
documentation for reporting benefits re-
alization metrics report an average of 19
percent more projects that meet or ex-
ceed forecasted ROI.
The study also validates a role for proj-
ect managers in ensuring an organiza-
tion’s expected benefits are delivered
when a project is complete. The research
found that organizations that invest in
benefits realization identify a significant
role for project managers, especially dur-
ing project execution, where benefits can
September 2016 // Canadian Government Executive / 13
Delivering Value to a Project
through Intended Benefits
Organizations should focus on expected benefits
of project during execution phase
By Craig Killough,
Vice President, Organization Markets, PMI