Benefits management is often light on the ground in many programmes. Not very wise when the fundamental reason for beginning a programme is to realise benefits through change; whether it is to do things in a new way or to do things that will influence others to change.

The OGC’s MSP Principles include strong emphasis on Benefits Management (BM) with the following keys stages covered off:

BM Process

A Benefits Management Strategy

A Identification of Benefits

The Quantification of Benefits

Benefit Profiles

The Modelling of Benefits

The Benefits Realisation Plan

Reviewing Benefit Realisation

Responsibilities for BM

As benefits are the quantification of the change delivered by a programme, the benefits should be used to help direct and make decisions throughout the course of the programme.

During the course of our Programme Management roles we will have determined the critical measures and indicators of success and made arrangements to ensure the programme remains appropriate and on track to deliver the intended outcomes and benefits.

Programme Managers should check that:

- All the planned outcomes remain achievable;

- The planned outcomes are not altered in scope, value or relationship;

- The key stakeholders remain committed and confident that outcomes will be achieved when planned;

- The plan for achieving outcomes is being pro-actively managed;

- The plan is monitored against agreed performance measures/key performance indicators and any problems resolved promptly.

Where key benefits have been properly identified, e.g. increased efficiency or more effective service delivery, these benefits should be properly managed in the same way. We should be able to define exactly what a benefit will deliver in a way that can be measured, using realistic timescales, risks and costs. Every benefit must be linked to planned outcomes and every benefit must be assigned to an owner who is responsible and accountable for its eventual realisation.

In large programmes of work, there is often a business change manager coordinating the benefits realisation on behalf of the business areas owning those benefits.