The Importance of Benefits Realization Management

Syed is an experienced project manager with more than 14 years of ICT experience, successfully delivering high-value key projects across all domains of ICT services.

  Benefits Realization   Change Management   Governance   Organizational Project Management   Strategy  

In the world of project management, we all are aware of the fact that each project—no matter its duration, cost or complexity—is taken up to serve a purpose or objective. Project leaders and project teams direct all their efforts in meeting the project purpose and to deliver expected value.

I admit that planning for benefits realization was never practiced or given importance in my projects. After reading about it and executing a project with proper benefits planning, I realized its advantages. Planning benefits before you start is key to ensuring that you realize them once the project is completed. In this article, I will highlight the importance of benefits realization management for realizing project benefits.

What is Benefits Management?
There are four main definitions of “benefits realization management”:

1. Consider benefits management as an organizational change process. It is defined as "the process of organizing and managing, such that the potential benefits arising from its use are actually realized."
2. The second definition perceives it as a process. Benefits management is defined by the Association of Project Management (APM) as the identification, definition, planning, tracking and realization of business benefits.
3. Apply this concept on a project management level. Project benefits management is defined as "the …

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