Benefits Management for local government
Benefits management is a structured way of being clear about why work is being undertaken, what change is intended, and how progress and impact will be understood over time.
It helps translate strategy and strategic objectives into decisions and prioritised work that can be clearly explained, aligned and learned from.
Benefits management supports organisations to:
clarify the outcomes initiatives are intended to achieve
understand how proposed work contributes to strategic objectives
establish a stronger basis for prioritisation and decision-making, aligned to strategic objectives
build confidence in how initiatives are framed before delivery effort is committed
The focus is on improving the quality of thinking and decisions that sit underneath existing governance, planning and delivery processes.
Benefits management is particularly valuable when organisations are implementing or refreshing strategy, navigating multiple priorities and competing investments, and seeking stronger alignment between strategy, delivery and reporting.
The approach
Developing an approach to benefits management is grounded in the organisation’s context and current ways of working.
Typically, it involves building a shared understanding of how decisions and priorities are currently shaped, clarifying the change and benefits being sought, and supporting leaders and teams to align decisions and delivery accordingly.
Support is tailored to organisational context, maturity and need, and may include:
strengthening how strategy, priorities and benefits are described
clarifying organisation outcomes and benefit categories to support consistent decision-making
how to embed benefits thinking into strategy, planning, project or program lifecycles
facilitating collective conversations to shape how benefits management works and is embedded
supporting leaders and teams to apply benefits thinking in real decisions
The emphasis is on improving clarity and confidence in decision-making, using guidance and artefacts that fit existing governance, planning and delivery frameworks.
Let’s align decisions to outcomes
The shift organisations can see from introducing benefits thinking is from delivering work, to deliberately delivering outcomes.
Leaders have a stronger line of sight between strategy and delivery, teams are clearer on the change they are working towards, and conversations about priorities, trade-offs and value become more grounded and consistent over time.