A Benefits Review Plan is produced and approved, alongside the Business Case, during project initiation.
Where benefits are achieved during a project, they are reviewed at stage boundaries, i.e. in the course of authorizing a Stage or Exception Plan and authorizing project closure.
The Benefits Review Plan is updated and approval reaffirmed by the Project Board.
It is usually the case that the majority of the project’s benefits will not be realized until after the project is closed.
In such cases, the Benefits Review Plan will include activities to be performed post-project either by corporate or programme management.
Those resources are not under the control of the Project Board.
However, it is the responsibility of the Executive to ensure that the Benefits Review Plan includes any required post-project reviews and that corporate or programme management commits to undertaking them.
The Project Manager should prepare a Benefits Review Plan during project initiation.
Then, during project delivery, the Project Manager implements the approved Benefits Review Plan.
The plan is updated at stage boundaries to cover any benefits achievements, revised forecasts and/or changes approved by the Project Board.
Performance in relation to the Benefits Review Plan is summarized in the End Stage Reports and then reviewed by the Project Board members when they authorize a Stage or Exception Plan.
Benefits achievements are also included in the End Project Report, at which point the Project Manager finalizes the post-project activity in the Benefits Review Plan for the Project Board’s consideration when authorizing project closure.
As the project is disbanding at this point, it is important that responsibilities for post-project benefits management are agreed and included in the plan.
All references above are in Directing Successful Projects with PRINCE2® unless stated otherwise.
PRINCE2® is a Registered Trade Mark of the Office of Government Commerce in the United Kingdom and other countries.