Purpose
The purpose of a program or project is to deliver change in an organized, planned structure. For change to be effective, benefit(s) must be identified, managed, and realized for the deliverable(s) and change(s) to be justified and accepted. The benefit register is an up to date list of planned benefits, who is responsible for measuring them, when they are expected to be realized, how they will be measured, baseline and current measurements, et cetera. The benefits in the register should encompass the reason for doing the program/project and justify the time and expense of making the change. Realization of the benefits listed in the register form a critical aspect of measuring program/project success.
Participants and audience
Input into the benefit register may come from many different sources including, but not limited to, sponsor, senior leadership, program/project intake form and/or business case, organizational and/or business unit strategic plans and initiatives, existing documentation, subject matter experts within business unit(s), and other stakeholders (such as staff, students, faculty).
The author and maintainer is the program/project manager. Changes to benefits should be authorized through a formal change request by the sponsor.
Instructions
1. Research and understand program/project information by reading any prior documentation (such as intake form(s), business case(s), and research/analysis) and speaking to sponsor and other stakeholders. Identify why the program/project is being approved, what the expectations are for the final results, and what would make the deliverable(s) successful in the eyes of the sponsor and other stakeholders. These types of questions will help identify the benefits, which will sometimes be tied to business strategies/goals/objectives. Benefits, whether tangible or intangible, must be measurable.
2. Enter benefits in the benefit register with input from applicable stakeholders and sponsor by filling out the applicable sections in the spreadsheet. The green italic text provides an example of a benefit and may be removed. See the Definitions & Values tab for a further description of each column on the spreadsheet, as well as valid values.
3. Update the document, as required, to reflect approved benefit changes as the program/project evolves.
4. Execute benefit measurements as outlined in register, recording actual results appropriately.
5. Upload to the document repository being used by the team.
Next steps
Execute and document the benefit measurements according to the information laid out in this document. Update this document to reflect any approved changes during program/project execution. Monitor this register throughout execution to ensure that the program/project remains on track to deliver the expected benefits. Reflect final measurements in this document at the end of the program/project and use this document during program/project closure to assess program success.