Projects focus internally on scope, time and budget, while programs aim to achieve external business benefits. There are five key gaps: 1) Defining success as benefits not just outputs, 2) Educating managers to transform goals to requirements and benefits, 3) Methodologies provide little benefits management help, 4) Project and program manager capabilities differ, 5) Programs are outward focused on benefits while projects focus internally. Filling these gaps through benefits realization, stakeholder engagement, and lifecycle management can help improve benefits delivery from 50% to higher rates of success.

1. Projects & Programs are two different animals,
don't underestimate the gap
May 2015, London
Thomas Walenta, PgMP, PMP, PMI Fellow
thwalenta@online.de

2. Lions have not been used in warfare much,
but served for public punishment
Lions
live for 12-18 years
Hunt in groups
Hunting only takes a short time (3-4 hours a day)
Hunting has to feed the group
Hindu God Narasimha: Great Protector
Short memory and life
Supporting a family
Successful hunting <50%
Feared

3. Elephants have been used by armies to implement strategies
Surprise and shock - Impress by sheer size
Very useful in logistics - transport
Attack and kill
Elephants
can be guided and led by humans
have a good longterm memory
can live for 80+ years
Hindu God Ganesha: Lord of success and destroyer of obstacles
Long memory and life
Supporting an ecosystem
Successful in most cases
Respected

4. A Study reveals a disturbing reality: even among projects that are
delivered at least 90% on time & on budget, majority fails to
deliver on 'business expectations'
Business outcome
expectations include
 Delivery quality
 End-user adoption
 Business case
attainment
 Sponsor satisfaction
Challenged
53%
Succeeded
29%
Failed
18%
Copyright The Corporate Executive Board (CEB), www.pmo.executiveboard.com,
2009 Study 'Project Managing Business Outcome'
The top-performing projects in terms of budget and schedule compliance attain on
average only 53% of their business outcome expectations.

5. PMI's 'Pulse of the Profession' Reports reveal that benefits
management is influencing success
Copyright PMI 2015
2015 Pulse of the Profession

6. Benefits management is the most relevant factor that
distinguishes high vs. low performing organizations
Copyright PMI 2013
2013 Pulse of the Profession

7. #1 Gap: Success definition gap
Scope, budget, milestones = business benefits?
Successfull project delivered a
product in time & budget
Successfull program achieved
benefits and created value
A benefit is the 'desired result of an initiative undertaken
to meet a need or solve a problem'

8. 'Pre-project'
#2 Gap: Education gap
Are Project Managers educated to transform business goals
to requirements and benefits?
• Project Manager‘s curriculums & certifications
– Magic triangle scope/quality – cost – time
– Soft skills to lead a team
– Organizational skills
– Technology
• Project life cycle covers part of total required life cycle
– Business case, strategic alignment done before project
– Requirements are part of business case development
– Benefits often achieved after a project is delivered
costtime
scope
'Post-project'Project

9. • Benefits are specific to a business / a company
• Benefits delivery is often seen as a primary task of middle management,
consulting companies or not addressed specifically
• 'Benefits' is found 24 times in PMBoK Guide 5th
edition, but 129 times in
PgM Standard 3rd
edition, having benefits management and other
processes and artefacts
• Prince2 mentions benefits in the business case and benefits review plan,
but only MSP covers benefits management
• IPMA ICB does not have a focus on benefits management, instead offers
success criteria for projects
• ISO 21500: projects contribute to benefits, which are created by
operations (!)
#3 Gap: Methodology gap
PM Standards and Methodology provide no real help to Project
Managers in delivering benefits

10. #4 Gap: Significant capabilities gap
Capabilities of a successful program manager are different to
those of a good project manager
PMI Congress 2003 – Europe Paper
Pellegrinelli, Partington and Young

11. Program Project
Plan
Control
Deliver
Scope /
Quality
TimeCost
Understand
Create
Achieve
Strategy /
Benefits
GovernanceStakeholders
#5 Gap: in/outward orientation gap
Program Management is outward focussed while Project
Management mainly deals with project internals

12. ?
Stake-
holders
(sponsors)
Stake-
holders
(users)
Strategy
How to successfully to fulfill business expectations and deliver
benefits to stakeholders?
Environment (society, jurisdiction, regulators, market etc)Requirements
Benefits

13. Program
Stake-
holders
(sponsors)
Requirements
Stake-
holders
(users)
Strategy
Project A
deliver
able
Scope
Cost
Time
Benefits
(sustained)
Benefits
(consolidated)
Project B
deliver
able
Scope
Cost
Time
Discrete
benefit
Benefits
Identfication
Benefits
Analysis & Planning
Benefits
transition
Benefits
sustainment
Benefits Delivery
Understand what has to be done in addition to project
management - and how it can be accomplished!
Component C Discrete
benefit
Environment
Based on PMI Standard for Program Mgmt, 3rd Ed.
Governance

14. Program Benefits Management transforms stakeholder
requirements into sustained benefits
Based on PMI Standard for Program Mgmt, 3rd Ed.
Benefits
Identfication
Benefits
Analysis & Planning
Benefits
transition
Benefits
sustainment
Benefits Delivery
Business
Case Program
Mission
Define
CSFs Measurement
Structure
Benefits
Realisation
Plan
Define
Program
Components
Define
KPIs Performance
Baseline
Start,
monitor &
transition
components
Evaluate
KPIs
Monitor
organizational
environment
Program
definition
Program benefits
delivery Program closure
Transition
Plan Verify
Transition
Operational
tasks
Program Lifecycle

15. !
Stake-
holder
Engage-
ment
Stake-
holders
(users)
Fill the key roles with the right people.
Environment (society, jurisdiction, regulators, market etc)
BenefitsMgmt
Strategy
Alignment
Governance
Program
Lifecycle

16. SLF4
Relationship
Management
Specialist
Team
Program Management
SLF3
Organizational
Change
Management
SLF2
Architectual
Solution
Board
SLF7
Test &
Transition
Management
SLF5
Quality
Assurance
/ Risk
SLF6
Program
Mgmt
Office
SLF8
Resource
Management
Oper-
ations
Applic.
Mainten.
User
Help
DeskProject 4
.........Project 1
Operational Layer Functions
(Projects, Teams, Production)
Strategic Layer Functions
Project 3
Project 5
Project 6
Project 2 Enduser
Training
Team
SponsorsStakeholders,
e.g. Users
Business Steering
Committee
Program Management System (PMS) ensures the linkage between involved and
affected stakeholder groups and the integration among projects and with
ongoing tasks
SLF1
Business
Strategy
Source: PMI Global Congress Toronto 2005
Paper Th. Walenta

17. #1 Success definition gap
#2 Education gap
#3 Methodology gap
#4 Significant capabilities gap
#5 In/outward orientation gap
How to understand that a lion is not an elephant
Strategy Alignment
Governance
Stakeholder Engagement
Benefits Realisation
Lifecycle Management
About 50% of successful
projects deliver benefits
High benefits realization
maturity impacts project
success