Bringing a laser focus to project benefit delivery

A new British Standard is supplying guidance and recommendations on how projects and programmes can fully realise their intended benefits. This blog post introduces the standard and the thinking behind it.   

How do you increase the likelihood that a project or programme delivers the benefits that were envisaged in the original business case? The simple answer is to put benefits management at the heart of project delivery. This means dedicating an appropriate amount of effort to understanding the benefits in the context of stakeholders’ needs and the changes needed to increase the likelihood of success. To help businesses do this, we’ve published a new British Standard.

Benefits management

BS 202002:2023 Applying benefits management on portfolios, programmes and projects – Guide provides principles, practices and guidance on benefits management. It includes how to develop benefits management frameworks and processes, and how to assure and control activities designed to realize planned benefits for the organization, its customers and stakeholders.

The content can be tailored to suit the particular circumstances in which it’s being used and to your unique and specific organizational context. The standard cautions that where a focus on benefits management is absent, senior managers will probably not only fail to realize the required benefits of their project but will also likely fail to achieve the sought-after outcomes that were designed to enable the benefits to be realized in the first place.

Valuable investment

BS 202002:2023 is structured in clauses that will build the users’ understanding of benefits management and help them apply it. It begins by looking at context, governance and principles. It defines benefits management as an activity which includes identifying, planning, measuring and realizing benefits. The standard states that the purpose of benefits management is to improve the organization’s ability to achieve its objectives; and that this includes terminating work that’s no longer likely to realize sufficient benefits to justify continued investment.

Moreover, the effective implementation of benefits management is a valuable investment that can result in the more successful achievement of objectives; and more consistent and predictable outcomes, which in turn give stakeholders more confidence in the organization.

Successful benefits management can also deliver a change in culture from an output-led mindset to one that focuses on achieving objectives and realizing benefits. At the same time, the organization stands to gain more agility with which to react to change in the business environment without losing alignment with established business strategy and targets. You can also improve organizational decision-making at all levels, particularly for investment decisions.

Defined benefits

Thereafter the standard gets into the application of benefits management in more depth, both across portfolios and for projects, programmes and other related work. Benefits should be defined, clarified and agreed upon. They must align with and inform objectives that can change over time. Each work component should contribute to a benefit and each benefit should contribute to an objective.

Benefit management starts when a problem, need or opportunity is identified, and it continues throughout a work component’s lifecycle. Benefit management practices include defining the need or opportunity and its value to the organization; then planning the benefit and its contribution to the business case, including quantifying the impact of the benefit using agreed common reporting units like income, time and social and environmental impacts. Those managing benefits should then recommend decisions that optimize benefit realization and monitor the benefits.

Driving strategy

The standard then takes a deep dive into implementation. It gives guidance on creating a benefits management framework and defined reporting units; as well as on using benefits management for decision-making and driving strategy. It states that benefits management can provide an evidence-based foundation for developing a strategy.

The standard concludes with an annexe on demonstrating achievement, as well as one that gives examples of decisions, and a third giving examples of benefits maps. The standard is inspired by what the most successful organizations do, and now you can do the same to improve project success rates and achieve the results you’re aiming for.