Benefits Statement for a Project Management Office

Prepare Benefits Statement

After performing the initial assessment, a benefits statement is prepared. The benefits statement identifies both the financial and non-financial benefits of resolving the organizational project management problems identified. For each problem, it estimates the value to be realized by solving the problem and therefore, moving the organization from its current state to the desired state specified.

The benefits statement is prepared in two tables, one defining benefits that can be estimated, and the other defining benefits that either cannot be estimated or cannot be stated in financial terms. Examples follow:

The tables can be supplemented by a bulleted list or sections in which the financial and non-financial value realized by closing each gap is defined and justified.

Time period used

The time period in the example above is the first year of operations. The time period for each PMO business case should be selected based on the priorities of the executives who will decide whether or not to launch the PMO. Ask the executives how soon they want to see a return on investment (ROI) from the PMO, and present the business case accordingly.

The inclusion of a cost budget

Very often, the benefits to be realized from opening a small PMO clearly exceed costs, and a cost budget does not have to be prepared in the business case before the PMO charter and funding request are prepared. However, there are exceptions to this rule, as follows:

• Some organizations require a cost budget and perhaps also a statement of ROI
• If the PMO will be large and expensive, then it may not be clear that value will exceed cost. In that case, a budget should be prepared.

In either of these cases, you can prepare an initial cost budget for the PMO. To prepare this budget, read the page Secure Funding and use the Budget template provided.