The Role of Benefits Owner in Effective Benefits Management

In the Project Management (PM) literature debates on Benefits Management (BM), the benefits owner has emerged as one of the key roles (Patanakul et al. 2016, Zwikael et al. 2019). However, there is still a visible lack of clarity in the PM literature and practice, as to who should be the benefits owner and what are the responsibilities of this role. The findings of a doctoral research on the applicability of BM in the Australian Public Sector organizations (PSOs), identified the lack of clarity around benefits ownership and the benefits owner’s role is seriously inhibiting benefits management in the case organizations. This study also found that poor benefits ownership is also directly linked to ineffective project/program governance, as the benefits owner plays important role as the Senior Responsible Officer/Owner (SRO) in project assurance and gate reviews. This paper looks at the role of the benefits owner in the PM literature, PM methodologies, impressions, and observations of the PM practitioners in PSOs and how this role can enhance benefits management in the public sector.