Projects are executed to deliver value to an organisation. In Amplify, a Benefit represents this value. A benefit is a positive measurable outcome that would be realised as a result of successfully delivering a project. Benefits can be tangible or intangible, financial or non-financial. For example, an increase in sales revenue as a result of a new marketing strategy, or a cost saved by eliminating under-utilised resources.
Benefits are comprised of a current plan which records the current estimated value and when it is expected to be realised. Historical versions of the plan are recorded in the baseline, and when the data becomes available the actual realised amount is recorded, and a forecast can be made for the future.
The benefit actuals are constantly compared against the initial planned value to measure its performance. To achieve peak performance, the benefits should be measured and monitored, compared and evaluated, removing the ones that don't perform and making refinements from time to time.
How it works
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The Benefits Plan represents the future value that this project will deliver
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Project is approved and executes and then begins to deliver the benefit
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The benefit is then measured to confirm that the value is realised according to the plan
Best Practice Implementation
The following sample scenario will take you through a few best practices you need to employ while managing benefits using Amplify.
Scenario Background
The sales team at AB&C, Inc is assigned with the task of increasing the sales revenue to the projected growth of 200% within the year 2022. One of the identified pathways to realise this benefit is to expand the sales team. Additional 10 sales team members are hired to meet the growth plans. A new project, 'Sales Team Expansion' is created to track the increase in sales.
Roles Involved
- Mr.Gavin Cooper, the Project Manager for the 'Sales Team Expansion' project.
- Ms. Bridget Evans, the Benefits Manager
- Other stakeholders who act as approvers
Defining the Benefit within the Project
Gavin defines 'Increase in sales' benefit in the project with an anticipated 10 million increase in sales revenue by end of year 2022. The following key attributes are recorded.
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Benefit Start and End Date : The returns from this project cannot be measured until the new members finish training and start performing. The benefits Start date will have to be a few weeks after the project start date. Similarly, even as the project reaches its completion time, team members may be performing, thus delivering sales revenue. The End date will have to be a date that represents the actual delivery timeline. Set the Benefit start and End date in a way that accurately represents when the benefit will deliver value. Don't plan long before you expect your benefits to deliver. Amplify prompts the user to record the measure even when the benefit has not actually started to deliver. Hence don't plan and therefore measure beyond the achievement of your original planned value.
Important : Amplify expects an actual value to be recorded for every planned period. So creating benefits with excess duration is creating unnecessary overheads for benefit owners.Important: Ownership should be assigned to somebody who has access to the data and appropriate control over the process. -
Benefits Owner: The Benefits Owner is responsible for the delivery of the expected benefit. Benefit Owner can approve critical changes and has privileges to access all project components. Gavin appoints Bridget, the Sales Head, as the Benefits Owner.
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Benefit Resolution - Success of this project is measured by the sales revenue generated per quarter.
Important: Picking the right reporting cadence (Resolution) - make sure that the program is getting data updated at a realistic frequency. If the data is only available quarterly, choosing monthly would be unnecessary overhead.
Gavin initiates the Benefit Workflow. Key stakeholders review the definition and acknowledge the benefit profile precisely reflect what must be delivered.
Adding Planned and Projected Return Values
The goal is to achieve a minimum of 300,000 US dollars per quarter from sales. The Plan value is entered as 300,000.
Taking Baseline
Once the initial planning is done, the benefit is created, and the budget approved, Gavin sets a baseline. The Baseline at this point represents the agreed plan.
Recording Actuals
Once the new team members enter the sales cycle the quarterly sales revenue becomes available. It is up to the Benefit Owner to then record the Actual value in Amplify.
Monitoring Benefits
The Benefits Dashboard shows the actual value in comparison with the planned and forecast values. The Amplify Index represents the expected benefit return compared to what is planned. The Percentage of Benefits Delivered is shown on the Performance Dashboard.
Evaluating Benefits
Bridget uses Amplify's standard Benefit reports to showcase the progress of benefit. Gavin can now watch the variations between actual savings with the planned savings, ensure that the anticipated benefit is realised effectively, taking remedial actions as and when required.
See also