20. Benefits Realisation

What is it?

Benefits realisation management allows the University to understand and clearly articulate the benefits of a change initiative, attribute benefits owners and accountability, agree appropriate measures to monitor progress towards the realisation of the benefits targets and finally, evaluate the realisation of the benefits targets

Why do it?

Complete this process in order to

Assign ownership and accountability for the realisation of benefits enabling clear, senior-level, buy-in to the delivery of anticipated benefits of the change initiative
Enable risks related to benefits realisation to be addressed in a transparent and timely manner
Evaluate the investment in the change initiative to assess if it has proved its worth (or not)
Provide feedback into the continuous improvement process that enables the University to build upon its successes and learn from any failures

When to do it?

Benefits should be identified in the Diagnose phase and baselines and targets established during the Design and Develop phase. Actual performance (against benefits targets) needs to be monitored at key intervals throughout the Deliver phase through to the completion of the Sustain phase

This step links to the ‘ Shared change purpose’ theme process of developing the Future State Definition and Roadmap. A change initiative will cost money to implement – direct capital investment (for some initiatives), staff effort and time. The purpose of investing this money is to achieve a desired outcome and realise benefits – which may be financial (such as savings from making a process more efficient or increased student numbers) or non-financial (such as improving the student experience or better regulatory compliance).

It is important to clearly identify the desired outcomes and benefits at the start of an initiative. For larger investments this is a requirement to secure funding but even for smaller changes we need to know what success looks like so that we know that we have achieved what we set out to and can celebrate success (and learn lessons to help inform future change initiative)

20.2 What is a benefit?

A benefit should establish a clear direction of improvement between two points in time, clearly stating what the end point should look like, that is recognised by all stakeholders.

Benefits are the specific outcome where accountability can be assigned and measurement defined. Benefits are used for defining and declaring success of an investment. Benefits are the net positive changes resulting from outcomes. It is essential to understand the outcomes before we can define and declare them as benefits.

Benefits at the University are classed into 3 types

Cashable – these benefits can be quantified and valued in financial terms e.g. cost savings, revenue generation
Non-cashable tangible – these benefits can be quantified but are difficult to value in financial terms e.g. improved REF outcomes, improved DLHE score, improved SSR
Non- cashable intangible – these are benefits that can be identified but cannot easily be quantified e.g. better access to information, improved value from reporting

20.3 Key stages in benefits realisation

There are four key stages in benefits realisation:

Tool: Full guidance on benefits management, including definitions and examples, can be found in the Benefits Realisation Management Framework (link).

The first step is to ‘Understand’ the benefits of your change initiative – identify and define the potential outcomes and benefits. Using the Future State Definition and Roadmap confirm the business drivers, scope and objectives of your change initiative. Make sure that the benefits identified link to the strategic outcomes of your change initiative.

Benefit identification needs to engage a broad and appropriate cross-section of stakeholders. Bringing the key stakeholders together to discuss and validate the answers to the following questions. The answers will form the basis for understanding outcomes and benefits and in turn, the benefits planning:

Why are we doing the initiative? What are the business drivers?
What are we going to get out of it? What are the strategic outcomes of the initiative?
What are the measurable benefits?
When do we obtain the benefits?
Who owns the outcomes? Who is the Outcome Owner and do they accept it?
Who is accountable for delivering benefits?
What is the mechanism that is required to achieve benefits?

20.4 Benefits classification

‌Benefits can be classified under three headings:

Cashable – can be converted into budget adjustments in the management accounts. These include cost savings, increases in revenue generation and increases in contribution. Cashable benefits do not include cost avoidance
Non-cashable, tangible – can be quantified through the use of KPIs, survey outcomes etc.
Non-cashable, intangible – can still be noted and anecdotal evidence collected

Tip:

Be careful of interdependencies with other initiatives and claiming the same benefits. Clear understanding and definition of benefits will mitigate this risk.
Dis-benefits should be considered. There may be outcomes that are a negative consequence of the initiative. These need to be managed.
Measures should be evidence-based.
Assign level of confidence in achieving benefit target.

