ABSTRACT
The more dependent a project's benefits are on project product adoption and usage, the larger contribution change management makes. Traditionally, projects were considered finished when their products were completed. However, benefit realisation doesn’t occur until products are used. Traditionally, it’s the project managers (PMs) who produced the products and the project sponsors who ensured that benefits accrue. Benefits realisation is probably the most ignored area of PM except perhaps at the start of a project when sponsors might highlight or even exaggerate the anticipated benefits of their project propositions and downplay the costs to help get their projects approved. Some common benefit categories are: direct monetary benefits, direct non-monetary benefit, indirect benefits, and disbenefits. Also, benefits might also be measured in terms of the “triple bottom line” where they are categorised as: economic or financial benefits, social and community benefits, and corporate benefits.
