Benefits map is a technique of visual representation the links between overall business goals and project deliverables. It serves to show what the true value and benefits of a certain project really are. By taking project goals and depicting them in a visual manner, a benefits map makes those goals easy to understand and simple to track as the project progresses.
A properly designed benefits map will act as the GPS of the projects, guiding you through the development process and plotting the necessary steps for the journey to reach its desired destinations. It can provide real-time feedback to keep everyone moving in the right direction and working towards a common goal.
Ideally, a benefits map should be designed before the project has even started. Waiting until the process has already started will likely diminish its value and ability to provide guidance for all stakeholders involved. A timely created benefits map can give early warnings if there’s a threat to benefits realisation and provide development teams with an opportunity to address those issues and keep the project on track.
The process of benefits mapping itself communicates to the organisation what key benefits are expected to be achieved in a particular project. Through the mapping process, these benefits can be discussed and adjusted so they best reflect the organisational strategic goals. Once the benefits map is defined, it should demonstrate how the project results will lead to those benefits and what activities and procedures should be undertaken for the benefits to be realised
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Simply put, benefits mapping should provide an organisation with an answer to why a certain program or project should be implemented. As the success of the project will be, in part, measured by the delivered benefits, the benefits map should indicate whether a project is worth undertaking in the first place.
If the mapping process shows that there is no significant probability of achieving benefits or that the potential costs are higher than the value of benefits; there’s not much justification for a project to be executed. So, by conducting the benefits mapping process, the organisation will not only identify the benefits that a project can deliver but also learn their value and use the map as a monitoring tool throughout the product’s life cycle.
