Benefits Realisation Tracker

Used in STEP 8 STEP 9 STEP 10

A glimpse inside

Preview of the D7 worked example — structure and colouring shown, detail deliberately softened

3 tabs: Cover · blank tool · Meridian worked example. Baseline, target and realised-to-date sit in the same row for every outcome, alongside the owner, the measurement method and the risks to sustainment; RAG status colours automatically.

In a sentence — track whether the outcomes promised at design stage are actually landing and holding, against the same baseline you started with.

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What this tool does

The moment a programme closes is exactly when benefit tracking tends to stop — which is also exactly when a benefit is most likely to quietly erode. This tool is built to keep running past go-live, into Step 10, so ‘realised’ means sustained, not just observed once during hypercare.

Baseline and target sit in the same row as Realised to date, so there's no separate spreadsheet to reconcile against and no way to redefine success partway through by moving the baseline.

WHY THIS HELPS

One row is one outcome, never one activity. ‘Migrated to the new platform’ is an activity; ‘reconciliation exceptions down 40%’ is an outcome. Tracking activities makes a programme look busy; tracking outcomes is the only thing that tells you whether it worked.

READING BASELINE, TARGET AND REALISED TOGETHER

There's no formula column forcing a percentage here on purpose — the three figures sit side by side so you read them in context rather than trust a single derived number. A Realised to date sitting close to Target with Status still amber is a real, common pattern worth naming, not a contradiction to resolve: it usually means the number is real but not yet proven durable — a pilot result, a single good month, a figure that hasn't survived a full reporting cycle yet. That's exactly the gap Status (RAG) is for. An outcome doesn't move to Realised the moment the number is first hit; it moves there once it's held for long enough that Off track or At risk would clearly be the wrong call — which is a judgement this sheet asks you to make explicitly, row by row, rather than automate away.

What's included

D7 · Benefits Realisation Tracker — the blank tool

Ready to complete for your own engagement. Blue-tinted cells are for you to fill in.

Worked example

The same tool completed end to end, using the fictional Meridian Wealth Management scenario — see what ‘done’ looks like before you start your own.

How it's used

A quick walkthrough of the sheet:

Using this tool

1Add one row per outcome — a business result, not an activity that was completed.

2Capture a baseline and a target for each, so realisation can actually be measured against something.

3Name a single owner and the measurement method that will be used to check progress.

4Update Realised to date as evidence comes in, continuing past go-live into Step 10.

5Set Status (RAG) as you go — colours apply automatically — and note any risk to sustainment.

Matches the sheet's own columns exactly: Outcome, Baseline, Target, Owner, Measurement method, Realised to date, Risks to sustainment, Status (RAG).