Presented by Jenni Jepsen

Abstract:

Communicating the benefits of your project out to the organization will help you get the results you desire.

Often project leaders—even Agile project leaders—talk about their projects or processes in terms of features. It’s not their fault, the users do the same. ”We need faster processes, better user interfaces, more efficient, system-supported workflows.” Yes, but what do these things mean for the end-users? What’s in it for them? And what does it mean for your organization as a whole?

Features are what your system or process can do. Benefits are why people care. This thought-provoking and interactive workshop focuses on how to communicate benefits rather than features—and what it will mean for you, your team and your project.

Communicating in terms of benefits rather than focusing on features can help you:

• Gain greater visibility and attention from the organization
• Increase the likelihood of getting more funding
• Attract the most talented people to your project
• Get more power to change your work environment and influence your work life
• Receive recognition for you and your team
• Improve perceived results
• Create stronger relationships with stakeholders

We’ll look at three key areas around communicating benefits to help you as the project leader create even greater business value:

1. Strategic—how to align with goals
a. How does your project support the organization’s strategic goals?
b. How does your project fit in the organization overall?
c. How to find out what the goals are if you don’t already know
2. Messaging—how to create meaning for your stakeholders
a. What’s in it for your stakeholders?
b. What’s a benefit and why does it matter?
c. Questioning until you get to the benefit
3. Connecting—how to build more trust
a. Why involve and engage stakeholders in your project
b. The importance of creating relationships that help your project
c. How to make your project’s benefits more visible

Note: the number of participants for this session is limited to 40

Format and length:

Intended audience and prerequisites:

This session is useful for all participants and no special preparation or experience is required.

Objective(s) of the session:

• Know the difference between a feature and a benefit
• Be able to communicate in terms of benefits—no matter what the situation or obstacle
• Learn more ways to communicate the benefits of your project out to the organization
• Gain tips on how to challenge your users’ requirements by focusing on benefits

Benefits for participants and presenter(s):

Participants will learn a new way to shape their messages that will improve perceptions of their leadership ability, and increase perceived results. Simply put: stakeholders will begin to think differently about the project, and the ability to get to the real requirements increases.

Benefits for the presenter: I get to take what I do each day with my own clients and teach others how to do it with theirs. And I will have the benefit of all the brilliant minds at XP Benelux who will give me feedback to continuously improve the work I do.