This document discusses benefits realization and putting strategy into action. It provides examples of how to formulate effective business cases by including controls and measures. Benefits should be set up to be tracked by understanding the benefits being purchased, not just the solution, and ensuring governance approval gates have consequences. A template is shown that was used successfully to plan benefits realization by embedding tracking of benefits into the project lifecycle from business case to operational reviews. The key messages are to be clear on the benefits purchased rather than just the solution, agree how benefits will be tracked, ensure a line of sight from strategy to benefits realization, spend time defining usage scenarios, and hold people accountable for realizing stated benefits.

1. Benefits Realisation – putting
strategy into action
Gareth Byatt
Programme Manager and Head of Global PMO
MBA, PgMP, PRINCE2 Practitioner
APAC Region Director, PMOSIG Local Interest Group

2. Contents of this Slidedeck + the Key Message
1. Benefits Realisation realities
What makes a Business Cases worth the “paper” it is written on…
2. How do Business Benefits Cases get formulated?
Examples of controls and measures to put in place…
3. How should we set up benefits to be tracked?
Quantifying benefits without creating unrealistic or worthless amounts of detail…
4. Benefits Realisation “active planning”
Employing a simple technique for pro-active benefits tracking…
5. Benefits Realisation Summary
Take-home Messages
Information in this pack is based on the Author’s personal experience, discussions with fellow Portfolio and
Programme Managers working for other organisations, and information from the Analysts Gartner and Forrester
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3. 1 Benefits Realisation harsh realities
Are benefits over-stated? Do we promise more than is practical?
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4. 1 Why bother carrying out a project?
There are only 4 reasons…
To generate revenue
To save costs
To contribute to a strategic objective and/or defined business priority
Because you have to
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Courtesy of Stephen Jenner: “Realising Benefits from Government ICT investment – a fool’s errand?”

5. 2 How do Business Benefits Cases get formulated?
Effective governance and appropriate behaviours are key
It’s not enough to have the Governance process in place
The Governance group needs to have “teeth” 5

6. 2 Do Business Benefits Cases include the right things?
Example of a simple method to assist with accountability
Use your Business Case as a tool to agree key benefits,
measurements to track them, and people accountable for 6
their realisation

7. 3 How should we set up benefits to be tracked?
Understand the benefits of what you are buying, not just what you are buying
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This example is courtesy of Stephen Jenner, CJIT Director for the UK Government Civil Justice IT investment programme

8. 3 How should we set up benefits to be tracked?
Ensure Governance Approval Gates have Teeth
Funding should be linked to traceable and tracked performance
Presumption – if you exceed your funding tolerance, funding ceases
Conclude all projects with a formal re-commitment to benefits realisation
Then track those benefits in a controlled, measured way
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9. 3 How should we set up benefits to be tracked?
Build benefits management into selection, delivery and operation
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10. 3 How should we set up benefits to be tracked?
So how should we work with our Clients to realise benefits?
Ensure Total Cost and Value of Ownership is factored into project budgets
Don’t over-complicate the scope! Get to the crux of what your Client needs:
Focus hard, and spend quality time, defining and testing the concept and detailed
design against carefully considered real-life scenarios and modelling
Ask enough people about what they need – don’t go with one or two opinions
Take the time to really understand how your Client will build the solution into their
operations (and achieve the stated benefits)
Ensure your Client agrees for the need to benefits tracking post Go Live
Benefits realisation “from start to finish” can be an activity of a “process
competency centre” (if you have one)
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11. 3 How should we set up benefits to be tracked?
So what should we do to challenge benefits assumptions?
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12. 4 Benefits Realisation active planning
Example – a template used successfully by Lend Lease ICT
Embed the thinking of benefits realisation into the project Business Case
Take the stated benefits and put them into a template for tracking during the
initiative lifecycle
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13. 4 Benefits Realisation “active planning”
A Lend Lease IT project example
1 Application
Mock-up/model
2 Use Cases
3 Build the tool
4 Embed it into operational
reviews and processes 13

14. 5 Benefits Realisation
Summary
1. Ensure your Client is very clear about the benefits they are buying, not just
the solution they are buying
2. Agree how to track performance against the agreed benefits, then do it
3. Ensure a clear “line of sight” from strategic intent to benefits realisation
4. Spend “thinking time” to define usage scenarios, and model them properly
– it helps get the design focus right, and to validate practical real-life use
5. Ensure Project Approval Gates have Teeth
6. Continually ask “Is this the best we can do?”
7. Single out people for accountability to realise stated benefits from the
Business Case onwards
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