Tasks for Business Change Manager >

Identify benefits.

Categorise the benefits – e.g. financial or non-financial, cost saving or income generating, better service or compliance

Identify which strategic objectives the idea supports and share the idea with the owner of the relevant strategic objectives.

Identify benefits for other organisations, and evaluate how costs and benefits are split between affected organisations (eg is one organisation bearing the costs of implementation, helping realise benefits for another).

Identify where benefits will materialise, and who will be responsible and accountable for delivering the benefits?

Check to ensure there is no duplication with benefits from other projects/ideas.

Identify key interests and those affected.

Create initial stakeholder map – interest/influence. Identify who is in favour, who against and identify likely winners and losers.

For ideas that are externally generated (eg government initiatives, ideas from partner organisations or suppliers), the stakeholder map needs to include these organisations as stakeholders.

Assess whether there is a broad base of support, or whether this this a “pet idea”? Benefits, risk and stakeholder work will help clarify the level of support.

Identify benefits.

Check for any potential impact on other benefits.

Check that the benefits being proposed align with those defined for the portfolio, for example  eg financial or non-financial, cost saving or income generating, better service or compliance. There should be a balance in the benefits and reflect the portfolio priorities at this time.

Check  which strategic objectives the idea supports and share the idea with the owner of the relevant strategic objectives to ensure that they are happy with the alignment.

Check where benefits will materialise to ensure there is a balance of change and particular business areas are not becoming overloaded.

Check to ensure there is no duplication with benefits from other projects/ideas. 

Identify key interests and those affected.

Create initial stakeholder map – mainly focus on the high impact stakeholders who might be winners and losers.

Assess whether there is a broad base of support, or whether this this a “pet idea”? Benefits, risk and stakeholder work will help clarify the level of support.

Develop an initial view of what the benefits will be and where they will be found.

You will need to think your idea through and have something written down where you think the benefits will come from.

The mind map concept is good for putting your idea together.  It is also the start of formulating the requirements for the project.

There will be some improvements from the idea, e.g. saving money, time or improving quality or safety.

These need to be explained as early as possible .

Identify the key people who can help or hinder the idea.

Share your idea, test the level of support and identify the issues. The more developed the idea, the more chance of success.

If the change is likely to impact on external stakeholders it is sensible to consult with the communications team for advice.

Draft the requirements which the programme or project should satisfy.

Consider which stakeholders will help or hinder the idea and document.

The board will be expected to confirm and endorse the vision and the expected benefits that have been defined at this stage.

Where the benefits are not clear there may be a need to outline the effects of not achieving the change.   The people on the board should be in a position to deliver the benefits for their parts of the structure and at this point help to highlight the potential benefits.

Stakeholder analysis and engagement will be needed to work out who should be invited to the board.

Care should be taken to ensure that people invited to join the board have decision making authority, or at least have it delegated to them, otherwise there is a danger it will be ineffective.

Ensure that the all the members of the board have clear areas of responsibility defined.

At this point your role should be formalised and you and colleagues should have a clear definition of what is expected.

You may have responsibility for a number of areas, so ensure that this is clarified in a role description.

Ensure the aspirational benefits are included in the brief.

Undertake initial benefit modelling and mapping.

Major benefits should be referenced in the Vision Statement to help sell the concept of the programme to stakeholders.

This is the point where detail is required to put the detail around the benefits to justify further progress of the programme. It is likely that many of the benefits used up to this point could be conceptual, so at this point the minimum information that is required for each benefit would be:

• Description
• Where will it occur
• What type is it
• When will it occur
• How will it be measured

The strategic blueprint will be a key input as it will set out the future state and the current state, which is where many of the benefits will be found.

The risks around the accuracy of benefits forecasting will still be high, so estimates should be risk rated to show most likely result.

Vision statement for the initiative should now be promoted and included in the communications plan.

Scan the environment for stakeholder groups that will be affected by the initiative.

Undertake a stakeholder impact assessment in the brief.

Stakeholders are likely to be the difference between success and failure, so it is important to get things right from the start.

It is important to take a wide view of potential stakeholders, internal and external to the organisation.

If there are high levels of resistance from influential stakeholders then the level of risk for the programme will be much higher – effective communications is one of the few tools to deal with this.

Be careful to distinguish stakeholders and people who have direct control on the programme board, the programme board should not be viewed as a stakeholder forum.

The Vision Statement should be attractive to the major stakeholder groups that will be affected, but it may not please everyone. It will be the foundation for communications so the effect it will have needs to be considered in terms of communications.

Consider establishing a brand name for the programme as part of the Vision Statement refinement will help with establishing the programme and the context.

Confirm that you can deliver the vision and the business change defined in the brief in your operational area.

Ensure that the responsibilities for change are cascaded into the operations.

You need to be comfortable that it fits the needs of your business area, which may be or not be mentioned explicitly. It will be your job to deliver the end state that is being defined, if it is too unrealistic it is better to say it now. The Vision and brief should also provide you with enough contexts to enable you to develop the blueprint and the benefits. It has been known for people to mistake the vision for a blueprint.

Ensure business requirements have been documented.

The outcomes have been developed and information on the “as is” state recorded. There is a benefits model and high level profiles to explain the value of the change.

There should be a stakeholder map and profiles for the major stakeholders.

The communications plan should be in place. There should be evidence to show that feedback is being documented and actions being taken.

As the business representative the SRO/Sponsor is going to need your support in presenting to the governance board to win their support.

It is essential that if there is stakeholder resistance to the project it is understood within the project team.  If there are active opponents, their reasons should be understood, addressed where possible but most of all, don’t come as a surprise.

Evaluate the financial benefits when making investment decisions and undertaking other portfolio balancing decisions.

Balance short, medium and longer term financial benefits to give an acceptable overall benefits profile.

Ensure that benefits are central to business cases and investment decisions. Tracking benefits is essential to enable rebalancing to take place if benefits forecasts change.

Communicate decisions and rationale to stakeholders.

Stakeholders may become confused or disillusioned if decisions made to balance the financial performance of the portfolio are not explained well.

Decision criteria should reflect the strategic benefits policies.

Ensure that non-financial benefits are being accounted for and continue to be projected.

Ensure that the benefit policies and strategic outcomes are being used to evaluation options and that the aggregation processes are in place.

