Inside AIMS

Ensuring Success Through Benefits Realization

“It’s common for people to assume that the AIMS Benefits Realization team is somehow related to employee benefits, but it’s not,” noted Nancy Kulbida, Benefits Realization Analyst. “The benefits we are looking at relate to the success of the AIMS project in reaching identified goals.”

The benefits realization team monitors the project's success in meeting objectives | aimsproject.ca

The benefits realization team monitors the project's success in meeting objectives

"It’s common for people to assume that the AIMS Benefits Realization team is somehow related to employee benefits, but it’s not," noted Nancy Kulbida, Benefits Realization Analyst. "The benefits we are looking at relate to the success of the AIMS project in reaching identified goals."

If you think of this in terms of buying a house, it is easy to see why a Benefits Realization team is necessary. The ultimate goal may be to ‘buy a house”, but decisions will need to be made about whether it should be a townhouse, a bungalow, or a two-storey. Regardless of the type of house, you will want to ensure that it has a strong foundation and solid construction. With the fundamental attributes in place, there will be specific features that you will want such as location, number of bedrooms, air conditioning, among others. To achieve your goal, research is required to weigh the most desirable features against cost. In order to obtain the best house for your effort and investment, you will need to be continually assessing whether your fact gathering and decisions are leading toward your goal – the perfect house for your needs both now and into the future. “

There are goals identified at the beginning of any project. Progress toward these identified objectives is measured, but our role also includes assessing the impact of decisions made throughout the project,” said Ian Munro, Benefits Realization Analyst. "The way to get where you want to go is to measure whether there is a benefit to moving in a particular direction, and then monitoring whether the objectives are continuing to be fulfilled even after you’ve achieved the initial goal."

The AIMS Benefits Realization team may not be the most visible or the most vocal, but their role speaks volumes in terms of the success of the AIMS project. They bring vigilance to the task of ensuring that objectives continue to be met as the project journey continues. You might say that there is great benefit in having a Benefits Realization team!

  17-Apr-2019

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