When it comes to delivering your business projects you need to know that you have the right number of people with the right skills and attitude to get the job done. As we turn the economic corner and prepare for growth, many executives are planning new investments to drive measurable value for their organisations. Many already have an approach for managing these projects to provide governance and control over inputs such as time, cost, quality and resources. Yet there remains a great risk that, despite best efforts to maintain tight control, the planned benefits may not materialise as expected. After all, we undertake projects to achieve beneficial outcomes for our organisations – so why is it so hard to then realise these benefits? Geoff Rinaldi, Managing Director of strategy execution and project implementation firm Tranzform Group, says: ”Most organisations spend a lot of effort to measure project efficiency, but they need a new measure if they want to understand their project effectiveness and success”. He says there has been an increase in interest around Benefits Management Frameworks to provide a way of measuring and tracking project benefits. These frameworks help deliver the benefits expected in the business case – but they need to be more than a method for accounting for benefits. Tranzform Group helps organisations improve project execution and achieve measurable benefits on business projects by introducing a “benefits-driven mindset”. In this way, sponsors, business stakeholders and project teams can develop a shared view of how the project plans will deliver the desired value. An effective Benefits Management Framework creates a supportive culture that will be accountable for making things happen. Tranzform Group proposes that organisations build a Benefits Management Framework “piece by piece” by adding components of the framework incrementally as they are developed and testing each component on an actual project. This approach allows you to identify “change champions” for each component of the Benefits Management Framework through a process of close co-operation and frequent feedback. As a result, organisations can be better prepared to execute their strategies and achieve their desired benefits. Implement a Benefits Realisation framework How do you really know that your project will deliver the desired benefits? Most organisations spend a lot of effort to measure project efficiency. You may have an approach for controlling your project inputs such as time, cost, quality and resources - but there remains a great risk that the planned benefits may not materialise as expected. A Benefits Management framework will provide far better control over the ownership, measurement and delivery of your expected benefits and should provide more than just a method for accounting for benefits. The secret is to build a "benefits-driven mindset" that will create a shared view of how the project will deliver your desired value and a supportive culture that will be accoutnable for making things happen. | 
