For those who need to define a project, an idea, a goal or what is ‘success’, this Guide will enable you to define clear, measurable business end states - the true measures of success. You need to start with the end defined - exactly where you want to get to; what success looks like in clear, specific, measurable terms. Too often projects aim to deliver objectives, goals or outputs which can be ambiguous, unmeasurable or only interim deliverables. This Guide provides two approaches to desired business outcome definition - one-one-one and workshop defined so you can fit the approach to your project. Each outcome statement needs to be validated against 11 simple rules and mapped to determine its dependencies and delivery sequence. Then your outcome statements are used to

• define the associated benefits
• identify and plan the required changes to realize the outcomes
• focus all project and business stakeholders on a common, easily understood set of business outcomes
• align all project activities to the delivery of one or more outcomes
• optimize the cost of the project by eliminating low value/high cost outcomes
• define and control the scope in terms of their outcomes impacts.

When you define your project’s desired business outcomes you change the dynamics of your project - AND reduce the workload with less rework and more business cooperation. Simple.

1. Understanding desired business outcomes
2. Understanding the 11 simple rules for outcome statements
3. Understanding The Value Equation™
4. Understanding the impact of desired business outcomes on your project
5. Understanding the importance of the neuroscience
6. How to generate desired business outcomes one-on-one
7. How to plan the outcomes generation workshop
8. How to run the outcomes generation workshop
9. How to translate workshop goals and objectives into draft desired business outcomes
10. How to validate your desired business outcomes
11. How to generate an ‘outcomes roadmap’
12. How to govern your desired business outcomes
13. How to govern your desired business outcomes roadmap
14. How to manage your portfolio’s desired business outcomes and roadmaps
15. How to finalize your desired business outcomes

• Project team - to learn how to define desired business outcomes and use them as the central focus of the project
• Governance team - to understand how to use these outcomes to direct and control the project and protect its value
• PPMO - to learn how to use desired business outcomes to track the overall direction of the portfolio and ensure there are no duplicating or conflicting projects
• Project Investment Committee/Board - to ensure the strategic intent and contribution of each project is clear and is in alignment with the agreed strategy
• Audit - to enable matching a project’s activities and direction against a set of agreed desired business outcomes

• Ensures your project is focused on and delivers the true business outcomes expected
• Enables both the business and project staff to have common goals, a common language and reference point
• Manages business, stakeholder and project team expectations
• Controls scope changes and thereby reduce any erosion of your project’s value
• Makes clear the true measures of success
• Enables detailed design decisions to be made on the project in alignment with the business’ strategic intent
• Makes clear where the benefits are coming from and how
• Enables all parties to measure progress and success of the project in terms of business outcomes delivered
• Delivers what is truly wanted that, in turn, delivers the desired benefits

The power of outcomes