Strategy into action - Benefits management
Everything that we do should contribute to what we are trying to achieve – the benefits realised.
Identify benefits
Step 1- Identify high level benefits
- Mandatory – national policy, legal requirements
- Quality of service – benefit to patients
- Internal management – improving the quality of decision-making or management productivity
- Efficiency gains or cost avoidance
- Workforce motivation – leading to flexibility, increased productivity etc.
- Risk reduction
- Economy – reducing costs while maintaining quality
- Strategic fit – enables the achievement of other objectives
Step 2 - Link to “business” objectives
Step 3- Identify the benefits and describe them according to benefits criteria
- Wherever possible use S.M.A.R.T. criteria (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Timely)
- Can quantify and value - financial benefits
- Can quantify but difficult to value - direct non-financial benefits
- Can identify but difficult to quantify and value
Step 3a - Techniques for identifying benefits include:
- Analysis of current activities, objectives and success factors
- Consultations with
- professions
- public and patients
- providers
- the PCTs own staff
- Brainstorming
- Workshops
- Comparison with best practice case studies
Step 4 - Identify risks and disbenefits
- Poor design and implementation
- Costs of change
Step 5 - Understand the structure of benefits
Some possible groupings are:
- Sequencing
- Linkages and dependencies
- Attributable to introducing new technology
- Realised with the fewest management actions
- The most easily measurable and quantifiable
- Not of significant value on their own
Review benefits
Typically many of the benefits expected from a programme of service change will not start to materialise until after the completion of the programme. It will therefore be necessary to conduct a review to check that the benefits targets are being achieved.
The benefits review may form part of a wider Post-Implementation Review (PIR) of the programme or project.
A benefits review should cover the following topics:
- An internal audit of compliance against benefit targets in the Benefits Profiles
- Analysis of the reasons for over or under achievement of benefits
- Identification of opportunities for further benefits
- A review of project and programme plans to ensure that all the activities related to benefits realisation were successfully completed
- A review of benefits realisation related to service change management activities.
The audit of benefits achieved against targets should be initiated immediately after the latest target time recorded in the Benefits Profiles for the project. Interim compliance audits may be appropriate for large programmes with multiple, significant benefits streams.
Benefits Management Checklist
☑ Which planned benefits have been achieved? If they have been achieved, were the targets correct or should they be increased?
☑ Which planned benefits have not been achieved? Why were the benefits not achieved? Can remedial action be taken to achieve them or must they be foregone?
☑ Is there any pattern to the success/failure that can be used to inform other realisation plans or further exercises/programmes?
☑ Were the assumptions on which the realisation of benefits was based correct? If not, what effect did this have on the realisation of benefits?
☑ Were there any unexpected benefits that have resulted? If so, how can they now be planned and maximised further?
☑ Have identified dis-benefits been managed and minimised?Have the disbenefits resulted in achievement of benefits of a highervalue?
☑ Were there any unexpected disbenefits that resulted? If so, can they now be managed and minimised?
☑ Are there any further benefits on offer which warrant a further benefits identification exercise?
☑ Do the measures applied to specific benefits appear to be the correct ones?
☑ Has the information collection regime worked?
☑ Do new targets/baselines need to be set for the next review?
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