Managing Benefits™ Foundation

Course Description:

The purpose of the APMG International Managing Benefits™ guidance and certification scheme is to provide managers and practitioners from multiple disciplines, working in a variety of organizations, with generally applicable guidance encompassing benefits management principles, practices and techniques. “Managing Benefits” has been carefully designed to complement existing Best Practice in Portfolio, Programme and Project Management such as PRINCE2®, MSP® & MoP®. 

Exam Information

•   Multiple choice format
•    50 questions per paper
•    25 marks or more required to pass (out of 50 available) - 50%
•    40 minutes duration
•    Closed book

Who is this course for? 

The target audience includes all those with a role in ensuring best use of funds by maximizing the benefits realized from change initiatives. This multi-disciplinary group includes:

• Change leaders (e.g. senior responsible owners)
• Change initiators (e.g. strategic planners and policy leads)
• Change appraisers and evaluators
• Change implementers (e.g. programme managers)
• Change support staff (e.g. project office staff)

Module 1 - Managing Benefits Overview

This section covers:

• Definitions, scope and objectives of benefits management
• The Foundation Exam format and structure 
• The nine themes of effective Benefits Management
• Barriers to effective benefits management practice

Module 2 - Managing Benefits Principles

This section covers:

• The seven Benefits Management Principles and their key elements:
• Align benefits with strategy
• Start with the end in mind
• Utilize successful delivery methods
• Integrate benefits with performance management
• Manage benefits from a portfolio perspective
• Apply effective governance
• Develop a value culture

Module 3 - Identifying and Quantifying Benefits

This section covers:

• The objectives and scope of the identify practice
• Benefits and their relation to strategic drivers and investment objectives
• Benefits Mapping and Customer insight
• Quantifying and forecasting benefits

Module 4 - Valuing and Appraising Benefits

This section covers:

• The objectives and scope of the Value and Appraise Practice
• Cost Benefit analysis
• Real options analysis
• Cost effectiveness analysis
• Multi-criteria analysis

Module 5 - Planning Benefits Realisation

This section covers:

• The objectives and scope of the Plan Practice
• Validating and Prioritising 
• Pre-transition activities
• Risk management and Stakeholder Engagement 
• Benefits Documentation, Roles and Responsibilites

Module 6 - Realising Benefits 

This section covers:

• The objectives and scope of the Realise Practice
• Transition management and achieving behavioural change
• Tracking and Reporting Benefits Realisation

Module 7 - Review Benefits Realisation

This section covers:

• The objectives and scope of the Review Practice
• Start Gates and Pre-mortems
• In flight reviews
• Post implementation and Post Investment reviews

Module 8 - Portfolio Based Application of Benefits Management

This section covers:

• The objectives and scope of Portfolio based benefits management
• The six main elements of Portfolio based application
• Benefits Documentation, roles and responsibilites at Portfolio level

Module 9 - Implementing, sustaining and measuring Benefits

This section covers:

• The three broad approaches to implementing benefits management 
• When each approach to implementation is most relevant and the advantages of planned approaches to implementation
• The first ten steps in implementing benefits management
• The factors to consider in sustaining progress

For any further enquires for this course, fill in the contact form below and we will get back to you as soon as possible!