Benefit Realization Management

Introduction Benefit Realization Management (BRM) is a process for identifying, prioritizing, planning, tracking, and realizing the benefits of a project, program, or portfolio. BRM helps organizations to achieve their strategic objectives by ensuring that investments in projects and programs deliver the expected benefits. The BRM process involves various stakeholders, including project managers, business analysts, and senior executives, to ensure that benefits are identified, tracked, and measured throughout the project lifecycle (PMI, 2017). Benefit realization management is a structured approach to ensure that the intended benefits of a project or program are actually realized and sustained over time. The purpose of benefit realization management is to shift the focus of program management from simply delivering outputs to ensuring that the expected outcomes and benefits are achieved. Definitions The goal of the improvement on the current article on Benefit realization management is to improve on the introduction of BRM by introducing definitions including: - Project Management Institute (PMI): "Benefit Realization Management (BRM) is the systematic approach to ensuring the benefits of a project, program or portfolio are delivered as expected and the investment made provides the desired return." (Source: PMI Standard for Benefit Realization Management, Second Edition) - Association for Project Management (APM): "Benefit Realization Management (BRM) is the process of identifying, planning, delivering, and realizing the intended benefits of a project, program, or portfolio." (Source: APM Body of Knowledge 7th Edition) - PRINCE2: Benefit Realization Management in PRINCE2 (PRojects IN Controlled Environments) is defined as the process of ensuring that the benefits of a project are planned, delivered, and realized. This involves identifying the expected benefits, developing a plan for delivering those benefits, and monitoring progress against the plan to ensure that the benefits are delivered as expected. Source: PRINCE2:2017 Managing Successful Projects with PRINCE2. AXELOS Limited. TSO (The Stationery Office), 2017. Benefit Realization Model The Benefit Realization Model (BRM) is a tool that helps organizations to plan and manage the realization of benefits from their projects, programs, and portfolios. The model consists of five stages: identifying benefits, prioritizing benefits, planning benefits, tracking benefits, and realizing benefits. Identifying Benefits The first stage of the BRM process is identifying benefits. This involves defining the benefits that a project, program, or portfolio is expected to deliver, determining who the benefits will impact, and understanding how the benefits will be delivered. This stage is critical because it helps to ensure that the benefits are aligned with the organization's strategic objectives. Prioritizing Benefits The second stage of the BRM process is prioritizing benefits. This involves determining which benefits are most important to the organization and allocating resources accordingly. Prioritization is essential because it ensures that the most critical benefits are realized first, which can have a significant impact on the organization's success.

Planning Benefits The third stage of the BRM process is planning benefits. This involves developing a plan to deliver the benefits and determining the resources and activities required to achieve the benefits. Planning is crucial because it helps to ensure that the benefits are delivered in a timely and cost-effective manner. Tracking Benefits The fourth stage of the BRM process is tracking benefits. This involves monitoring the delivery of the benefits and ensuring that they are delivered as expected. Tracking is essential because it helps to identify any issues that may arise and take corrective action to ensure that the benefits are realized. Realizing Benefits The final stage of the BRM process is realizing benefits. This involves ensuring that the benefits are realized and verifying that the investment in the project, program, or portfolio is providing the desired return. Realizing benefits is essential because it helps to ensure that the organization is getting the expected value from its investments. Benefits of Benefit Realization Management The benefits of BRM include improved decision-making, better alignment of projects with organizational goals, increased accountability and transparency, and enhanced ability to prioritize resources effectively. Limitations of Benefit Realization Management Despite the benefits of BRM, there are also some limitations to the process. Some of the challenges associated with BRM include the difficulty in identifying and measuring benefits, the challenge of forecasting future benefits accurately, unforeseen external factors that may affect benefits, and organizational resistance to change.