Deliverables 2.0. They are called “Benefits”
- Benefits Realization Management
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In my last post I touched the topic of benefits a little bit and the fact that an entire framework has been created to manage them. I spent some time today reading more into this and I’m slowly starting to understand what benefits actually are and why organizations want to manage these.
At first I thought benefits where just some positive events that happen during the execution of a project. Some examples I thought that would be considered a benefit were, aside of money that was made, a new business connection that was made, or, new business opportunities that occurred due to exposure of the project, for example. However, benefits go way further. Actual examples of benefits would be, cost reduction due to automation of a resource intensive activity or improving systems, infrastructure or processes to get more output for given unit of input.
The list can get quite long and I would recommend having a quick look at the the following link for an overview of actual benefits: (https://simplicable.com/new/project-benefits).
As I study the concept of benefits realization management, I come to understand that, historically, project managers were trained to focus on deliverables. However, times have changed and project management approaches are also reevaluated on their effectiveness and experts realize that, a shift in focus should be done. Project managers need to concentrate on the benefits they intent to create with a project instead.
So what IS a Benefit and how does it differ from a Deliverable?
I would like to quote an excerpt from a paper from Richard C. Freed, published by Iowa State University (USA) on the difference between a benefit and a deliverable:
“Think of deliverables as the universe of important outcomes you must deliver to the client before you can achieve the project’s objective. Therefore, deliverables occur before the objective is achieved, and they deliver benefits along the way.
Generally, deliverables are much more specific and “narrower” than benefits, and benefits (primarily insight benefits) are much “vaguer.” That doesn’t mean, however, that deliverables are more important. An insight deliverable like a market forecast is only a market forecast. What’s beneficial about that forecast is the knowledge and understanding it provides, knowledge that can be acted upon to create change.”
– Source: https://www.elo.iastate.edu/engl-309/files/2013/01/Deliverables_and_Benefits.pdf
So what I get from this description is that benefits are more broader and allow for a more accessible term to formulate what an organization would to gain by executing any given project.
I must admit that I currently find it difficult to grasp the total difference between the two and how, benefits specifically, will help organizations be more successful in achieving the value they initially wanted to create with a project. With time, I’ll be diving deeper into this and hopefully I can give a much clearer explanation on what they both mean and how they influence the success of a project!