Earned Benefit Program Management

Aligning, Realizing, and Sustaining Strategy

Crispin Piney

• Publisher: Auerbach Publications
• Year: 2017
• ISBN:
  9781315314273
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Project Management
• Index: Business

No one can disagree that benefits are good things. Whether you are responsible for projects, programs, or portfolios, you are increasingly expected to think—and act—in an appropriate benefits-driven way. However:

• Do you understand that what may be appropriate for a project may be inapplicable for a program?
• Can you avoid the trap of wishful thinking based on overinflated expectations and underestimated costs?
• Can you manage your program or portfolio from inception to final delivery in a consistent, benefits-focused way based on a single, coherent model?

This book describes how Earned Benefit Program Management techniques provide an innovative, all-inclusive model and set of tools developed specifically to answer these questions. This model consolidates the key concepts of project, program, and portfolio management and ensures that all program and portfolio management steps are carried out based on a single, signed-off model in a consistent, verifiable manner within a consolidated life cycle. This approach guarantees alignment with strategic goals and constraints through every stage of a program.

Case studies highlight the key features of the approach and provide important lessons and insights for managing programs. Although the ideas and concepts for each topic are fully consistent with existing standards and other published material, they are based on new thinking and go beyond current practice. They provide a set of original and powerful techniques that are applicable to both programs and portfolios in a wide range of business environments.

Contents

Dedication

Preface

P.1 What Started It All

P.2 Some of the Original Ideas

P.2.1 A Consistent and Integrated Model

P.2.2 Typical Problem and Analysis

P.2.3 Integrating the Frameworks

P.2.4 An Honest Cost and Benefit Model for Programs

P.2.5 Calculating the Model

P.2.6 Disbenefits and Essential Links

P.2.7 A Case Study

P.2.8 Scheduling

P.2.9 Risk Management

P.2.10 Capacity Planning

P.2.11 Procurement

P.2.12 Implementation Tracking

P.2.13 Progress Tracking and Review

P.2.14 Stakeholder Relationship Management

P.2.15 Communications

P.3 References

Acknowledgments

About the Author

Chapter 1 Defining the domains

1.1 In the beginning…

1.2 Projects, programs, and portfolios

1.2.1 Why does this matter?

1.3 Projects and operations

1.4 Understanding the roles

1.4.1 Investor focus

1.4.2 Business focus

1.4.3 Supplier focus

1.4.4 Implementer focus

1.4.5 Review

1.5 Commonalities

1.6 Differences

1.6.1 Tools

1.6.2 Control

1.6.3 Easing the transition

1.7 Compromise terminology

1.8 Desired result

1.9 Conclusion on Ps, O, and T

1.10 Loose ends

1.10.1 Evolutionary projects

1.10.2 Integration projects

1.11 Towards total program management

1.12 Summary

1.13 Now to focus on programs

1.14 References

Chapter 2 Understanding the Problem

2.1 Overview

2.2 Synergy

2.2.1 The Need for Synergy

2.2.2 The Problem with Synergy

2.2.3 Characteristics of the Benefits Realization Map

2.3 Business and Benefits Management: The Core Concepts

2.3.1 Levels of Detail

2.3.2 Mindset

2.3.3 Time

2.3.4 Visibility

2.3.6 Accountability

2.3.6 Authority

2.3.7 Scope of Control

2.3.8 Impact

2.4 Structure of the Benefits Realization Map

2.5 Recap on the Benefits Realization Mapping Technique

2.6 Summary

2.7 The Need for End-to-End Control

2.8 References

Chapter 3 A Life Cycle for Program Management, Benefits Management, and Business Analysis

3.1 Introduction

3.2 Current life cycles

3.2.1 The program management phases

3.2.2 Program definition

3.2.3 Delivery of program benefits

3.2.4 Program closure

3.2.5 Linking the program to the benefits

3.3 Modified benefits realization life cycle

3.3.1 Defining the modified life cycle

3.3.2 Overview of the benefits realization life cycle phases

3.4 Close-up on the benefits realization life cycle

3.4.1 Benefits assessment

3.4.2 Business case development

3.4.3 Benefits realization planning

3.4.4 Benefits realization

3.4.5 The completion phase

3.4.6 Business analysis skills and tools

3.5 Integrating business analysis and project management

3.5.1 Vive la différence

3.5.2 Core concepts

3.5.3 Effective link to program management

3.5.4 The business analysis life cycle

3.6 Working with the business analyst

3.7 Case study: QERTS merger

3.7.1 Benefits assessment

3.7.2 Business case development

3.8 Summary

3.9 References

Chapter 4 Building an Integrated Business Model

4.1 Business Case Development

4.2 Contributions and Allocations

4.3 Description of the Benefits Realization Map

4.3.1 Entities

4.3.2 From Right to Left

4.3.3 From Left to Right

4.3.4 Reviewing the Completed Map

4.4 The Business Transformation Example

4.4.1 From Right to Left: The Business View

4.4.2 From Left to Right: The Technical View

4.4.3 Linkages Showing Relationships

4.5 Estimating the Contribution Fractions

4.5.1 Analog Evaluation Approach

4.5.2 Quantifying the Fractions

4.6 Applying the Concepts to the QERTS Example

4.6.1 Business Consultancy Approach for Building the BRM

4.6.2 Start with the Business Targets

4.6.3 QERTS Strategic Outcomes

4.6.4 QERTS Business Outcomes

4.6.5 QERTS Business Capabilities

4.6.6 QERTS Technical Capabilities

4.6.7 QERTS Initiatives

4.6.8 Completing the Map

4.7 An Honest Business Case

4.8 Summary

4.9 The Next Steps

4.10 References

Chapter 5 Calculating the Model

5.1 Picturing the Contributions

5.1.1 Identifying the Contributions

5.1.2 Calculating the Contributions

5.1.3 Remote Contributions

5.2 Understanding Allocations

5.3 Selecting the Algorithm for Determining the Allocation Fractions

5.3.1 Agreeing on the Allocation Fractions by Consensus

5.3.2 Using Contribution Fractions to Calculate the Allocation Fractions

5.4 Using The Contribution Values To Calculate The Allocation Fractions

5.5 Using the Contribution Shares to Calculate the Allocation Fractions

5.6 Calculating the Allocations

5.7 Defining a Decision Criterion

5.8 Proof that the Fourth Option Satisfies the Criterion

5.9 Summary

Chapter 6 Disbenefits and essential links

6.1 Allowing for disbenefits

6.1.1 The contributions in the disbenefits example

6.1.2 The allocation fractions in the disbenefits example

6.1.3 The allocations in the disbenefits example

6.1.4 Discussion on the disbenefits example

6.1.5 Percentage disbenefits

6.1.6 Are we there yet?

6.2 Essential contributions

6.2.1 First option

6.2.2 Essential node and essential contribution

6.3 Applying the concept of essential links

6.3.1 Prioritizing initiatives

6.3.2 Developing the financial justification for an initiative

6.3.3 Performing a risk analysis of the network

6.3.4 Optimizing the benefits realization map

6.3.5 Discussion on contributions and essential nodes

6.4 Creating an essential network

6.4.1 Picturing the essential contributions

6.4.2 Calculating the contributions

6.4.3 Conclusion: the value of the concept of essential contributions

6.5 Structured approach for removing nodes

6.6 Recalculating the pruned network

6.6.1 What’s in the BEER?

6.6.2 Step 1: Clear the redundant data

6.6.3 Step 2: Recalculate the pruned network contribution shares and contributions

6.6.4 Step 3: Calculate the contribution fra...