2. What’s in it for me?
• How can I better talk about my
project benefits to a wide range
of people?
• How do I improve my chances of
funding a project?
• How do I demonstrate project
success?
3. Project (noun):
an individual or
collaborative
enterprise that
is carefully
planned to
achieve a
particular aim
(Oxford
Dictionary)
Quick recap
• Why do we run projects?
– Make something new
– Make something better
• But how do we describe it?
5. What sort of thing did you
describe?
“Thing/s (tangible or intangible)
intended to be used after the
project is done”
This is the output of a project.
6. Or…
“Change/s to an area as a result of
using project outputs”
These are project outcomes.
7. What advantage do
outcomes have?
• Freedom to consider alternative
ways to deliver results
– The air curtain
– Moving from animal transport to
automobiles
“If I’d asked my customers what they
wanted, they’d have said a faster
horse.” (Attributed to Henry Ford)
8. What advantage do
outcomes have?
• Validation that outputs will
actually create the changes we
want.
– Do the things being created in my
project enable the desired changes?
– Does my project consider impacts
on people, processes and tools and
not just 1 in isolation?
10. Sample benefits for UWS
• UWS attracts 5% more applicants
and the average UAI score for
applicants rises 2 points
• UWS improves its international
standing by 10% (measured by
rankings)
• UWS maintains/improves its focus
on “First in family” (measured by
surveys)
11. Advantages of benefits
• Benefits assure us that our work
has organisational meaning
• Measuring benefits means the
project can be reviewed and its
success level checked
• Provides convincing argument for
starting or continuing a project
13. An example
HR sent out an email this week
advising all managers that the
interface for eRecruit would be
upgraded.
What would the project to do that
create in terms of outputs,
outcomes and benefits?
14.
15.
16. …..so what?
• Funding proposal approval
– Is your case for approval
convincing?
– Are you showing how your proposal
meets UWS strategy?
17. …..so what?
• Project progress reporting
– Do the reasons for your project still
stack up?
– Can you demonstrate when the
business will start seeing
improvement?
18. ….so what?
• After the project is done
– How successful was the project?
What credit can you claim?
– How can you build on the things
delivered to take things a step
further?
Ben Reardon (ITS Project Management Office)
V1.0 for delivery 20/11/2014 - Project Officers Network, Frogmore House, Werrington North.
0:45 min (end 0:45)
Talk to points
0:30 min (end 1:15)
Talked about our projects at the start of the network.
Projects are a choice – use of resources, opportunity cost. We do them to improve things, either making new ones or better versions of what we have.
How do we describe it?
5:00 min (end 6:15)
Discuss in your tables for a few minutes what your projects are creating.
0:30 min (end 6:45)
Talk to point
0:15 min (end 7:00)
Talk to point
1:30 min (end 8:30)
The air curtain – it separates environments
Talk about how to specify an air curtain
Henry Ford – Talk about the difference between a horse and the idea of better transportation.
2:00 min (end 10:30)
What changes to the target area does your project do?
Who is confident their project will create the changes that management is hoping for? If not, why?
Are we making the things we need to get the changes we want? Are we making the right ones?
Are we making all the things we need? What about things like training? Workload management? Business processes in our area? How people start and finish these processes? What about tools? (Refer slide 16)
0:15 min (end 10:45)
Talk to point
1:00 min (end 11:45)
Benefits fit the SMART principle:
Specific
Measurable
Assignable
Realistic
Time Bound
What sort of numbers apply to your projects?
1:00 min (end 12:45)
Talk to points
0:45 min (end 13:30)
Formal diagram linking the 3 – includes extras we have not considered
0:45 min (end 14:15)
1:00 min (end 15:15)
HR project and linking all 4 points together
1:00 min (end 16:15)
Generic template
1:00 min (end 17:15)
If you create funding proposals, how do you make sure you give yourself the best chance of approval?
1:00 min (end 18:15)
About creating discussions and having the right language
1:00 min (end 19:15)
Who wants to tell the world how awesome their project was? Who wants to have something for their CV or portfolio of work? How can you sell it?
And when you want to do the next bigger and better thing, what can you point to for the reasons why?