The organisation’s benefit policies, i.e. what are the priorities and how they will be measured, but be under regular review to enable continual development. Different strategic priorities will require the benefit policies and measurements to change to reflect environmental changes.

Care should be taken to avoid different projects claiming the same benefits (double counting) or one project undermining the benefits from another project.

The benefits to be achieved by the portfolio should be communicated regularly to stakeholders.

The stakeholder engagement strategy and communications plan.

Be careful not to not overstate successes, build and maintain stakeholder confidence both in delivery and in accuracy of communications.

Appropriate benefits tracking should include evaluation and achievement of statutory compliance.

Benefits for compliance projects are often expressed in negative terms (the avoidance of dis-benefits such as non-compliance, reputational damage, legal action etc, fines etc).

Compliance projects can be implemented in different ways. Implementation can often incorporate other benefits (e.g. streamlining existing processes, IT solutions etc).

Communicate progress to key groups on status and levels of compliance being achieved.

External stakeholders may set specific reporting and communication requirements.

If the compliance project is part of a national implementation (eg new legislation), dovetail local communications with any national communications activities.

Regular reviews of benefits realisation against the portfolio benefits plan.

Commission periodic review of performance against business cases.

Check that the benefits plans and the change plans are aligned and achievable.

Regular review of performance against business cases will help identify trends and improvements in benefits forecasting and business case development.

Regular communications to stakeholders about progress and forthcoming changes.

Analysis of winners and losers should be included in the risk profile.

Check the levels of support from key stakeholder groups.

Ensure there is still critical mass of support for continuing the change.

Communications should take place at corporate, portfolio, programme and project level. A portfolio level communications strategy and plan will help ensure consistency of information, inclusion of all key stakeholders, avoidance of over or under communication.

Two-way communication is essential to gather stakeholder feedback on support.

Plan the handover of the benefits controls.

Undertake benefits review.

Review the benefits management strategy.

 Benefits lessons learned documented.

As part of the closure, a final Benefits Review should be planned. It would also be worth initiating an additional consultation process to engage stakeholders to find out if any additional benefits have been gained and not accounted for.

This is the point where the formal review of the process and achievements takes place and added to the programme closure report and lessons learned.

Implement the communications plan to announce closure.

Formal review of programme stakeholder and communications effectiveness.

Develop lessons learned for inclusion in Programme Closure Report.

Stakeholders need to be informed that the process is starting.

Communications is going to be critical in managing whether the programme will be seen as a success or a failure.

There will have been successes and failures - each will need to be acknowledged.

At this point there should be a formal review of the programmes Stakeholder Management Strategy.

The review should test levels of support or resistance to the programme and whether they are increasing, if resistance is rising, then alternative directions may be considered.

Business representation in how and when the programmes are delivered will better enable engagement and increase changes of success. The effectiveness of the Stakeholder Management Strategy and Communications Plan should be reviewed, with any changes being made based on lessons learned.

Organise the benefits tracking mechanisms are in place

Your main area of concern is going to be focusing on how the momentum for change is going to be sustained when the new services are passed into the operational environment. Clear ownership for maintaining the benefits project will need to be allocated to operational areas, and ideally embedded in their objectives. Where new services or supply arrangements have been put into place, it is essential that there is a planned and structured handover of contracts and contract management arrangements to your business areas.

Report benefits and hand over measurement and controls.

The formal review of benefits should be undertaken. This will require more than just a meeting. The data that has proved the achievements of the benefits needs to be validated. The other key area of focus must be synthesising the small benefits that may have slipped under the radar and ensure that they are accounted for. There may also have been missed opportunities, these should also be picked up in the review to ensure future programmes do not miss them or undertake additional work to leverage them. The Benefits Register, profiles and the Realisation Plan should now be closed off formally with final values being accounted and lessons documented.

Initiate closure communications.

Close the programme communications plans.

Ensure residual communications activities are handed over to corporate communications.

Ensure governance is placed around ongoing communications from projects that will continue post closure.

The Communications Plan needs to include extensive stakeholder consultation to raise their awareness and engage them in the review process. Victory can be snatched from the jaws of defeat (or vice versa) through effective management of expectations and delivery of communications during the closure. The Stakeholder Profiles, individual profiles and Communicating plan should now be reviewed for effectiveness and closed.

Formalise the sign off of outcomes and benefits at this point

Your main focus will be on taking on the management of new contracts and suppliers. Many of the benefits ownership will be transitioning to you and your delivery colleagues. A major inheritance from the programme should be better management information and performance monitoring tools. These need to be harnessed and built into longer term business improvement plans which have clear ownership.

Produce final performance reports to show performance is stable

Account for benefits against original business case

Account for unplanned benefits and their value

Handover outstanding change activities to the appropriate group

Benefits Realisation Plans should now be actively owned within the operations with future changes required embedded within Business Plans.

Conduct final programme success evaluation with stakeholders

Close down communications channels that still exist

Archive stakeholder information back to Portfolio Office

All stakeholder information should now have been archived and information shared with other programmes which may help with their engagement plans.

Handover business change actions to appropriate groups for completion

Review benefits achievement and how it could have been improved.  Consider the requirements and lessons that have been learned from their definition and delivery.

A benefits review should be undertaken as part of achieving this milestone. 

It is essential that lessons are learned if benefits are not being achieved so that it can be avoided in future. If unexpected benefits have been identified, understand why they came about and included in lessons learned.

It is possible that there may have been some concessions to off-specification issues. 

 Follow-on action recommendations should address the next steps, if any, for handling these either as part of the wider programme or within the business areas.

Review aggregated view of the portfolio benefits to ensure benefit objectives can be achieved.

Confirm that the dis-benefit management plans are working.

Check that unexpected benefits have been accounted for as well as those predicted.

Ensure that non-financial benefits are being accounted for and continue to be projected.

Review the performance reporting metrics for effectiveness.

Check that the current portfolio benefits policies and standards are appropriate and effective.

Avoid ambiguity – once responsibility has transferred from portfolio to Business As Usual (BAU), ensure that the responsible managers accept that responsibility and document the handover.

The organisation’s benefit policies, i.e. what are the priorities and how they will be measured, but be under regular review to enable continual development. Different strategic priorities will require the benefit policies and measurements to change to reflect environmental changes.

