How to Do Project Benefits Management

Summary

This video introduces the concept of benefits management, an often overlooked aspect of project management. The speaker outlines a seven-step process essential for effectively managing project benefits, including developing a benefits management strategy, identifying and analyzing benefits, and creating a benefits realization plan. Each step is critical for ensuring that projects not only deliver products but also generate sustained benefits for the organization. The video concludes with a special launch discount for an upcoming course on project benefits management, inviting viewers to learn more about this vital topic.

Takeaways

• 🌟 Benefits management is a crucial yet often overlooked aspect of project management that deserves more attention.
• 📚 The process of project benefits management can be broken down into seven clear steps.
• 📝 Step 1 involves creating a benefits management strategy that outlines how benefits will be approached and managed.
• 🔍 Step 2 focuses on identifying and analyzing potential benefits, utilizing various methodologies to assess them.
• 💼 Step 3 is about optimizing the benefits portfolio, documenting which benefits the project will pursue in the business case.
• 📅 Step 4 includes developing a benefits realization plan that integrates with the overall project plan.
• 📈 Step 5 emphasizes the importance of realizing and tracking benefits through effective delivery and monitoring mechanisms.
• 🔄 Step 6 involves reviewing and optimizing benefits to enhance the value derived from the project's outputs.
• 🌱 Step 7 recognizes the need to grow and sustain benefits beyond the project's lifecycle, ensuring long-term value.
• 🎓 The presenter encourages viewers to consider enrolling in a specialized course for deeper insights into benefits management.

Q & A

What is the main focus of the video?

The video focuses on the importance of benefits management in project management and outlines a structured seven-step process to effectively manage benefits throughout a project's lifecycle.

Why is benefits management considered underutilized?

Benefits management is often overlooked in project management, with many project managers not being familiar with its principles or processes, despite its critical role in ensuring projects deliver value.

What is the first step in the seven-step benefits management process?

The first step is to create a benefits management strategy, which serves as an overarching document detailing how benefits will be approached, defined, and managed.

How are benefits identified and analyzed in the second step?

In the second step, project managers assess potential benefits using various methodologies, including both intangible and financial assessments, and utilize tools such as benefits maps and registers.

What does optimizing the benefits portfolio involve?

Optimizing the benefits portfolio involves selecting the final benefits that the project will pursue and documenting them in a business case, which is crucial for initiating project work.

What is the purpose of the benefits realization plan?

The benefits realization plan outlines how the project's deliverables will be turned into actual benefits, ensuring alignment with the project's overall plan.

What is involved in the fifth step, realizing and tracking benefits?

In this step, project managers deliver the project’s products while monitoring how well these products are generating the expected benefits as per the initial realization plan.

What is the focus of the review and optimization step?

The review and optimization step focuses on evaluating the benefits created, identifying opportunities for further benefits, and optimizing the return on resources used.

What does the final step, growing and sustaining benefits, emphasize?

The final step emphasizes the need to ensure that benefits persist beyond the project's lifecycle, allowing organizations to grow and sustain value from the assets created.

What resources are offered in the Project Benefits Management course?

The course provides templates, tools, techniques, and checklists that project managers can use to implement the benefits management process effectively, along with a launch discount for early enrollees.