Monthly Archives: June 2013

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Working in an organization implementing Benefits Realisation Management?

June 15, 2013 6:12 pm ⋅ Leave a Comment ⋅ benefits ⋅ Featured

The most powerful and utilitarian aspect of Benefits Management is that it enables and brings them together in an integrated package; each element reinforcing the worth of the others. Each of the factors detailed below stand up in the in their own right as being advantageous to organisational change:

everybody has a sense of purpose
no one can ‘just’ make changes
people know who is responsible for what change related function
there is a common approach to the management of change
change only gets easier as lessons learned are captured and communicated across the organisation
opportunities that might otherwise be overlooked or perceived as adding little value can be explored and evaluated for their real worth to the organisation; these can and often do come from within the workforce
changes where the evidence show little or no gain to the organisation can be stopped relieving the pressure on those personnel labouring on difficult or unpopular change projects
the confidence in the organisation to deliver beneficial change is high
issues and problems associated with change are ‘surfaced’ and dealt with swiftly
change is something that the organisation can embrace rather than be anxious about
individual and functional goals are easier to manage
people have a platform for greater collaboration
the greater expectation placed on individuals supports the organisation’s leadership aspirations
a portfolio of change projects can be established where each is selected based upon its evidential contribution to the organisation’s goals

There are further organisational gains that could be added as direct result of using Benefits Management but they are more related to business performance rather than the experiences of individuals which is the focus of this post.

It must be stressed that Benefits Management enables and supports these desirable outcomes but in order to achieve them significant cultural change must be examined and made. The Benefits Management rigour does though enable the context and agenda for such change to be made.

Benefits driven change – a quick look

June 7, 2013 1:56 pm ⋅ Leave a Comment ⋅ benefits

The Benefits Management ‘movement’ has gone a long way to enabling effective Organizational Change. Having said that it is worth emphasizing what the Change Management enablers actually are lest they be overlooked and not exploited to their full potential. The key attributes of Benefits Management that support Organizational Change are:

it provides a context for general change discussion it sets an agenda for change that everyone can relate too
it lends itself to process and procedure and thereby enables a platform for continuous improvement
it reinforces the need for effective stakeholder identification
it produces and validates change related information
it enables agile organizational change management
it enables alignment of change activity with organizations strategic objectives
resources can be directed toward those change needs that provide the greatest business benefit
realistic prioritization of change project and programmes can be made with the availability of accurate and timely information

Posted in: Uncategorized

A focus on the people side of Benefits Realisation Management

June 7, 2013 1:52 pm ⋅ Leave a Comment ⋅ benefits

The mainstream Benefits Management discipline goes some way to establishing the need for effective people engagement. Having said that, it is from a Change Management perspective that the full potential that positioning of people engagement within Benefits Management can be fully appreciated. It is only when this Change Management understanding is leveraged that its true worth can be realized. The key organizational Change Management enablers include:

the provision of pre-defined processes – overt knowledge of the process provides for a confident change arena
the fact that Change is now an organizational constant is much more palatable when relatable to a credible organizational change capability
pre-defined Change Management related roles and responsibilities – this open culture enables frank and realistic communications
overt discussion around organizational strategy enable the disclosure of concerns that may otherwise not be sought but that could impact downstream change performance
benefits identification – the insight provided from the people that ‘really know’
benefits ownership – having agreed what benefits are to be achieved this key step enables the ongoing focus on benefits rather than change delivery
control of organizational change dynamic – effective decision making is enabled through the accessibility of accurate and validated change information. Both for the people making management decisions but those that are impacted by any subsequent changes.
enabling ability to ‘stop’ this change projects which are unable to evidence linkage to the organizations strategic objectives
participation of stakeholders within the change process – simply having a change process and understanding where the current changes are in that process helps build a trusting environment
implication of stakeholders in the definition, measurement and realization activities
although the need for effective communication is much vaunted it is often nebulous and weak on meaningful content. Benefits Management provides for accurate and timely information as all stages of the initiative including strategy, projects, programmes and overall portfolio performance
the fact that Benefits are generally realized at the back-end of change initiatives ensures that business performance is kept on the agenda.

Posted in: Uncategorized ⋅ Tagged: benefits, benefits driven change, benefits management, change drivers, change management, organisational, people engagement, portfolio, stakeholder management, strategic

Event ROI

June 15, 2013 12:28 pm ⋅ Leave a Comment ⋅ benefits

Introduction

This post recognises the great work being undertaken by the ROI Institute http://www.roiinstitute.net and luminaries such as Elling Hamso https://www.facebook.com/ellinghamso which has provided me with the insight I needed to improve the experience of those engaged in benefitsdrivenchange.

As stated previously, one of the distinct attributes of Benefits Management is that it positions and sets the expectation for all stakeholders within a change initiative. But identifying stakeholders and engaging them meaningfully within the change process needs careful consideration and preparation. This is where the thinking behind Event ROI can be exploited.

Fundamental benefits realised through Event ROI

The basic benefits of using Event ROI thinking in the benefits cycle are:

Reduce the overall cost of change to the organisation
Provide for a richer and more inclusive organisational culture
Understand the costs associated with staging event
Be able to calculate the ROI of each event
Develop and improve event management to ensure optimal ROI is achieved

Essential to the activities within the change lifecycle is that the participants are enabled to contribute to the full. That is that the event organiser and the each participant achieved a valuable and rewarding outcome. To do this they must feel confident and willing to challenge norms and explore areas of interest that may be outside of their current thoughts.

Take the example of Benefits Workshop; that is a workshop activity being undertaken to identify and gain a common understanding of what ‘Benefits’ and ‘Dis-benefits’ should are to be realised through the successful meeting of a given objective.

Drawing on the thinking and methods promoted by the ROI institute the following can be seen as relevant to an activity:

Both for the event organiser and each participant the following should be established:The process for organising the event can be analysed and improvements to increase the ROI made
- Their objectives to be met as a consequence of the event
- A method measuring to what degree the objectives were met must be established
The process for organising the event can be analysed and improvements to increase the ROI must be made

This approach has the added benefit that all of the stakeholders will have had the opportunity to prepare for the event and be able to participate more effectively.