Ensure clear arrangements for reporting benefits back to the portfolio so that the value and benefits achieved by the portfolio over time can be monitored.

Post Implementation Reviews are important to track benefits and learn lessons that can be applied to improve overall performance. For benefits, this includes lessons about accuracy of forecasting at the outset and challenges in benefits realisation activities.

Check that the impact on stakeholders is being managed.

Validate the currency of political support for the current benefit policies.

Ensure that success is being effectively communicated.

There will be some stakeholders that are feeling hard done by, or that are receiving a lot of the benefits of change. The situation should be under regular review. If a group are being bombarded with change their ability to cope will reduce, and it is likely that the benefits will reduce with them. Benefit plans may need to be adjusted to allow parts of the organisation or groups of stakeholders to re-stabilise.

Be careful not to not overstate successes, build and maintain stakeholder confidence both in delivery and in accuracy of communications.

It is important to ensure that there is a regular supply of good news information, as there is often plenty of bad news associated with change. 

Ensure the aspirational benefits are included.

Major benefits should be referenced in the Vision Statement to help sell the concept of the programme to stakeholders.

Vision statement should now be promoted and included in communications plan.

The Vision Statement should be attractive to the major stakeholder groups that will be affected, but it may not please everyone. Establishing a brand name for the programme as part of the Vision Statement refinement will help with establishing the programme and the context. 

Confirm that you can deliver this vision in your area

You need to be comfortable that it fits the needs of your business area, which may be or not be mentioned explicitly. It will be your job to deliver the end state that is being defined, if it is too unrealistic it is better to say it now. The Vision should also provide you with enough contexts to enable you to develop the blueprint and the benefits. It has been known for people to mistake the vision for a blueprint.

Use the blueprint to identify benefits from the future state.

Review the outline benefit profiles and the risk estimates based on programme blueprint.

Draft full draft benefit profiles for the blueprint options.

The difference between the ‘As Is’ and ‘To Be’ states will ultimately be the source of benefits. Without a Blueprint the benefits will be guess work. Once the ‘As Is’ state is properly understood, a process for monitoring it must be established.

During the process of developing the blueprint there will be a number of different potential end states. Each will offer different potential benefits.

The potential benefits of each option will provide a key decision making criteria so they must be evaluated individually.

The intermediate states that the programme will deliver will also be points at which benefits will be released.

Be wary benefits that have no measurement, it is common for an outcome to be categorised as benefits and they cannot be proved at the end, focus on measurable improvements.

Achievement of contributions to a corporate objective should be included as benefits, this is often helpful to overcome the lack of the normal benefits, but again, the focus should be on measurable and evidence based.

Engage key stakeholders for their support of options.

Engage the high impact stakeholders in the design.

Ensure that the current state information is current and can be validated.

Ensure that feedback from stakeholders is tracked and acted upon.

Undertaken stakeholder impact assessment on the options being developed.

Develop the communications plan for communicating blueprint related information and gathering feedback.

Some confidentiality may need to be in place around this work.

High impact stakeholders must be involved and consulted about the changes that will be needed at the end state.

Different blueprint options will have different impacts on different stakeholder groups, the level and type of impact on influential stakeholders.

Stakeholders may also have a local initiative which could contribute to the blueprint and avoid duplications.

Ensure that the right business expertise is devoted to this work.

You will need to provide a lot of business performance and process information on how things work at the moment and the final Blueprint will be the design of how your business will operate in the future.

Project realignment should include an impact assessment on their target benefits

Benefits identified in the Programme Brief should be a factor in selecting and aligning projects.  If a project cannot clearly explain how it will be contributing to the benefits, its justification for continuing will be harder.

Check for stakeholders who will be disadvantaged by changes

Careful consultation will be required as some stakeholders could be alienated by the loss of projects important to them. Some stakeholders may well lose out, so some compromise will probably be required to keep them onside.

Undertake impact analysis of project changes to anticipated outcomes

You will need to do an impact analysis on the consequences of losing projects from your short term business requirements and needs. There will need sacrifices to be made and it may be good opportunity to draw a line in the sand around some ‘sacred cow’ projects in your business areas.

Assess the impact of project realignment on benefits.

Attribute benefits to individuals project delivery is possible.

Use the tranches to outline the benefits realisation plan.

Benefits identified in the Programme Brief should be a factor in selecting and aligning projects.  If a project cannot clearly explain how it will be contributing to the benefits, its justification for continuing will be harder.

Benefits will tend to happen after a Tranche completes, this must be reflected in Benefit Profiles and the Benefits Realisation Plan. Some early benefits may be linked to the achievement of a Tranche.  Releasing benefits may well be required to fund the future tranches.

Decisions about the Tranche plans and the programme delivery may well be driven by benefits realisation plan, particularly if there is a compliance element to the programme where there is pre-defined deadlines.

The full project dossier doesn’t exist yet formally, but it should now be possible to allocate benefits activities to existing or key projects that are already known about.

Consult stakeholders over impact of changes.

Build their priorities into tranches.

Undertake impact assessment of each option on each of the major stakeholder groups.

Develop the communications activities needed to gather information to make the decision.

Ensure that feedback is being managed and processed.

Project stakeholder impact assessment.

Careful consultation will be required as some stakeholders could be alienated by the loss of projects important to them.

Some stakeholders may well lose out, so some compromise will probably be required to keep them onside.

Where possible, Tranches should reflect stakeholder priorities and the step changes should be used to mobilise supportive stakeholders or achieve early, long term wins.

Communications with project stakeholders will need to be managed carefully if they are negatively impacted by this strategy.

Undertake impact analysis of project changes to deliver anticipated outcomes.

You will need to do an impact analysis on the consequences of losing projects from your short term business requirements and needs.  Sacrifices will need to be made and it may be a good opportunity to draw a line in the sand around some ‘sacred cow’ projects in your business areas.

If the Tranches can be aligned with a strategic Business Plan, committing to leverage or avoid certain events, then this is the opportunity to do it. You need to look carefully at the benefits opportunities associated with these step changes.

Analyse the effect of the delivery options on the benefits achievement.

Impact assessment of preferred approach on benefit profiles and plans.

