Guides – ValueSpoc

Taking a baseline that holds up later

Why the before value comes first

At the end of an initiative someone asks what it achieved. The answer needs a comparison value from before, and that only exists at the start. What is added later from memory can hardly be evidenced.

Record a benefit as a change

Record a benefit as a difference. Four hours less effort per report is a benefit, six hours per report only describes the state. The difference matters as soon as several benefits are combined. Changes can be added up and say something about the effect.

Keep the difference apart from absolute levels

For the difference you need a baseline and later measurements that refer to it. Also note the absolute level before and the target, so a reader can judge the scale. These figures are for readability and belong in no sum.

Set your share in advance

A change usually has several causes. Decide before the start which share you attribute to this initiative, and justify it in one sentence. A share set only at the end is hard to justify.

The measurement rule before the first measurement

Write down who measures, where the figure comes from and at what cadence. If the method changes, the change mostly shows the new method. A monthly cadence suits many steering measures, short enough to react and with manageable effort.

In ValueSpoc

In ValueSpoc a benefit is recorded as a change against its baseline. The level before and the target level sit beside it and enter no sum. Attribution share with its reason, measurement cadence and next measurement due are fields of the benefit, and the source is recorded with each measurement.

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What a realisation index computes

A ratio against the target

The realisation index relates evidenced benefit to planned benefit. For each benefit the achieved change is compared with the planned change, both from the baseline, and the ratios are combined with weights. Euros, hours and percentage points sit in one figure without conversion.

Where things should stand today

An initiative with late benefits stays low against its final target for a long time, and as long as that matches the plan it is no warning sign. So also compare with what should have arrived by today. That comparison shows whether the initiative is on course.

A benefit that is due and unevidenced counts as open

If a benefit without a measurement drops out of the calculation, the index rises although nothing is evidenced. After its due date, count it at zero per cent and show it as open until it is measured. A benefit that can only start with a milestone is not due before it.

What a robust index looks like

Next to the figure stands how many benefits were measured and how many are due and open. A new measurement can also lower the index. It becomes traceable when every value opens the benefits and their ratios behind it.

In ValueSpoc

ValueSpoc computes the realisation index against the end target and counts benefits whose target date passed without a measurement as open. The RAG status also compares with the course planned to date. On the benefit dashboard and the PMO dashboard the calculation can be opened benefit by benefit.

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A decision record that still helps a year later

What the record is for

A year later someone asks why an initiative is cut the way it is. The people involved may have moved on. If the reasons are on record, you can check whether they still hold.

The alternatives belong in it

Record which options were on the table and why one of them was chosen. Without that, a decision later reads as a matter of course, and the question whether the situation has changed no longer comes up. Two or three seriously considered options are enough.

The strongest counter-argument

Write down the strongest argument against the decision, without a name next to it, so it is read on its merits later. Also note what would have to happen for the decision to prove wrong, and what damage would follow.

A review date

Decisions under uncertainty need a date on which they are examined again. Until then the underlying assumption serves as the working basis. On the review date it is checked whether it held.

Recording afterwards

Decisions are often taken in conversation and recorded afterwards. That is common and should remain possible. What matters is that the decision date and the recording date are both visible and that later changes stay traceable.

In ValueSpoc

In the ValueSpoc decision record, alternatives, counter-argument, downside scenarios and review date are fields of their own. The decision date is set freely when the entry is created, and the detail view shows beside it when the entry was recorded. Changes and deletions are kept in the audit log with the state before and after.

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Producing a board report from the ongoing work

The figures come from the work

Milestones, budget, financial value, open risks and pending decisions are already recorded in day-to-day steering. The report reads that data directly. Copying it by hand creates a second version that drifts further with every change.

A person owns the judgement

In the summary, agenda and next steps, the project lead puts the figures in context and says what they need from the committee. The RAG status is an assessment too. An AI draft helps with the wording, and whoever sends the report owns the statement.

Freeze it when it goes out

A committee decides on the state it received. Freeze the report when you send it, with a date. Later you can compare what was on the table then and what has changed since.

Access without an account, with an expiry

Committee members should be able to open the report without setting up an account. A link is enough for that. It should carry an expiry date and be possible to withdraw, so access lasts only as long as it is needed.

In ValueSpoc

In the ValueSpoc board report, milestones, budget, benefits, risks and decisions come from the live data. You write the assessment yourself or from an AI draft. Sending freezes the state.

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