Identifying benefit owners
Successful benefits management hinges on a partnership approach between the programme or project team and representatives from affected business areas.
It is critical to identify and involve key individuals from the business side who can help develop, shape, implement and manage the benefits of the programme or project.
Without the input, knowledge and commitment of these individuals, the team will find it difficult to develop and implement a meaningful or useful benefits framework. Ultimately, these individuals will help determine if the benefits of an investment are fully realised or not.
These key stakeholders are known as benefit owners. As with all programme and project management activity, the various benefits roles described should be considered with proportionate effort in mind and undertaken accordingly.
The SRO, benefits manager, and programme/project team will identify who the main benefit owners are and develop a plan for engaging with them.
Types of benefit owners
The two main representative roles from the business side are:
- senior benefit owner – a senior business representative responsible for ensuring that the benefit is achieved once handover from the project is complete; this should include a specific role and individual’s name within the organisation.
- operational benefit owner – a business representative who is responsible for benefit measurement and benefit realisation.
Where do the main benefits occur?
The impact of programme or project outcomes on business areas will vary depending on the nature and scope of the change. Some initiatives will cut across the whole organisation, while others will affect only certain areas.
Analysis of where priority benefits will be realised should help target specific business areas, and individuals, who need to be involved in the process.
It is useful to think of the level at which benefits will be managed and realised. Benefits can impact several tiers of an organisation and occur outside it. Recognising this spectrum of potential benefits will help to generate the greatest impact.
This also helps to identify those individuals best placed to oversee their delivery.
Benefit type and responsibility
It is possible that a benefit will be delivered by the operational benefit owner from the business side, but the senior benefit owner will be from a different part of the organisation.
For example, the benefit might be operationally delivered by the business, but because it is concerned with a cash releasing saving, the senior benefit owner is the organisation’s finance director.
Engagement with benefit owners
Good communications are critical to successfully engaging with and gaining the commitment of business areas. Those individuals identified as potential benefit owners may be unfamiliar with benefits management, may have little knowledge of the programme or project or its objectives and aims, and will have their own business priorities and commitments.
There must be a clear, structured, communication plan in place to explain what benefits management is, the rationale behind it, the role of business areas, and the advantages of contributing to the process. This should be tailored and customised to reflect specific business area circumstances to increase its relevance and impact. The communication plan should set out key objectives and practical steps for involving affected business areas.
Securing senior management commitment is a critical step in the benefits management process. Without the support of senior staff from the business side, the process is unlikely to succeed. It may be useful for the SRO to conduct preliminary meetings to pave the way for subsequent communications and engagement.
Benefits management working groups
Establishing a benefits management working group is an effective means to involve business representatives. This approach engages the knowledge and expertise of the business side, but should also encourage involvement, and ownership of the benefits in the longer term.
The programme or project team decide who will be involved in the group, balancing numbers, grades, influence, expertise and working knowledge. It is important that there is strong business side representation and a sufficient mix of grades to allow for decision making and practical development work.
The advantages of establishing a working group are:
- to promote awareness and understanding of the benefits amongst key stakeholders
- to encourage involvement and promote greater commitment to realising agreed benefits
- to use stakeholder knowledge of the business to identify benefits that otherwise may be overlooked
A working group may typically comprise:
- the SRO in the role of chair
- the Project Manager or Benefit Manager
- senior user representatives
- user representatives
- facilitator