This page discusses some of the issues relevant to Programme/Project Management and Benefits Realisation and a summarises the services offered.

More information can be found by clicking on the relevant button under the 'Approach and Products' heading in the menu.

Issues

There are a number of key elements that need to be in place to ensure a successful programme or project:

• Clear vision/purpose with a focus on delivering tangible measurable benefits

• Strong leadership that recognises the importance of assessing an organisation’s readiness for change and pro-actively managing cultural issues/resistance to change

• Robust business case incorporating the full cost of the change (i.e., include costs associated with change management activities and disbenefits)
• Simple governance and change control procedures

• Effective/bold decision making at key stages - for example: not giving approval unless the business case is robust; stopping failing programmes/projects; avoiding scope creep; signing off deliverables against agreed quality criteria

• Key individuals held to account - but only if they are given both the authority and resources to discharge their accountability

• Clear and enforceable division of responsibility between the sponsor, governing bodies, programme/project team and the business (or part thereof) affected by the change

• Adequate resources for both the core team and partners with the skills and experience needed to manage the complexities of running a programme or project; resource effort estimated and costed

• Infrastructure and processes that are fit for purpose - i.e., non-bureaucratic to avoid you becoming a slave to a mountain of paperwork. For example: very few and short documents; simple milestone plans; focus on key risks rather than trying to identify and manage every conceivable potential problem

• Robust benefits measurement, management and realisation methodology; benefits systematically quantified

• Benefits underpinned by good data and explicit assumptions and are not overstated or double-counted; clear baselines (or actions to address the absence of a baseline); clear definitions to avoid confusion between, for example, features of new IT and genuine benefits

• Formal programme/project team building and induction, underpinned by a Charter so that everyone in the team understands the vision/goals, team roles are clear, values and expected behaviours are explicit

• Regular communication with everyone involved with and impacted by the programme/project; pro-active management of stakeholders

• Pro-actively capturing and applying lessons throughout the life-cycle of a programme/project and not just when the programme/project ends

Benefits management and realisation is a very hot topic at the moment - and will become even more important given that recessionary and budgetary pressures are forcing organisations to make hard choices and demonstrate better value for money.

Services

• Health check of your existing programme/project management system, documentation and processes

• Review your existing or develop a new process managing the development and approval of business cases

• Design infrastructure and processes (eg, governance, roles, programme management office, change control, etc)

• Create documents and management tools

• Systematic quantification of benefits using a range of structured techniques

• Interim support

• 'Critical Friend' advice - for SROs, programme/project manager, and business change manager

• Training 

• Post-delivery evaluation

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