Innovators and thought leaders: Michael Kaplan

There’s a wealth of information out there, coming from project management professionals who have established themselves as thought leaders and influencers. One of these influential voices is Michael Kaplan, senior change agent focused on program performance and transforming organizations.

“Michael helped deliver $10 million IT project portfolio for a New York insurance company encompassing ITIL/ITSM re-engineering projects, resulting in 15 percent reduction in service desk tickets over a 1-year period.”

Organisations often fail in implementing their strategies even though they employ project, programme and portfolio management techniques. Benefits Realisation Management (BRM) is a set of processes structured to close the gap between strategy planning and execution by ensuring that planned benefits are realised. However, proving BRM effectiveness can be complex.

Perhaps this in not the best way to start explaining BRM benefits.

As my boss once said: “What can you do, you try and you try and you try.”

90% of CEOs identify communications as critical to the success of their strategic initiatives, according to the Economist. Statistics of failure are shocking:

• Only 2.5 percent of companies successfully complete 100 percent of their projects. [source: Gallup]
• A 73 percent of respondents admit that their proejcts are either always or usually “doomed right from the start,” including 27 percent who always feel this way. [source: Geneca]
• A 17 percent of large IT projects go so badly that they can threaten the very existence of the company. [source: Calleam]
• Only 26 percent of all projects succeed. [source: PMI]
• A 75 percent of respondents lack confidence in project success. Fuzzy business objectives, out-of-sync stakeholders, and excessive rework are key culprits. [source: Geneca]

That’s reasonable since most companies fail to establish proper success metrics to assess success, and without numbers it’s impossible to communicate effectiveness and success to decision-makers. This is where BRM comes to save the day. I found the following presentation from Michael Kaplan very interesting to watch.

Find Michael Kaplan and the most influential people in PM here.

Also have a look at the 21 Shocking Project Management Statistics That Cost Business Owners Millions Each Year:

21 Shocking Project Management Statistics That Cost Business Owners Millions Each Year