The value of the benefits for various options should underpin this activity. They will be different for each option and enable selection of the optimum strategy.

The benefit profiles and plan should be a key factor in selecting the delivery strategy, there may be many different options available to delivering the change.

Their timing and impact will be worked through during this milestone, as such an impact assessment of the benefit profiles and plans will be needed as the preferred approach is likely to have had an impact.

Now that the approach is known, it should be easier to allocate specific activities and responsibilities for benefits realisation within the benefit profiles.

Key stakeholders should be consulted about the issues for each delivery option.

Undertake impact assessment of each option on each of the major stakeholder groups.

Develop the communications activities needed to gather information to make the decision.

Ensure that feedback is being managed and processed.

Project stakeholder impact assessment.

Stakeholders who will be heavily affected need to be part of the decision making process wherever possible.

Different options will have different impacts and consequences so careful management is required.

There may be a requirement to start early engagement with external stakeholders or the market as potential suppliers to test the viability of the delivery strategy.

Communications with project stakeholders will need to be managed carefully if they are negatively impacted by this strategy.

Test that the preferred option is best for delivering your benefits.

You will be a key player in this, ensure you balance the needs of the programme with the needs of your business. You should be looking to keep your Sponsor informed of the progress and consult them as part of the appraisal process.

Review and confirm the projected benefits and their ownership.

Independent assurance of the validity and viability of the benefits.

Document any lessons learned in the Gate report.

It is essential that the level of benefits are fully defined, their level of sensitivity and dependency on the Blueprint is fully understood. The justification for the programme will be based on the anticipated benefits.

Independent assurance of the basis for estimates and risk for the benefits should be undertaken to give the programme board confidence.

A review of the programme needs for benefits should also be undertaken to help with lessons learned.

Confirm adequate high impact stakeholder support exists.

Revise the stakeholder profiles as a result of the impact assessment.

Develop the communications plan for the next stage.

Develop communications materials to announce the decision to proceed.

Review the effectiveness of communications up to this point and lessons learned.

Review project communications plans to ensure alignment with the programme.

There should be a communications plan to communicate the decision and launch the programme into the next stage.

There should be a review of the main stakeholders and a rescan to see if any new groups will be affected in the next stage.

Beware of project communications plans not aligning with the programme, the programme communications team should have the final say on what communications happens from projects.

The gate review process should actively include high impact stakeholders to include their views and include them in the decision to proceed.

Liaise with your business area leads to confirm viability.

You are now signing up to begin the process of delivering the benefits and managing the change. You should ensure that you have had one to one reviews with the SRO and your Sponsoring Group executive so they understand your private and public concerns.

Define the contribution of individual benefits by each project.

Undertaken gap analysis for non-project activities needed for each benefit.

These projects must produce the outputs to enable the benefits to be achieved. The Project Dossier should be aligned to enable the Benefit Profiles KPIs to be achieved.

The information for each project should explain how it will contribute to the benefits, or how it is contributing the capability that will enable the benefits.

The benefit profiles can now be updated to show which projects are contributing to which benefits and when the release activities will take place.

This is also an opportunity to undertake the gap analysis to identify activities that will be needed to deliver benefits that are not currently scoped for delivery by the projects.

Ensure key stakeholders are consulted during the design and prioritisation of projects within the programme.

Identify the impact of individual projects on stakeholders.

Identify any new stakeholders to be engaged by the programme.

Stakeholders in newly define projects should be identified and included in communications.

Projects that will be prematurely closing should have specific communications plans.

Stakeholder priorities and concerns should be delivered by the projects and their outputs.

This should also be factored into the scheduling as there may be other major change events within that part of the organisation.

New projects that are included in the project dossier will need to have an impact assessment on existing stakeholders and there may be new groups that will need to be profiled.

Projects that are prematurely closing could be unpopular, so care should be taken to make sure that this scenario is managed carefully through the project or programme communications plans.

Ensure that the project requirements will be adequate to achieve your benefits.

The projects need to be aligned to what you need to deliver in terms of benefits and transition, therefore it is essential that you are satisfied the Project Dossier is adequate for your needs.

Complete the benefits management strategy.

The strategy should set out how benefits will be identified and delivered. It should explain what types of benefits are important, how they will be calculated and what will be measured to assure delivery.

The framework currently sets out the standards, types and approaches to delivery. So this could be a straight forward activity to confirm using the standards approach and any deviations to that approach to accommodate any unique aspects of a specific programme.

There should be clarity about the process for managing the change to realise the benefits as an on-going activity.

The BCMs will have a big role in this, but it should be clear how line management roles fit into this as well, as they will be a big responsibility when it comes to delivery.

Complete the Stakeholder Management Strategy.

Ensure that project teams are clear on their boundaries for communicating.

Ensure appropriate approval routes for project communications are clearly defined.

The development of the Stakeholder Management Strategy should include input from any organisational communications or public relation groups and their support sought to help with delivery of the actual communications. Their expertise and staff are potentially a valuable resource that the programme can call on.

A set of standards should be put in place to ensure that there is appropriate change control on communications from projects and, also, operational areas.

The strategy development should be relatively straightforward as the framework covers much of the content, the main issue is to identify where the standard needs to be adapted for the needs of this programme.

Ensure that the governance arrangements support your objectives.

This is largely Programme Manager territory, but you must be comfortable your needs will be met by these arrangements. Your role is a key element of the governance arrangements and each strategy should define how you and your part of the business will contribute. Make sure you understand the role of the Change Team. 

Review and finalise the benefit profiles.

Review the risk and time aspects of the benefits achievement.

Review the project dossier and individual project plans for timescales.

Create the programme transition plan.

A Benefits Realisation Plan should be constructed from the Benefit Profiles and project dossier

It should take account of project timetables and recognise the lead time between projects delivering and benefits being achieved.

The programme plan will need a transition plan which will be driven by the benefits delivery timescales so should be completed at this point.

Update stakeholder profiles and complete programme communications plans.

Allocate communications activities for the engagement of specific stakeholders.

Develop the programme communications plan to cover future tranches.

To get to this point there has probably been a communications plan active.

At this point it is formalising the plan as part of the programme plan.

It should now be looking into the future with a high level plan to address future tranches.

Project communications plans should now be integrated into the programme communications plan formally.

