I’ve sat in too many steering committees where no one asks the most important question:
“Are we still on track to enable the benefits we committed to?”
We talk about timelines. Budgets. Risks. The usual suspects. But the value? The reason we launched the project in the first place? Crickets. . .
It’s not that we’re bad at defining benefits. They show up early in business cases, charters, strategy decks. But then they quietly disappear. Buried under dashboards and delivery metrics until someone goes digging for them at the finish line. By then, it’s too late.
The truth is: benefits aren’t something you realize at the end, they’re something you enable (or erode) every week during execution. And if you’re not tracking that enablement in your status reports and steering committee discussions, you’re not actually managing for value.
Let’s talk about how to change that.
We Define Benefits, Then We Ignore Them
It starts with good intentions. We spend time building a compelling business case. Maybe we partner with Finance. We talk to end users. We anchor our projects in the “why.” But once we get the green light? Delivery takes over. And the benefits, the very outcomes that justified the investment take a back seat.
Here’s what that looks like in practice:
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Status reports that only show % complete, not value enabled.
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Steering committees focused on red/yellow/green, not strategic alignment.
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Teams rewarded for closing milestones, not enabling impact.
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No early warnings when a project drifts away from its benefit path.
This disconnect creates what I call the “visibility gap.” The time between when a benefit is defined and when someone asks about it again often at project closure or after. The gap can last months. Even years. And during that time, we make hundreds of decisions on scope, resourcing, sequencing, priorities, that shape whether those benefits ever see the light of day.
Let's Get Clear on Language
If we’re going to manage benefits during execution, we need to speak the same language. I see these terms used interchangeably, but they’re not the same:
🟢 Benefits Enablement
This is about creating the conditions needed for a benefit to be realized. Think adoption, capability, readiness, not the actual ROI yet.
Example: Rolling out a new system is output. Training users and integrating it into daily work is enablement.
🟢 Benefits Realization
This is when the actual, measurable value shows up, financial savings, improved customer experience, faster processing time, etc. Usually measured post-implementation.
Example: A 15% reduction in processing time three months after go-live.
🟢 Benefits Tracking
This is the ongoing monitoring of whether we’re still on course to enable those outcomes. It's proactive, not retrospective.
Example: Weekly check-ins on system usage, adoption readiness, or early behavior change.
When we only focus on realization at the end, we miss the thousands of signals during delivery that tell us whether we're actually heading there.
Why Do We Lose Sight of Benefits During Execution?
It’s not because PMO leaders don’t care. It’s because we’re wired and often incentivized to focus on delivery mechanics: schedule, budget, scope. That’s what gets reported. That’s what gets escalated.
Here are a few root causes I’ve seen again and again:
⚠️Templates Don’t Ask the Right Questions
Most status reports are time/scope/cost centric. Benefits? Maybe a mention in the charter and a checkbox in a post-implementation review.
⚠️ “It’s the Business’s Job”
There’s often an unspoken rule: the project team delivers, the business realizes value. But if we don’t build in enablement, we hand over a shiny solution no one is ready to use.
⚠️ No Operational KPI for Benefits Progress
Without a metric or visibility, benefits fall into the “nice to have” category. No one raises a flag when benefit risks emerge because they’re not being monitored in the first place.
⚠️ Steering Committees Are Crisis-Driven
They zero in on red RAGs and escalations. Value conversations get crowded out by firefighting.
What Should We Be Tracking?
If we want to make benefits visible during execution, we need to track the right signals and do it consistently.
Here’s what I recommend building into your reporting cadence, these aren’t just project metrics, they’re value signals:
✅ Progress Against Enablers
- Track the things that need to happen for the benefit to be possible.
- Are stakeholders trained and ready?
- Are behavior changes underway?
- Is the system fully integrated?
- Have key dependencies been met?
✅ Threats to Benefit Delivery
- Not all risks are technical. These are the ones that impact whether the value still makes sense.
- Has the business context changed?
- Has a scope cut undermined the benefit?
- Is adoption lagging behind?
✅ Leading Indicators of Value
- You won’t have ROI yet but you can track early signs.
- Usage and login stats.
- Feedback from pilot groups.
- Readiness checklist completion.
- Business unit engagement levels.
Where to Track: Two High-Leverage Places
➡️ Status Reports
This is your weekly heartbeat. Add a dedicated Benefit Enablement section right next to your RAGs.
What to include:
This table isn’t fancy but it forces the conversation into the room. It’s also helpful for the project manager. It connects tasks to impact.
➡️ Steering Committee Agendas
These groups want to protect value, but they don’t have time to chase it.
Make it easy:
- Include “Benefit Risk” as a standing item (not just issues log)
- Show how decisions (like deferring training or cutting features) affect benefit delivery
- Use visuals to link delivery to outcomes
Ask this question out loud: “Are we still on track to enable the benefits we committed to?” If the answer is “We’re not sure,” that’s your signal to dig deeper.
Common Pitfalls (and How to Avoid Them)
Even when teams start tracking benefits during execution, a few things can derail the effort:
❌ Treating Benefits Like Lagging KPIs
Waiting for results at the end of the project. By then, the opportunity to course-correct is gone.
❌ Relying Solely on Financial Metrics
Not all benefits are dollars. Look at time saved, customer satisfaction, error reduction, employee experience. Broaden your definition.
❌ Keeping the Business Owner Out
If the person accountable for the benefit isn’t part of the status conversation, you're missing half the picture. Bring them in early.
❌ Letting the Business Case Get Dusty
Conditions change. If the benefit is no longer valid, update the business case—not just the delivery plan. It’s okay to evolve, but make it visible.
Let’s Stop Measuring Value After It’s Too Late
PMOs are more than project trackers. We’re stewards of value. That means we need to ask the hard questions during delivery, not just at the end. We need to connect our schedules, risks, and scope changes to the benefits we promised. And we need to give our executives something better than “on time and on budget.” Because no one funds a project just to finish it. They fund it to get something from it. And it’s our job to protect that “something” all the way through.
If your PMO isn’t tracking benefits enablement, it’s not really tracking delivery success. Let’s change that. Learn how our PMO Maturity Assessment can help you operationalize value tracking from day one.
Or just reach out here. I’m always open to talking through what might work for your team.
