The power of benefits realisations, OKRs and SPM: unlocking project success

Most business cases get written, approved, and then forgotten until finance asks for an update months down the line. By then, it’s hard for anyone to say with confidence whether the project actually delivered on its promises.

PMI research found that organisations with mature benefits realisation practices achieve project success rates almost three times higher than those with low maturity. Rather than treating value as something to assess after the fact, they continuously measure outcomes, validate assumptions, and adjust priorities based on evidence rather than intuition.

This is where benefits realisation management, OKRs, and strategic portfolio management intersect. One assists in defining and measuring value, another maintains focus on the outcomes that matter most, and the third provides the governance needed to make informed investment decisions. Combined,they help organisations move beyond delivering projects and towards consistently delivering value.

Defining benefits realisation

Benefits realisation management focuses on ensuring projects achieve the outcomes outlined in the business case, rather than just completing tasks. It’s a practical process of identifying, planning, tracking and managing the benefits a project is supposed to deliver. In most organisations, this breaks down into four stages:

Identification: When writing the business case, teams define and (ideally) quantify the benefits, for example, cost savings, revenue,productivity, and risk reduction. Most organisations do this part well, because it’s needed for funding.

Planning: Each benefit is given an owner, generally from the business side rather than the project team. A baseline, a target, and a methodto track it are also established. In reality, this stage often receives less attention and resourcing than it requires, so it is rarely completed thoroughly. It is important to distinguish between delivering a capability andachieving a benefit. A capability refers to a new system or process implementedby the project, whereas a benefit is the positive outcome that results fromeffectively using that capability. For example, delivering a new CRM system ontime represents a capability, but this does not guarantee the benefit ofimproved sales productivity will be realised.

Transition: This is when accountability for the benefitmoves from the project team to the business owner. It’s the stage most oftenskipped or rushed. If this handover isn’t managed well, there’s a real riskthat benefits will be forgotten, under-tracked, or never fully realised. Asmooth transition helps the business owner clearly understand their role inproviding the benefit. It also ensures they have the necessary tools,information, and support to succeed.

Sustainment/review: The benefit is tracked againstits baseline for months or years after project closure, with a defined point atwhich it is declared realised, partially realised, or not realised.

The important thing to remember is that a business case isjust a prediction, not a result. Saying a project will increase customerretention by 8% at the start doesn’t mean it actually will. Benefitsrealisation is about checking what really happened and taking action if thingsgo off track.

Understanding OKRs

OKRs (Objectives and Key Results) are a simple way to setgoals. The Objective is a clear, ambitious statement of what you want toachieve something you can remember and rally around, not just a number. KeyResults are two to four specific, time-bound measures that show if you’remaking progress. Think of the objective as the destination and the key resultsas the dashboard that tells you how you’re tracking.

The main focus is on cadence: OKRs are typically establishedand assessed each quarter, allowing big goals to be divided into achievable,short-term actions.

OKRs aren’t the same as KPIs. KPIs track how things arerunning day-to-day, such as the customer churn rate. OKRs are about makingprogress on goals that aren’t yet business as usual, for example, reducingchurn from 12% to 8% this quarter by doing specific things. That’s why OKRswork well for benefits realisation: they give you regular checkpoints forlong-term targets.

Overview of Strategic Portfolio Management (SPM)

Strategic Portfolio Management (SPM) is the newest of thesethree disciplines and matters most to PMOs. In plain terms, it's about creatinga portfolio of investments that aligns with the strategy, rather than managingand allocating resources to individual projects separately.

In practice, SPM takes traditional Project PortfolioManagement (PPM) beyond annual resourcing and towards a continuous evaluationof which investments best support organisational strategy. What sets SPM apartis its ongoing oversight and evidence-based decision-making, replacing the oldpattern of annual planning cycles.

Research from Gartner highlights the impact of effective SPM,finding that organisations with mature SPM capabilities are twice as likely toachieve better business outcomes[2].Rather than relying on annual planning cycles and static investment decisions,these organisations continually assess performance, rebalance priorities, andensure resources remain aligned with strategic objectives.

The interconnection of benefits realisation, OKRs, and SPM

How SPM supports benefits realisation

Most teams track benefits at the project level: one businesscase, one set of benefits to follow. But the real difference comes from how anorganisation acts on what the data reveals. That’s where strategic portfolio-levelthinking comes in.

If a project’s benefits are better than expected, you mightwant to speed up related work or invest more. If benefits fall short, it couldbe time to re-scope, pause, or even stop the project and shift capitalelsewhere. These are portfolio decisions, and they need up-to-date benefit dataat the point of funding and prioritisation. SPM is built to ensure benefit datais used in these decisions, not just filed away in reports.

