On Tuesday 17th June in Bristol the APM South Wales and West of England branch invited Merv Wyeth and Neil White to make a presentaiton entitle 'Benefits and change management - a symbiotic relationship!'. Their presentation involved using an audience engagement tool online and this document represents the audience responses to questions asked by the speakers.

1. Change Management & Benefits Management Audience Comments 2014
1. What would you like to achieve from your attendance at this event?
 Knowledge
 Motivation
 Understanding the inter-relationships between change and benefits
 Networking and awareness
 Learn about benefits and change
 Greater understanding of change process
 A better understanding
 Improve understanding of the relationship between change and benefits management.
 Useful ideas and tools to take back into my day to day role.
 Better knowledge that improves my performance
 Improved understanding
 Greater understanding of change management
 Knowledge
 Inspiration for a MSc thesis
 I was going for B but my finger slipppppppppped
 Better
 Learn more about the change industry.
 Understanding
 An understanding of how change
 Knowledge
 Is age a factor?
 Understanding of Benefits Management
 Enlightenment
 Learn more about the change management industry. Compare what I learn to my
experiences and see what I can apply in my day to day life.
 Increase my general knowledge!!
 Understand key ingredients to help users change.
 A better understanding of change processes
 Understand how to asses and build change ability
 Gain more insight into change and benefits management

2. Change Management & Benefits Management Audience Comments 2014
2. What suggestions do you have to improve benefits realisation on programmes?
 Benefits management needs to be properly resourced at key points in the life-cycle
 Involve your stakeholders in a meaningful way and understand "what makes their heart beat
faster"
 Senior buy-in
 Having a good baseline in the first place
 Better education of stakeholders
 Baseline the now before making the change
 Promote cost reduction
 Realistic expectations at the outset!
 Realistic measures
 Make sure you have an effective business change manager
 Full engagement with staff/employees as well as obvious stakeholders
 The deciders actually listening to the alternative suggestions proposed.
 Stop paying lip service to the idea, but at the same time make the benefits identification
relevant and directly related to outputs and outcomes.
 Clear benefits definition and tracking throughout the programme.
 Clarity on benefits you want to achieve!
 Incentivise benefits owners to ensure that the benefits are delivered.
 Improved accountability. Clear ownership in the business.
 Wider understanding in the organisation. Benefits must be embedded part of programme
approach. On-going measurement and communication.
 A benefit is relative and depends who is looking at it and from what angle. Having a common
reason for, and understanding, of the benefits (that are being sought/driven) will help the
realisation and embedding of change benefits.
 Focus on cash first softer economic ones later
 Need to ensure that users / customers actually want to use the results ... a carrot is better
than a stick!
 Good Communication on a regular basis
 Be very clear on what benefits your organisation is after before you jump into developing a
solution ...
 Apply optimism bias to benefits plan as Full Business Case often over-states benefits in my
experience
 Senior Management to step up and take charge!
 Only together can we make it happen
 Integration of org culture with readiness for change - if the culture isn't there, the change
won’t be.
 Better leadership

3. Change Management & Benefits Management Audience Comments 2014
3. How can project management meetings and events be improved?
 Consider benefits management in stand-alone projects bit just programme level.
 Always set an objective for the meeting
 Make sure the right people are in the room
 Don't try to cover too much
 Clear objectives and outcomes agreed before the meeting. Follow up of actions.
 Bring in APM
 Clear direction of purpose
 Expectation management
 Continuous and regular sessions
 Workshops
 Remove the chairs and coffee
 Ground them within case studies make them less introductory
 Clear and concise agenda
 Clear agenda, appropriate empowerment
 Communicate purpose. Ensure the required people attend. Stick to time.
 Provide short pre reading so we can get into higher level professional learning
 Tea and Biscuits
 Good food (for thought)!
 Using effective facilitation skills and visualisation techniques
 State pre requisite knowledge and experience?
 Correct level of attendance and direction/leadership from the Sponsor
 Planning! What is the objective for the meeting and who do you want to engage with.
 Bring cakes!!!
 Provide pre reading (short) with questions for application to prof practice
 Keep an eye on the brick wall before we hit it!
 The 5 Ps
 All able to participate
Merv Wyeth
18th June 2014