Benefits Management Strategy in Practice

How to make your BMS work for you, instead of you having to work for it

When all else fails and the guidance doesn't guide, here's how to do it
You want a BMS that works - that everyone can agree on; that's sufficiently detailed that you know what you're going to do next, but at the same time sufficiently high level that it isn't hostage to circumstance; that is meaningful; that identifies real benefits.
You've read the guidance on the internet, from the Office of Government Commerce (OGC), you've ploughed through Benefits Approaches and Managing Successful Programmes (MSP), and you're thoroughly confused.
That's how I started. That's why I wrote this, so you can benefit from my mistakes.
What needs to be in a BMS
To some extent it depends who you are writing it for, but assuming that you're writing for NHS or other government body you'll want a formal document which complies with a number of conventions - it will be acceptable and accepted.
Accepted
Wouldn't it be great if the document that was accepted by the board was also useful? How can you write it briefly enough to be useful, at the same time formally enough to be acceptable?
Useful
What does a Benefits Management Strategy need?
A brief description of why the programme or project has been set up - what problem was it trying to solve? Although you will identify a great many other benefits, the original purpose is unlikely to change
The overall strategic aims of the organisation or workstream, that the programme needs to contribute towards. Although organisations and workstreams do change their strategic aims, it's considerably less frequently than programmes do.
Some of the interdependencies - what does the programme rely on, what enablers are in place, and also what will it (in overview) enable other projects to do? As an example, a typical IM&T project delivers nothing of value. It's only when people make use of the equipment and information, and in so doing change the way they do things, that benefits start to be delivered. At the same time many IM&T projects require the training, the information etc to be in place before they can deliver the project. Sometimes the enablers and dependencies are within the overall programme, but more often than not they are outside.
It doesn't deliver any benefits
As indicated for IM&T projects in the last para, very few programmes, or the projects within them, deliver any benefits themselves. Benefits actually occur once people start to use the deliverables from the project; this is the Business As Usual (BAU) phase and is usually outside of the programme. So the strategy needs to link through to an Approach and a Tracking process (these are given in separate pages - [back to Benefits management strategy page] to find them).
Example Benefits Management Strategy (BMS)
Document purposeBrief description of what any approvals panel is expected to do with this document, and what users are expected to do
AudienceIf you are being very formal, then whether this is an internal document or due to be shared with a wider audience. If internal, then internal to what?
Overview of Project or ProgrammeYou could easily copy and paste this from other descriptions of the project. With a BMS that could end up only 2-3 pages long, pasting in 1 whole page of overview of project might seem excessive, so if you can shorten it then do so
Alignment to strategic aimsList the strategic aims of the organisation or group of organisations/ workstream that your project has to contribute towards and align with. I know the OGC guidance says you should list the benefits of your project and how they align with the strategic goals - however it's my experience that the benefits of your project are likely to change, so be wary of creating work for yourself
Interdependencies of the project or programmeHighlighted above, what the project is dependent on and it's enablers; what changes it will make that other projects, programmes or services are dependent on. For an IM&T project, what projects, programmes or services will make use of the final outcomes of your project, and what will they achieve?
Accompanying DocumentsEssentially the Benefits Management Approach and Benefits Tracking Process, though you may wish to list other project documents
Glossary of TermsYou will probably have used a number of terms in the BMS which are specific to a Benefits Approach, and which won't be familiar to a general audience. Because they are specific to a Benefits Approach they might or might not have a definition in the overall Programme Glossary of Terms, but it's worth including them here
See also
Benefits Management Strategy
Benefits Approach
Benefits Tracking Process
to carry on understanding the Benefits Management Strategy, Go back to the Benefits Management Strategy