Managing Benefits™ Foundation and Practitioner Certificate Course

Benefits Management is a concept that many organisations today struggle with. Who should be accountable for benefits, including their realisation? Often benefits are seen as the domain of project management. It is not usually during the project that benefits are realised – generally it is after the project has been delivered, once the deliverables of that project have been embedded into the business and operational use that we hope to see benefits accruing. This may be months (or even years) after the closure of the project.

This course, based on the APMG guide Managing Benefits^™, focuses on the management of benefits from change initiatives that are delivered via formalised project and programme management methods. Collectively these initiatives form the organisation’s change portfolio.

Foundation Course Objectives

• To provide managers and practitioners from multiple disciplines, working in a wide variety of organisations, with generally applicable guidance encompassing benefits management principles, practices and techniques
• To prepare participants for the Managing Benefits^™ Foundation Examination

Practitioner Course Objectives

To prepare participants for the Managing Benefits^™ Practitioner Examination.

The Practitioner course prepares participants to undertake and pass the Managing Benefits Practitioner Examination.  The Practitioner level qualification aims to measure whether the candidate has sufficient knowledge and understanding of the managing benefits guidance to apply and tailor it to a given scenario situation.

The course also includes review, consolidation of concepts and exam questions for the Practitioner level certification.

Please note that the Practitioner course is an examination preparation course and focuses on the application of Managing Benefits to prepare candidates for the Practitioner examination.

Course Summary

At Foundation level, the course helps participants to:

• Explain Benefit Management – what it is, the case for doing it, and some common misconceptions that can limit its effectiveness in practice
• Describe the seven principles upon which successful benefits management practices are built, and examples of how they can be/have been applied in practice
• Details of the five practices in the Benefits Management Cycle relating to individual change initiatives, and examples of how they can be/have been applied in practice
• Provide guidance on how to apply benefits management at a collective or portfolio level encompassing all projects and programmes included in the change portfolio
• Understand how to get started in implementing effective benefits management practices and how to measure and sustain progress
• Foundation exam preparation and exam

The Practitioner course builds on the Foundation course and focuses reviewing of the nine syllabus areas, including:

• Principles of benefits management
• Benefits Management Cycle (Identify and quantify, Value and appraise, Plan, Realise, Review)
• Portfolio-based benefits management
• Implement and sustain progress in the adoption of benefits management
• Understanding how to apply and tailor the Managing Benefits guidance in a scenario situation

A successful Practitioner candidate should, with suitable support, be able to advise on the implementation of appropriate practices and techniques and apply these practices and techniques in a live organizational context, but may not be sufficiently skilled to do this appropriately for all situations. Their individual expertise, the complexity of the organisational context, and the support provided will also influence the impact the practitioner can achieve.

Foundation Certification

The purpose of the Foundation qualification is to confirm that a candidate has sufficient knowledge and understanding of benefits management principles, practices and techniques to work effectively in a range of benefits management roles.

The course includes the Managing Benefits Foundation Examination which consists of:

• 50 multiple choice questions
• 50% pass mark (25/50)
• 40 minutes duration
• Closed book

Practitioner Certification

By completing the Practitioner course you will have sufficient knowledge to sit the Managing Benefits Practitioner Examination. Please note: a pass in the Foundation examination is a prerequisite to sitting the Practitioner examination.

The Practitioner examination consists of:

• 8 questions, sub-divided into parts
• Uses objective test questions, which require you to choose a response to a question from a set of choices for which the correct answer is pre-determined
• The pass mark is 50% (40/80)
• The exam is a maximum 2.5 hours (150 minutes) duration

Please note the examination is taken on the afternoon of the course, and papers sent away for scoring.

The Managing Benefits qualification is valid for 5 years. Practitioners should re-register within 3-5 years of their original certification in order to demonstrate their commitment to professional development.

APMG International administers the Managing Benefits^™ examination scheme.

Foundation and Practitioner Exams

The Facilitation exams are undertaken during the course as follows:

• Foundation Examination: is undertaken on the afternoon of day 3 of the Foundation course
• Practitioner Examination: is undertaken taken on the afternoon of day 2 of the Practitioner course