Beyond the iron triangle: why benefits are the golden thread of project success

Walk into almost any large organisation and you’ll see them: projects which were delivered to time, quality and budget that end up gathering dust. You’ll see programmes whose hard-won changes are unpicked a year later. And portfolios struggling to show how they’re actually moving the organisation towards its strategic goals.

We’ve all felt that frustration. It’s the result of a stubborn gap between strategy and execution, where different layers of project, programme and portfolio management (P3M) work in silos, sometimes even pulling in contradictory directions. The very discipline designed to prevent this – benefits management – is too often misunderstood or treated as a tick-box exercise.

But what if there was a way to weave these separate strands together? There is. benefits management, when properly understood and applied, provides the ‘golden thread’ that integrates all our P3M activities, giving them a shared purpose and a common language: value.

Governing for value, not just for process

Traditional governance sometimes misses the point. It can get focused on whether the process is being followed – are the reports green? Were the meetings held? – that it forgets to ask the most important question: “Are we on track to deliver the intended value?” It’s a result of this that we end up with technically successful projects that are organisational failures.

A benefits-led approach, as outlined in the British Standard BS 202002, shifts the focus of governance from process compliance to the achievement of the organisation’s objectives. Key decisions are framed around value:

Stage gates: We don’t just ask “Did we deliver the last stage on budget and within tolerance?”. We ask, “Is the forecast for benefit realisation still strong enough to justify continuing this investment?"

Change control: Changes aren’t just assessed on their impact to the schedule. A change that adds cost but significantly enhances benefits might be exactly the right thing to do. Changes can be considered together – will a change in Project A mean that Project B is no longer needed?

Prioritisation: Within a portfolio, projects are prioritised based on their contribution to strategic benefits, not just on who shouts the loudest.

A common language that motivates everyone

One of the biggest hurdles to any project is getting stakeholders on board. Resistance to change is natural, unless people can see a clear advantage for them, or at least a clear advantage without additional risk for someone. Benefits management is the ultimate tool for this. By defining the specific benefits for each stakeholder group, we answer that all-important question: What’s in it for me? (WIIFM)

For sponsors: Benefits management justifies the investment and demonstrates strategic alignment.

For operational managers: It gives them a compelling reason to champion the change in their teams, framed in terms of efficiency, cost reduction, or improved capability.

For end-users: It shows them how the change will make their jobs easier or help them achieve outcomes they care about.

For project teams: It provides a sense of purpose beyond tasks and milestones, fostering morale and proactive problem-solving.

Connecting the dots from portfolio to project

Benefits management creates a clear line of sight, illuminating downwards from strategy to action and feeding performance data back up to inform decisions.

The portfolio sets the strategic goals in the form of desired benefits. For organisations that don’t have portfolios, the investment board or senior management team manages what is effectively a portfolio of change work – programmes, projects and other related work. Programmes within the portfolio are then commissioned to deliver these benefits between them. Projects, in turn, deliver the specific outputs required to enable the changes that lead to those benefits. Techniques like benefits mapping are essential for visualising these connections, ensuring a project’s scope is explicitly tied to the value it’s meant to create.

This creates a virtuous cycle. Project reporting includes lead indicators that give early warnings if benefits are at risk. This data aggregates up to the programme and portfolio, allowing leadership to make informed, adaptive decisions to keep the entire portfolio on track to deliver value. At the same time, those working on the project and those who will be subject to the changes that the project will bring about will be inspired to see WIIFM, reducing obstacles and motivating everyone.

Your call to action

Integrating our P3M world isn’t just a nice idea; it’s essential for delivering real, lasting change. By placing benefits at the heart of our practice, we can move beyond delivering outputs to realising true organisational success.

So, take a look at your current project. Can you clearly articulate the ‘why’ behind your work? Can your stakeholders? If not, it’s time to start weaving that golden thread.

To explore these concepts in greater detail, with practical examples and case studies, read the full supporting article in the Project Management World Journal. And more importantly, start a conversation in your team today about how you can shift your focus from process to value.