Role of OKRs in aligning with benefits

Benefits data often doesn’t make it into portfolio reviewsbecause the timing doesn’t line up. Benefits are usually long-term, realisedmonths or years after the project ends, but portfolio reviews happen regularly,often every quarter. There’s usually no simple way to turn those long-termgains into something useful for today’s decisions. However, this is where OKRshelp close that gap. Rather than waiting 18 months to determine whether you'vereduced customer churn by 8%, consider setting quarterly key results to trackearly indicators of progress. That way, you get timely data for portfolioreviews and can act quickly if things are off track or double down if you’reahead.

Enhancing project success through benefits realisation

Importance of clear objectives

Vague benefits are the main reason for early failure inbenefits realisation. Expressions such as "improve customerexperience" or "increase efficiency" can’t be tracked, owned ormeasured; they don’t have a baseline or clear criteria. Every benefit needs tobe specific enough that anyone looking at it would agree whether it’s beenachieved. That clarity must be set in the business case, because vague benefitsonly get fuzzier as projects move forward.

Measuring success with OKRs

Once you’ve nailed down a clear benefit, OKRs give you a wayto measure progress over the long haul. Instead of waiting until the end for asingle assessment, quarterly key results provide regular evidence of progress.This moves reporting away from just schedule and budget updates and letsstakeholders see how benefits are tracking in real time.

Implementing effective OKRs for better outcomes

Setting SMART objectives

OKRs work best when the objective is qualitative andaspirational, and the key results are built using SMART criteria: specific,measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound. For example, "improveonboarding" isn’t enough, but "reduce new-customer onboarding timefrom 14 to 7 days by end of Q3" ticks all the boxes. This discipline keepsOKRs from getting vague and losing their impact.

Tracking progress and outcomes

Effectively tracking OKRs involves three key elements:having one person responsible for each key result (rather than a team),establishing a regular review schedule (either quarterly or monthly, dependingon the item's risk), and ensuring there is a clear score visible at everycheckpoint, instead of just marking it as done. OKRs often struggle when trackingis done manually and sporadically, rather than being incorporated into regularportfolio or delivery reviews. The discipline works best when it fits into thereview cycles you already have.

Next Steps: turn benefits data into better decisions

Connecting benefits realisation, OKRs and SPM does notrequire a complete overhaul of your existing processes. A practical startingpoint is to bring benefits into the conversations already taking place,particularly portfolio reviews, and consider them alongside delivery status,cost and risk. This creates a clearer view of whether investments are simplyprogressing or are genuinely moving the organisation closer to its strategicobjectives.

Start with one upcoming portfolio review and select a smallnumber of active investments. Confirm the intended benefits, assign clearownership, and identify the quarterly measures that will indicate whether thosebenefits are on track. From there, decision-makers can use the evidence todetermine where to continue investing, where to adjust course and whereresources may create greater value elsewhere.

When these disciplines work together, the business casebecomes more than a funding document. It becomes the starting point for anongoing cycle of measuring outcomes, learning from performance and makingbetter-informed investment decisions. That is how organisations move fromdelivering projects to consistently delivering value.

Book a free demo to see how Altus can help connect strategy,investments and outcomes, giving decision-makers the visibility they need toact with confidence.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

What is benefits realisation management?

Benefits realisation management focuses on ensuring thatprojects achieve the outcomes specified in the business case. It involvesidentifying, planning, tracking, and managing the anticipated benefitsthroughout the project lifecycle.

How do OKRs contribute to project success?

Objectives and Key Results (OKRs) are a goal-settingframework that helps organisations set clear objectives and measure progressthrough specific, time-bound key results. They facilitate regular check-ins andaccountability, ensuring that teams stay aligned with their goals.

What is Strategic Portfolio Management (SPM)?

Strategic Portfolio Management (SPM) involves managing aportfolio of investments in alignment with organisational strategy. Itemphasises continuous evaluation of investment performance rather than relyingon annual planning cycles, enabling better decision-making based on evidenceand data.

How are benefits realisation, OKRs, and SPMinterconnected?

Benefits realisation management provides data on projectoutcomes, OKRs offer checkpoints for measuring progress, and SPM ensures thatthis information is incorporated into investment decisions. Together, they helptransform project success from theoretical predictions into measurableachievements.

Why are clear objectives important for benefitsrealisation?

Clear, specific objectives are critical for tracking andmeasuring benefits. Vague goals can lead to confusion and unsuccessfuloutcomes. Establishing well-defined objectives in the business case ensuresthat everyone involved understands the desired results.

How can organisations effectively implement OKRs?

To implement OKRs effectively, organisations shouldestablish SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, time-bound)objectives, assign responsibility for each key result to an individual, andmaintain a regular review schedule to track progress.

What are the key takeaways for improving projectoutcomes?

1. A     business case serves as a prediction; benefits realisation assesses if     that prediction is accurate.
2. OKRs     address the challenge of tracking long-term benefits by providing     quarterly checkpoints.
3. SPM     leverages benefit data to inform decisions about funding and project     status.
4. Successful     organisations connect these disciplines to enhance overall value delivery.

[1] PMI Reports on Success Rates in Project Management |MPUG

[2] Effective Strategic Portfolio Management Drives Better Outcomes

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