The project should be complaint to the Stakeholder and Communications standards in the framework and how the stakeholder cycle will be used by the project.

There should be a definition of how these standards will be achieved and an explanation for any deviation from the standards where this is necessary.

The communications plan should be built from the stakeholder map and for larger or more volatile projects there may be a need to have stakeholder profiles for key groups.

The communication plan should define how stakeholders will be engaged and how their input will be handled.

Ensure that the benefits and business change plans are built into the Programme Plan.

It is critical that enough time is allowed for transition and that realistic benefit realisation timescales are in place.  Commitments made now will be expected to be kept once you move into delivery.

Consolidate the total cashable benefits for the business case.

Consolidate the total non-cashable benefits for the business case.

Check the risk profile of the individual benefits to check viability.

The full business case will contain the consolidated benefits, which will be drawn from the benefit profiles and the benefits realisation plan should show then the benefits will appear.

For the business case the main justification is likely to be based on cashable benefits and there is likely to be a bigger challenge to numbers at this point, as the costs and savings are coming together formally.

Being able to attribute the benefits to specific activities is very important as is individual ownership or the benefits, so that there is a line of accountability visible.

Risk rating estimates to ensure that there is an understanding of the levels of risk associated with the benefits projections will help to build confidence and understand the risks.

Develop a budget to cover communications activities in the programme.

Communications relating to business case information dissemination should be developed and delivered.

There may be a need for external agency support to develop communications materials and/or establishing a communications specialist within the team – this is the point where the costs should be accumulated and included in the business case.

The other side of this is communications of information relating to the programme business case, there may be specific approval routes where comments are needed from key corporate groups or external stakeholders, which should be included in the communications plan, with expectations being managed and feedback processed.

Review the programme blueprint to confirm the viability of the change and the plans to achieve it.

Do you have the resources to deliver the change and the support of your organisation? You need to check that the key decision makers appreciate the extent of the changes and support it.

Prepare the business performance monitoring metrics in first tranche.

Review and confirm m the projected benefits and their ownership.

Independent assurance of the validity and viability of the benefits.

Record lessons learned related to benefits management.

Business Performance monitoring should already be in place to track benefits, but they may need to be extended to monitor other factors for negative or positive impact.  The provision of regular performance information and impact analysis should be built into the plan.

It is essential that the level of benefits are fully defined, their level of sensitivity and dependency on the Blueprint is fully understood.  The justification for the programme will be based on the anticipated benefits.

Independent assurance of the basis for estimates and risk for the benefits should be undertaken to give the programme board confidence.

Ensure lessons from the stage are recorded in the Gate report.

Confirm adequate high impact stakeholder support exists.

Revise the stakeholder profiles as a result of the impact assessment.

Develop the communications plan for the next stage.

Develop communications materials to announce the decision to proceed.

Review the effectiveness of communications up to this point and lessons learned.

Review project communications plans to ensure alignment with the programme.

Prepare the communications events to support the launch of the programme.

There should be a communications plan to communicate the decision and launch the programme into the next stage.

There should be a review of the main stakeholders and a rescan to see if any new groups will be affected in the next stage.

Beware of project communications plans not aligning with the programme, the programme communications team should have the final say on what communications happens from projects.

The gate review process should actively include high impact stakeholders to include their views and include them in the decision to proceed.

The Communications Plan should include launch activities and a process for managing feedback to ensure optimal communications channels are developed.

Arrange for local business leaders to be involved in the programme launch.

You will now need to provide the resources to join the Change Team and support you in being effective, the plan must cover this. There may be a bigger focus on projects just at this moment, but you and the Change Team cannot afford to let the momentum of the launch leave you at odds with the programme.

Ensure clear line of sight between the projects and the programme benefits where possible.

Establish the business performance monitoring for benefits realisation.

Ensure benefit realisation activities have been allocated.

This is the point where the benefits management strategy is deployed.

The controls and reporting of progress should be put into place.

The projects should be creating outputs that can contribute to the realisation of benefits in line with the Benefit profiles and the Benefits Realisation Plan. Project documentation should explicitly explain the connection to the benefits.

The link between project progress and change control and benefits delivery needs to be established, so that project changes are approved based on an impact assessment on the benefits.

Programme launch communications should be undertaken.

Ensure that initial project communications are aligned with programme communications plans.

Establish regular communications bulletins.

Monitor and analyse stakeholder feedback.

Ensure compliance of projects to communications processes.

At this point the stakeholder management strategy is being established for the tranche, a key part of this activity is aligning the project and programme communications.

Good communication opportunities should present themselves with the launching of the projects.

Stakeholder involvement through boards and steering groups can help to enable engagement and involvement in the programme.

The monitoring and review processes should be put into place to ensure effective communications by the programme, project and business change groups.

Approve the requirements and ensure they deliver the capability for benefits.

You should be taking an active interest in the initiation of projects and signing off project design and delivery documents to ensure they meet your requirements. You should also be ensuring that you have reliable representation on the project boards and steering groups.

Track the benefit impact of deliverables and business change.

Review the effectiveness of business performance metrics and benefits forecast confidence.

Ensure that the change plans minimise the potential dis-benefits during transition.

Track the business performance metrics for evidence of benefits being released or risk increasing.

Review the effectiveness of requirements management within projects.

Record benefits achieved at this point and validate future plans.

Most of the focus up to this point will have been on project delivery, now that the capability has been achieved the transition plans will now be activated to realise the benefits

The progress of projects should be monitored with close reference to the Benefits Realisation Plan and Benefits Register. Business transition will be dependent on key outputs rather than the whole project being on time, so having a good understanding of the project schedule will be key to benefit realisation activities.

The project close reports will help identify issues that could impact on the benefits realisation during this tranche.

Much of the realisation activity will be taking place within the Realising Benefits process. At the programme level there should be monitoring of the progress of change. The focus will change as the tranche progresses from monitoring current performance, to assessing stability and on to tracking improvements. At this point the effectiveness of the Benefits Management Strategy and the alignment to the plan should be managed. Deviations should be escalated.

The achievement of the outcomes and re-stabilised operations means that the focus should now move to ensuring that the benefits are identified and actions taken to release them.  

Ensure that all positive effects have been recorded, it is possible that some of the benefits will not be achieved, so it is important to record any benefits achieved at this point.

