The value of projects and programmes

In some organisations, and in some learned publications, it is argued that programmes alone deliver benefit, with projects delivering only the new capability that the organisation can subsequently utilise to create benefit. Where the managed change being undertaken is a goal-oriented programme, this distinction is perfectly valid and useful; but many people are involved in managing projects that are not overtly part of some larger scheme. We argue that in those situations, failing to focus on benefits in addition to delivering capability is actually taking the chance that a successful project will be a business failure.