Benefits Identification and Tracking in the Department of Education and Skills GRAINNE CULLEN PROJECT MANAGEMENT NETWORK 31 MAY 2017
4 Public Service Reform Programme The PSR Programme Office encourages and Office supports common programme and project management structures, governance and methodologies across the Department and the Sector to ensure planning, monitoring and control that are fit for purpose and which The Public Service Reform (PSR) support the Department in delivering on its Programme Office oversees reform agenda. the development and supports the implementation of the Supporting reform related projects and Department’s Action Plan for initiatives through programme and project Education and Integrated management guidance Reform Delivery Plan (IRDP).
1 Where did we start? September 2015 Project purpose and deliverables To develop a process to identify and track benefit as accruing from reform related projects initially for use with the ETB/SOLAS and shared services projects within the PMO portfolio but with a view to wider rollout and application across the projects related to the DES reform programme. The resulting processes, guidelines and register should be incorporated into the Department’s approach to the implementation of the Public Spending Code over time. Process and methodology to identify and track benefits, a guide, conduct pilot (guide and register) with a small number of projects.
4 Some information sources Public Spending Code: http://publicspendingcode.per.gov.ie/ Generic PPM Templates, NICS Centre of Excellence for Delivery, Department of Finance and Personnel, www.dfpni.gov.uk Benefits Realisation Management Framework, Office of Finance and Services, NSW Government, www.finance.nsw.gov.au/publication-and- resources/benefits-realisation-management-framework Benefits Realisation Planning, PWC Performance Monitoring and Evaluation, USAID Centre for Development Information and Evaluation 1996, Number 8, Establishing Performance Targets Realising Benefits – It’s what projects are for! By Gareth Byatt & Jeff Hodgkinson, www.asapm.org
2 How did we progress? Literature and web searches Established a consultative group Management Board, FET, SOLAS, ETBs, PMO, PSR ASec Corporate and Reform, POs and APs with large scale change programmes, Shared Services Project Manager, Sector CEO and Agency representative Other consultation: DPER, CEEU, Reform Delivery Office, ETBI, QQI, LGMA Identification of projects for inclusion in the pilot (DES and Sector)
6 What changed along the way? From Benefits Realisation and Management, to identification and tracking Acknowledge application to Programmes but concentrated at the level of the project initially – Amalgamation of VECs, what benefit? Inclusion of dis-benefits (increased cost; impact on broadband capacity; delay in introducing a related system)
7 Key learnings - compiling the guide Mountains of information – a business in itself! Number of metrics and targets Proportional to size, type and duration What makes a high quality target? To be robust a target should be realistic in terms of being challenging but achievable with the resources available When should benefits identification take place? Prior to the decision on method/intervention so that the intervention that bests achieves the targets is employed Language and culture Use of examples
8 The Process ss Key St Stag ages s Overview The Benefits management process contains 12 sequential steps divided into 5 process areas as outlined below:
9 Key learnings from the pilot Culture shift – acknowledge it’s a new way of working Link to an existing process – embed within the project management templates and PMO guidance documents Scale and type of projects to which it can/should be applied Does the cost of measurement outweigh the benefit? Keep it simple and proportionate Control the number of benefits and the number of metrics per benefit and think about the reliability, use an existing source if at all possible! The role of governance – tying monitoring of implementation to existing project/programme governance Organising measurement beyond the life of the project (KPIs, who?)
10 Identifying Benefits High level benefits. Reduced cost Increased efficiency Improved service For a more policy related project the benefits might be Increased levels of reading proficiency in primary school children Increased level of integration of ICT in teaching and learning
11 Measurable benefits Improve efficiency Reduce costs Improve service Reduced cost per payee Increase the volume Increased access to customer processed by each FTE service Reduced number of staff employed in payroll (number of transactions Decrease in response time processed per FTE) Reduced cost of technology (licensing/maintenance) Decrease cycle time Policy related benefits may (improved processing time) be harder to measure but Staff freed up to work on core might include: mission activities Percentage of 8 year olds with level x or higher proficiency in reading Percentage of teachers reporting daily use of ICT in the classroom
12 Example – establish the SPU Greater number of schools are Greater number of schools are Improved service through receiving details of the range of being provided with appropriate capacity building within the SPU goods and services available to guidance and advice to team them through the contracts and ensure…. networks from the OGP model…Number How: How: How: Monitor number of health checks Monitor the number of Monitor the number of completed, number of leaflet accredited courses and enquiries, print runs information seminars attended Target: Target : Target : Increase baseline by 10% Increase baseline by 10% 2 per annum per staff member annually annually
13 Payroll merger Benefit Benefit Benefit Benefit Method of Data Baseline Measurement End of Description Owner Manager/ Type measurement/Metric Source measurement Target frequency measurement period Tracker Reduction in number of staff running Manser From Reduce by on system Number of people individual 37.9 20% 9 months completion Non running Manser system ETBs of project Financial Cost of people From ETB Reduce by on running Manser system payroll € 2,079,017.68 20% completion Reduction in total cost of project of FTEs running manser Financial system time taken to process Reduce by on payroll from ETBs 181.46 20% Annual completion Increase in efficiency Non directly of project of processing Financial
14 Individual Benefit Record Sheet (Please maintain one sheet for each benefit/disbenefit identified) Individual sheets within the Register Project Title Manser payroll Merge Project Manager Benefit Owner Benefit Manager/Tracker Reduction in number of staff running Benefit code Manser system Benefit Description 1 Benefit/disbenefit Baseline and measurements measurement timeline End of Measurement measurement Measurement Measure Target Action required and by frequency period record Date (Value) (Value) Variance Explanation whom on completion of Baseline 01/02/2014 37.9 30.32 -7.58 Baseline measurement 9 months project Measure no. 1 23/10/2014 33.6 30.32 -3.28 Based on 6 ETB returns - 4 ETB July returns and figures from Oct 14 returns Measure no. 2 30/07/2015 32.95 30.32 -2.63 for 2 ETB who didn’t send July returns Measure no. 3 0
15 Some challenges Avoid maximising benefits in the Business Case to the detriment of examining if the benefits are actually realisable – ignoring risks, assumptions and using best case, double counting, staff time saving without reference to redeployment, overvaluing benefits, failing to account for dis-benefits, ignore costs required to realise the benefit (redundancy payments) etc. Use benefits management to gain insight and feedback and identify emergent or unplanned benefits rather than confining it to backward looking tracking against forecast How can we create a richer picture that informs our understanding of the actual benefits realised – evidence events, surveys, stories, case studies Multiple and uncertain causes – isolating the effect – use a confidence multiplier?
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