Change Management: The Paradigm Shift

Craig is based in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada and has worked with ProjectManagement.com for the last six years developing the various HEADWAY processes (Project, Change and Portfolio). He has hosted a series of webinars and is a business intelligence subject matter expert.

  Benefits Realization   Change Management  

Projects have been about scope, schedule and cost. Those are the three primary legs of the project management stool and are often seen as critical to both the success of the project and the success of the project manager.

If we come in below cost, ahead of schedule and meet the scope (or in some cases, exceed the scope), then the project receives a gold star. The project manager will also receive praise and accolades from management in the organization. They will point to the project and trumpet to others, "That was a successful project!" They will turn their gaze to the project manager and exclaim: "And that is how a project should be run!"

That may very well be the case. The project may have been successful and it may have achieved the expected results--and more. Unfortunately, for more projects that most organizations would care to admit, this limited focus of success being defined by the traditional winning trio of scope, cost and schedule leaves the concept of benefits realization not even receiving an honorable mention at the award ceremony.

In fact, benefits realization is rarely invited. As a result, on the surface, the project is a success--but in the medium to long term, that success may end up being in name only with the award quickly losing its shine as the organization never achieves the expected real benefits.

While there are…

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