Using Workfront for Benefits Realisation

[LauraRa1]

Hi Does anyone use Workfront to track the Benefits Realisation stage of Projects? We implemented a new methodology earlier this year and this is the last stage of our projects. We haven't formalised any processes for this yet but have started work. I'd like to get input from anyone who uses Workfront to track or help the BR stage. Thanks

[EricLu2]

Hi Laura. Sadly, we do not do Benefits Realization, so there is no work for us to model. I’ve done it at a number of companies, however, mostly on Six Sigma process improvement type projects. What are you looking for in a benefits realization? The challenges I’ve seen are: 1) Validating the accuracy and currency of the metric system that measures your critical success factors or KPIs - you have to make sure the new processes have settled down and you’re getting good numbers; 2) Presentation - How are the Critical Success metrics presented, analyzed, summarized and presented to people who want to know - This is a new process and people are learning as they look at the numbers coming from the process. This process has to settle down, too; 3) Process Adjustments - What do you do if the numbers go this way, What if they go that way? Those are all things that should have been sorted out much earlier in the project, but usually aren’t. Its good to talk about what to do if the numbers start deviating from the desired norm; Always remember that if you beat your data long enough, it will confess. Watch for that, too. Some people want the data to show success, and so they beat it. They refine their torture process in step 2 above until the project is an unqualified success. You have to watch out for someone water-boarding the data. Sorry I’m not more help. Eric

[MartyGa]

We have been looking into benefits realization in Workfront but have not fully embraced it yet, Laura. We've found Workfront DISMAL from a benefits tracking perspective. First, there is only one field for planned and one for actual benefit. And it is strictly financial. In many projects there are often multple goals (benefits) that should be tracked. Additionally, many benefits need to be tracked over a period of time. Leaving the project open well past its implementaiton timeframe in order to record benefits can lead to reporting problems (though a special status of "Benefits Realization" equivalent to In Process can help you filter these). Since we don't generally track expenses in Workfront, we found that the EXPENSES area can be used for benefits tracking, as there is the capability for PLANNED and ACTUAL timing and amounts. We have experimented with a special expense type of BENEFIT that allows us to enter a negative expense amount. This way the net value calculates correctly. We asked years ago for a review of benefits / goals tracking but that has not been a priority for enough customers. Looking forward to hearing what others are doing.

[DavidCo3]

Hi, We're not doing anything formally yet in this regards but I am very interested in doing so - especially the stuff Marty is talking about regarding potential enhancements. It would be great to be able to identify planned benefits (financial and non-financial) at the outset and then come back to assess the achievement of them over time. I expect you can get part way there by using custom forms and attaching them to the project, but it would be the change over time that wouldn't really work so well using these. Regards, David

[LauraRa1]

Thanks Marty, good insight, I guess as suspected. We had come to the same conclusion about adding a BR stage to help filter out projects that had actually completed. Other thoughts were around setting up a Queue Topic and custom form and I’m hoping that someone in the forum can offer suggestions on the logistics of adding that for BR….. Laura Ray Project Support Analyst Bakkavor Information Systems Bakkavor Group West Marsh Road, Spalding, Lincolnshire, PE11 2BB, UK Direct: +44 (0)1775 763 010 www.Bakkavor.com // Laura.Ray@Bakkavor.com< [cid:image003.png@01D24727.3C928E60]