Ensure project and programme communications plans are synchronised.

Review the effectiveness of stakeholder tracking and impact of the communications plan.

Maintain regular bulletins.

Deliver launch or major announcement events.

Track stakeholder profiles and perceptions.

Monitor and action stakeholder feedback.

Activate communications to acknowledge the achievements to date.

Stakeholders should be notified of project progress as there will be good news stories that will help maintain programme commitment. Care should be taken that programme communications integrate with the local project communications activities to ensure there is no overlap or conflict in the messages being sent.

Key stakeholders can get burn out if they are over communicated with.

The Stakeholder Profiles should be maintained and reviewed. The individual stakeholder group profiles will be changing and information about them should be updated on a regular basis, a monthly review would be appropriate.

The information to maintain these profiles needs to be tested for accuracy.

The Communications Plan should be active, with clear and consistent messages being delivered effectively.

 Feedback should be monitored for levels of resistance changing or reflecting ineffective communications.

The feedback from stakeholders to communications should be monitored to check perceptions - a successful project delivery does not necessarily equate to happy stakeholders.

 The achievement of the outcomes is a reason for positive communications and heralding of achievements, but be sensitive to stakeholder perceptions.

Track project changes for impact on the benefit release plans.

Ensure that change plans are in place and being managed by the Change Teams.

You should stay in close contact with the business representatives on the various project boards or steering groups to ensure you are maintaining your intelligence about what the operational issues are. You should also be actively preparing the business for the changes that the projects will be delivering for you.

Your key focus should be on preparing the organisation for change by ensuring effective stakeholder engagement, monitoring of the business stability and ensuring that the future state for the organisation is achievable and desirable. The Governance framework should be providing you with the information to enable your decision making and identify problems.

Ensure the review identifies potential to increase benefit opportunities.

Review the effectiveness of business performance metrics and benefits forecast confidence and refine.

Confirm the projected benefits and their ownership.

This is a point where benefits will be released and the change has happened, it is also very likely that there will be a lot of other activity to bring other benefits to life

The review should test and challenge the benefit profiles and the realism of the plan, benefits should have been realised or it may be that there is evidence of over optimism which could nullify the programme's value. Updates to Benefit Profiles should be issued based on the experiences to date.

The effectiveness of the Benefits Management Strategy should be assessed, including the suitability of the areas being monitored. Assess whether business performance is being effectively managed through the various controls. If benefits are not appearing, this should be a cause for concern. A Benefit Review should have been undertaken at least once.

Business Performance monitoring should already be in place to track benefits, but they may need to be extended to monitor other factors for negative or positive impact.

Gain stakeholder input on direction and alternative approaches.

Review the effectiveness of stakeholder tracking and communications plan impact.

Confirm adequate high impact stakeholder support continues.

Ensure project and programme communications plans are synchronised.

Review the effectiveness of stakeholder tracking and impact of the communications plan.

Maintain regular bulletins.

Deliver launch or major announcement events.

Track stakeholder profiles and perceptions.

Monitor and action stakeholder feedback.

Activate communications to acknowledge the achievements to date.

This could be a point of significant achievement, so there may be a lot of communications around business change activities that will need to be managed through the communications plans.

The Stakeholder Profiles should be maintained and reviewed. The individual stakeholder group profiles will be changing and information about them should be updated on a regular basis, a monthly review would be appropriate.

The information to maintain these profiles needs to be tested for accuracy.

The Communications Plan should be active, with clear and consistent messages being delivered effectively.

The review should test levels of support or resistance to the programme and whether they are increasing, if resistance is rising, then alternative directions may be considered.

Business representation in how and when the programmes are delivered will better enable engagement and increase changes of success. The effectiveness of the Stakeholder Management Strategy and Communications Plan should be reviewed, with any changes being made based on lessons learned.

The Communications Plan should include launch activities and how feedback will be managed to ensure optimal communications channels are developed.

Test for opportunities to enhance benefits from alternative outcomes and operating models.

Provide input on the effectiveness of governance for the Business Change Team.

Arrange for local business leaders to be involved in the programme launch.

This will be your opportunity to flag up concerns you may have about the realism of the approach and in particular, any concerns you may have regarding the benefits and level of business change being planned. If the Blueprint is proving unachievable or the Benefits can't be delivered, now is the time to speak up.

From the business perspective, you should consider whether you have had enough influence of the direction and day to day decision making in the programme, if not, now is the time to look for changes.

You may need to reinforce the Change Team to enable it to support you in being effective - the plan must cover this.

Operational performance should be tracked to ensure there is no dependence on the systems.  

Residual assets that are to be deployed should be isolated and handed over.  If the new system is an upgrade, there may be spares or residual value in some aspects of the product.

Whatever the circumstances, the capability should be disabled to ensure it cannot be re-commissioned.

The period of instability should now be over and the new performance should be heading towards delivering the benefits. The removal of the old ways of working will be a major milestone in achieving the change and leaving the past behind. All the efforts should now be focused on releasing benefits and more importantly, testing for unexpected benefits.  

Communications activities should be on going to explain the value of the decommissioning and achievements.  

There will be stakeholders that lament the loss of the old ways of working - identifying and communicating effectively with these groups will be important as they are potentially a source of negative attitudes going forward.

Prepare the business performance monitoring metrics in first tranche.

Review and confirm m the projected benefits and their ownership.

Independent assurance of the validity and viability of the benefits.

Review effectiveness of benefits management strategy.

Identify benefits management lessons from the Tranche.

Business Performance monitoring should already be in place to track benefits, but they may need to be extended to monitor other factors for negative or positive impact.  The provision of regular performance information and impact analysis should be built into the plan.

It is essential that the level of benefits are fully defined, their level of sensitivity and dependency on the Blueprint is fully understood.  The justification for the programme will be based on the anticipated benefits.

Independent assurance of the basis for estimates and risk for the benefits should be undertaken to give the programme board confidence.

The next tranche could be Close, if that is the case then ownership of the benefits release activities will be need to be handed over in the benefits realisation plan.

Confirm adequate high impact stakeholder support exists.

Revise the stakeholder profiles as a result of the impact assessment.

Develop the communications plan for the next stage.

