Program management is designed to take a larger and more comprehensive view of the organization’s activities, isn’t it? Program offices generally run multiple projects that may span across the entire organization. Therefore, the managers must compare project requests and activities to ensure that projects or assets do not conflict with each other and that there is no duplicity of effort. Hence, I could say ‘Strategic benefits realization’—the set of tasks required to actively manage the realization of program management benefits.
How about Benefits realization in program management?
Benefits realization in program management, the activities of the organization to ensure they are working toward strategic goals. Just because a project can be done does not mean the end result will add value to the organization. Program management must evaluate requests coming in to make sure that the effort will help increase sales, reduce costs or benefit the client strategically. They also allocate budget and watch projects to make sure that benefits of the project exceed the cost.
As a broader base of experience, expands around benefits realization, there is an emerging assessment that sees benefits realization as significantly more strategic and dynamic than purely passive reporting:
- It is about business value that provides new competencies that then need to be exploited or leveraged by the business for business benefits to be fully realized.
- It is strongly linked with the process of business change that must be successfully transported.
- The recipients of the change must be involved in its delivery and given incentives to ensure that it succeeds; otherwise, their confrontation to change may severely impact the realization of benefits.
- It is as much about the journey as the endpoint. Agreement must be obtained at the beginning on intermediate outcomes that need to be monitored to validate that change is being successful and the ultimate end benefits will be delivered ‘downstream’.
- Benefits need to be measured routinely and reporting must be integrated with other planning and reporting functions—not regarded as an optional and stand-alone practice.
- It is vital to understand who is empowered and responsible for making decisions if monitoring exposes that benefits are not on track.
Finally I would like to add, the objectives of Benefits Realization Management are outlined along with the ‘Managing Successful Program’ are as follows:
- To ensure benefits: identified and defined at the outset and linked to strategic outcomes
- To ensure business areas are devoted to realizing their defined benefits
- To drive the progression of realizing benefits
- To use the projected benefits as a road map for the program – providing a focus to carry changes
In short, it is the process of aligning a Program around its strategic benefits – which is really worth for Projects and Program after all.