Tool: The Benefits Library provides a starting point for identifying relevant and appropriate ways to measure benefits

Template: A Benefits Realisation Management Strategy TEMPLATEshould be developed to document the approach to identifying, managing and evaluating the benefits for the change initiative

20.5 Plan benefits

The next step is to plan benefits realisation for the initiative. The Benefit Realisation Management Plan Template specifies the size, timeframe, metrics, ownership and responsibility for each identified benefit.

The primary purpose of the plan is to facilitate the realisation of the planned benefits. It should enable the Change Leadership to keep track of what action is required to enable benefit realisation and to facilitate the tracking of benefits by Benefit Owners. The plan should also highlight interdependencies with other change initiatives within the University.

During this step you can create individual benefits profiles for each benefit and update the Benefits Register as more information becomes available.

It is important to ensure all identified benefits are measurable – even qualitative benefits (such as improved quality of service) because if it is not measured we can’t tell if it has been achieved. As well as establishing the measurement for each benefit, you need to identify the baseline, that is, what is the current level of performance?.

The Change Governance need to agree the target for each benefit, that is, what is the desired performance level in the future state?

20.6 Tips and templates

‌‌Tips

Meet with front line staff to ascertain baseline metrics and level of buy-in;
Delineate between the risks to the initiative benefits and initiative delivery;
Focus on identifying the key outcomes that will clearly define success for the initiative in terms of benefits. Measure only selected outcomes.
Be careful not to have too many measures. Select the ‘key markers’ of success;
Select measures that will indicate success of this initiative specifically. For example, overall user satisfaction will be influenced by many initiatives and can be too broad a measure. Selecting specific questions from user satisfaction survey results will be more relevant;
Always look for existing measures for benefits. A service/discipline may have an existing scorecard and performance reporting that identifies existing measures
Include anecdotal information indicators for success, they usually make great headlines; and consider ‘proxy’ measures which will be closely linked to the outcome or benefit being measured, especially if it simplifies the measurement task. An example may be per capita GDP is used as a proxy measure for the standard of living.

Template: A Benefit Realisation Management Plan Template documents the benefits in detail and the arrangements for managing them

Template: A Benefits Profile should be completed for each of the benefits for the initiative showing how it will be measured – including baselines and targets

20.7 Manage and report benefits

‌‌This step ‘takes the temperature’ of how successfully the initiative outcomes are being achieved. This step continues into the ‘Sustain’ phase of the initiative as some benefits may take time to realise and be dependent on fully embedding new ways of working.

The Change Governance needs to agree on the approach to monitoring benefits realisation and this should be documented in the Benefits Realisation Management Strategy TEMPLATE.

Tips

Face to face conversations are important to effectively understand the benefit realisation progress and gain a shared understanding of the current situation and actions required,
Capture any anecdotal benefits that arise from stakeholder discussions. Anecdotal items tend to be personal experiences of users, and therefore add considerable credibility to the success of an initiative. Consider formalising anecdotal benefits in the benefits process (where practicable).
Recognise that benefits are dynamic and can change during the lifecycle of an initiative. Be alert for benefits that need to be deleted if they are no longer relevant or achievable and incorporate any new emerging benefits

Template: A Benefits Realisation Trackerrovides information for the Change Governance on the progress towards the achievement of the desired outcomes

20.8 Evaluate benefits

The final step in Benefits Realisation is to report on the final achievement of benefits measures against the set target. This allows you to reflect back on the original case for change and determine whether the change initiative has delivered the desired ambitions.

The success (or otherwise) of achieving the goals of the change initiative contribute to the Post Implementation Review which documents how well the initiative met its objectives and whether it delivered value for money.

20. Benefits Realisation

What is it?

Why do it?

When to do it?

Inputs

Outputs

How to do it?