Develop communications materials to announce the decision to proceed.

Review the effectiveness of communications up to this point and lessons learned.

Review project communications plans to ensure alignment with the programme.

Prepare the communications events to support the launch of the programme.

There should be a communications plan to communicate the decision and launch the programme into the next stage.

There should be a review of the main stakeholders and a rescan to see if any new groups will be affected in the next stage.

Beware of project communications plans not aligning with the programme, the programme communications team should have the final say on what communications happens from projects.

The gate review process should actively include high impact stakeholders to include their views and include them in the decision to proceed.

The Communications Plan should include launch activities and a process for managing feedback to ensure optimal communications channels are developed.

Liaise with your business area leads to confirm viability to continue or close.

You are now signing up to deliver the operational changes and benefits for your part of the business for the next Tranche, re-establishing your Terms of Reference and commitment to yourself would be a reasonable request for you to make.

Formalise the requirements and benefits that form the new capability.

A major element is the business design model to produce formal requirements. As part of this step, it will be necessary to categorise the information to enable analysis and comparison. 

Some requirements may look unrealistic or unachievable, but may become feasible, or there may be another project that can pick them up at some stage.  

Similarly, requirements that look straight forward may hide complexity or innovations that are yet to be understood.

It is then possible to undertake an analysis of the benefits that the change will produce. All benefits forecasts should be evidence based. To do this, it will be necessary to understand the ‘As Is’, or how things work now, as well as the ‘To Be’ state which is being defined in the business design. This measurement of current performance is to establish a baseline and establish the metrics to assess improvements that will come from the new approach.

Test stakeholder support.

It is important that stakeholders are heavily involved in the requirements gathering process. As part of the consultation it is important to understand the level of support the project will have. If there are opponents of the idea, understanding why they are opposed will be helpful in making the preferred selection – avoiding resistance will reduce costs and increase the likelihood of success.

Analyse and report the ability of each option to achieve the requirements and benefits.

It is important that the recommended approach is driven by requirements and benefits, not features of a particular product.  

The recommended option selected will be the one that best meets the business requirements.

If the requirements aren’t well defined then the selection of the preferred approach may well be flawed.

There will be requirements that must be met by the project, others will be less important; this is essential information for the selection process.

Some options may offer a different set, or magnitude, of benefits.  It is likely that the choice of option and approach will be highly influenced by evidence that the project has a close link to the strategic/corporate commitments and principles – which will result in tangible benefits.

Include stakeholder views and feedback in the selection process.

Some stakeholders will ‘win’ others will ‘lose’. Similarly, some may be blockers and others supporters. Reducing the numbers of losers will increase your chances of success. The requirement should be distributed and confirmed by the stakeholders. As part of this process, it is important to establish the priority of each of the requirements to the various groups.

Developing a strategy will optimise the options for achieving the requirements and benefits.

Achievement of the requirements should drive the decision on the procurement approach. If an option is selected which constrains the numbers of potential suppliers then competition and innovation will be restricted.

The strategy selected will be the one most likely to, not only meet the requirements but deliver the benefits that have been defined.

The benefit profiles can now be defined. Benefits should be identified and valued. Not all will survive as certainties. Outside bets need to be tracked as opportunities. Benefits should be consistently classified, with clarity about whether they are economic, efficiency or effectiveness. 

Maximising benefits may require changes to the Blueprint. Benefits development will have to be iterative with the Blueprint refinement. The value of the benefits for various options should underpin this activity; they will be different for each option and enable selection.

Initiate communications to notify stakeholders of the decision.

Gaining evidence of stakeholder support for particular options will provide a useful audit trail of agreement that maybe helpful later in the project. If appropriate, think about including this decision in a communications exercise to a wider audience.

Ensure recommended actions relating to requirements and benefits are planned for.  

There may be recommendations on requirements that you will need to take action on.

It is normal for queries to be made on benefits as these are fundamental to having the project approved.

Ensure recommended actions relating to stakeholders are dealt with. 

The successful achievement of a gate review should trigger a communications event updating stakeholders. Further work on the communications plan may be required.

Complete the business model, finalise requirements and profile the benefits that can be expected.

The requirements should be defining a solution that can be used by the business. Be careful that the focus on deliverables does not underestimate the need to manage changes to processes and services.

The analysis should consider the changes to process, structures and technology around the products that are going to be delivered with the associated requirements included in the operating model.

This is a key point where the benefit profiles are finalised. The new Business Operating Model should clarify what is different from how it works now. The differences should enable the calculation of the anticipated improvements, whether they are in terms of efficiency, effectiveness or socio-economic. There should be clear line of sight between the Business Operating Model and a contribution to the Organisation X Business Plan, commitments and outcomes.

Consult stakeholders regarding the operating model and gather feedback.

Representatives of the areas that will be affected by the project should be involved in this activity. The stakeholder analysis should show who the main stakeholders are and what their interest is.

The development of the final detailed design should consider the impact on requirements and benefits.

The requirements will be the major contribution to the procurement - they should now be completed and put under change control (if not already done so).

It is essential that all the areas involved in implementation, support and use of what the project is going to deliver sign up to these requirements at this time. 

The requirements should include what operations and corporate will need to deliver as well.

The detailed specification may well introduce opportunities to extend or improve the benefits potential but, equally, oversights in the function of the project outputs could be terminal to benefits.

Key stakeholders should be consulted over the design and their support gained.

Key stakeholders should be consulted, have input into the detailed design and provide sign off of their agreement. The amount of their time should have been included in the resource plan. This is a critical activity and the right amount of time must be dedicated to it.The other consideration is the stakeholder’s understanding and knowledge - it is a risk that they do not have the technical knowledge to be able to contribute.  

Confirm that the preferred option offers the highest level of benefits to the organisation and meets the requirements.

The requirements will provide the basis for the specification that will be put to market for the potential suppliers to bid for.

Achieving the operating model and detailed specifications should provide the basis for making the selection of the preferred approach.

As the procurement is being undertaken, the proposals from potential suppliers could provide opportunities for more or less benefits. The benefit profiles should be closely monitored and the proposals analysed against these.

Consult stakeholders who will have an interest in the outcomes.

Stakeholder communications should be extended to include some sections of market. The art of good procurement is to encourage competition, particularly if the requirement is unique. Communication planning may therefore be required to raise the awareness of the opportunity with certain audiences. The actual review of the procurement and selection of the preferred approach must be undertaken in collaboration with the internal stakeholders who will be customers for the deliverables.

Validate that benefits and requirements are achievable and attributed.

This is an opportunity to challenge the proposed requirements, specification and supplier solution to maximise the confidence that the level of change can be achieved.

The benefits will have a level of risk associated with them. This should be reflected in the value of the benefits being claimed in order to ensure that there is no optimistic bias for the benefits being aspired to.

Assure that there is adequate stakeholder support.

Stakeholders will be expected to contribute to the review and commit to the changes. Before the assessment, they should have been fully briefed and there should be no unexpected challenges.

Requirements and benefits achievement should be clearly attributable as part of the contract mobilisation. 

The detailed schedules in the contract should illustrate how they will achieve the requirements of the project and the acceptance criteria.  The requirements should be providing the basis for the agreement with the supplier.  The services in the contract should achieve the operating model.

The benefits are unlikely to be derived directly from the contract unless they are directly attributable cost reductions.  Care needs to be taken to ensure that benefits do not evaporate in the negotiations through compromise on requirements - short term savings can have significant long term effect on benefits.  

Involve the stakeholders in reviewing the contract detail to ensure understanding and buy in.

The finalisation of the placing of contracts will need to be advised to stakeholders - they also provide an opportunity to create positive publicity for the project as this could be a significant milestone.

The new supplier team should be included in the stakeholder analysis and they should be built into the communications plan.

Benefit profiles and requirements should be updated to reflect the final Business Operating Model.

Once the contract has been awarded and the full specification is defined then the operating model should be updated to reflect how the new capability will affect the current operating model.

The model will define the future operating state. If this has now changed then it may well affect the benefit profiles.  The profiles should now be updated to reflect the changed scenarios, if appropriate.

A communications event to announce the final Business Operating Model should be undertaken. 

Stakeholders should be included in the collection of views and different perspectives on the effect of the new contract.

This could also be the starting point for the communications regarding what changes are anticipated and what effects they will be having on different groups inside and outside of the organisation.  If resistance is anticipated this is the time to start addressing it.

Track opportunities for additional benefits and ensure requirements are met.

Each product must have an evidence based criteria for achieving the requirements.

It is likely that there may be requests for change to requirements or planned deliverables (see issues and changes). Approved changes will require previously baselined documents to be updated.

Any deviations or quality failures need to be monitored for their effects on the Business Operating Model and the achievement of their benefits.

Benefits should now be a major factor when considering any changes that arise during the build of the components.  

Deliver regular communications to maintain stakeholder engagement as part of communications plan.

The new supplier should be actively involved in the communications planning as their own organisation is now a stakeholder group.

The successful build and testing of components could be the trigger for a communications event.

Check that the functionality required for requirements and benefits achievement has been delivered.

The requirements in the contract should now have been fully tested along with the supporting business processes that will support them. If there are any areas of functional failure, these should be managed as issues.

The results of the completion of the testing should now be reviewed against the impact on the achievements of benefits plan and the likely business performance during and post transition.

Communicate the results of testing to the user community.

The right stakeholders need to be involved in ‘user acceptance’ and should have been identified in the Project Plans (their effort should have been committed at the preceding decision gate).

Ensure that the operations teams have skills to support the new capabilities and there are resources able to support the benefits achievement.

Experience and expertise in how the requirements were defined and assembled will help with managing issues that come out of transition.   There will be a greater need for experience of performance management to help exploit the benefit opportunities. 

Release appropriate communications to notify stakeholders of progress.

Risk management focus will now move to business and operational risk as the project moves into the final phase.

Update the benefit profiles to reflect the new baseline performance.

The original baseline performance should be in the Benefits Profiles. These should be revalidated at this point because changes may have already happened, either detrimentally or as an improvement.  

This data is required to enable effect planning of transition.

Communicate results of new baseline information and plans to maintain performance.

There will be the basic performance metrics that are normally measured or have been defined for this project.

It is also worth gathering information from a variety of stakeholders on their levels of commitment.

If problems arise during transition their support could evaporate or turn into opposition, the results of this investigation should be logged on the Risk Register.

Service levels should be monitored to ensure they remain within acceptable deviation.

Within the Benefits Realisation Plan acceptable performance degradation parameters during transition should have been set. These should be monitored to ensure that these parameters are not exceeded and mitigation plans are activated if they area.

Maintain communications to enable momentum.

Communicating effectively and regularly will help to maintain morale is the transition if proving problematical, taking longer than expected or having unexpected side effects.

If there are problems, it is critical that the communications recognise and deal with them proportionately as there is no point in pretending everything is great, if it isn’t.

Record benefits achieved at this point and validate future plans.

The achievement of the outcomes and re-stabilised operations means that the focus should now move to ensuring that the benefits are identified and actions taken to release them.  

Ensure that all positive effects have been recorded, it is possible that some of the benefits will not be achieved, so it is important to record any benefits achieved at this point.

Activate communications to reflect the achievements to date.

The feedback from stakeholders to communications should be monitored to check perceptions - a successful project delivery does not necessarily equate to happy stakeholders.

The achievement of the outcomes is a reason for positive communications and heralding of achievements, but be sensitive to stakeholder perceptions.

Validate that requirements and benefits have been achieved or are attributed.

Lessons learned from the management of requirements should now be in place and other projects should be made aware of them. Benefits may still not be achieved at this stage - what the gate review should be looking for is projection showing that they will be achieved. Additional benefit reviews may need to be scheduled.

Undertake closure communications to all stakeholders.

Lessons associated with stakeholder and communications management should be recorded and distributed.

Ensure that the outcomes are stable, that there is confidence in benefits delivery and any new requirements or outstanding defects are logged as issues.

It is likely that some additional functionality will be required - this should be fed into the lessons learned and a new project developed to deal with this.

The early benefits should now begin to appear - this milestone provides an ideal opportunity to undertake a benefits review and confirm that everything is on course, as defined in the benefit profiles.

Undertake communications event process to ensure the sign off status is understood.

 This is a significant milestone in the lifecycle of any project and, as such, should be seen as an opportunity for positive communications to suppliers.