Validate your Project, or identify savings, with PRUB-Validate

The principles of PRUB-Validate

Every successful activity or project should lead to Benefits that are more valuable than the costs of getting to the Benefits.

With PRUB-Validate you can explicitly determine if this is true for every Project or activity.

1.      If it’s true, then the Project is “PRUB-Validated” – it’s worth doing - great!

2.      If it’s not true, then PRUB-Validate will have identified exactly why this is so and provide guidance on where action is required to change the Project or stop it and make savings

By evaluating your Projects with PRUB-Validate you will either:

·         build confidence in the value of your Projects, or

·         identify potential savings across an organisation of 10-20%

If you wish to use PRUB-Validate, we recommend that you:

1.      Complete an on-line PRUB-Basic training course

2.      When you are familiar with the basic principles of PRUB, then read this introduction to the principles of PRUB-Validate

3.      Then register as a PRUB-Validate User and follow the User instructions

An introduction to the 3 step PRUB-Validate process

You can PRUB-Validate your Projects in 3 simple steps:

Step 1:  PRUB-Link

The first step in PRUB-Validating a Project is to “Link” it via one or more Results and Uses to at least 1 Benefit (see PRUB-Basic training) 

To be PRUB-Linked, a Project must either directly or indirectly produce Results that can be Used to create Benefits.

If a Project can be at least theoretically Linked through a sequence of Results and Uses to Benefits then the Project is “PRUB-Linked” (but not yet PRUB-Validated)

Step 2:  PRUB-Evidence

The second step is to “Justify” the above PRUB-Link by adding “Evidence” to the claimed Links between Projects, Results, Uses and Benefits. 

For example, what is the Evidence that each Result will actually be Used frequently enough to Justify the Project?  What is the Evidence that the anticipated Use will actually lead to the desired Benefit?

When convincing Evidence has been added for all Links, the Project is both “PRUB-Linked” and “PRUB-Evidenced” (but still not yet PRUB-Validated).

Step 3:  PRUB-Value

The third step is to determine if the Project is leading to Benefits which are of greater Value than the combined costs of the Projects and Uses ie if the Project is worth doing.  Everyone (including taxpayers) wants value for money so it’s reasonable to ask that each Project be PRUB-Valued.

This requires placing a Value on the Benefits – a challenging but seldom impossible task - and then comparing this Value with the total Project costs plus the total costs to Users when they Use the Results. 

If the Value of the Benefits is greater than the total costs, then the Project has “PRUB-Value”.

To be fully PRUB-Validated, your Project must be PRUB-Linked + be PRUB-Evidenced + have PRUB-Value

If a Project cannot be PRUB-Validated, it will now be clear exactly why this is so – eg perhaps it can’t be Linked through to Benefits, or there is insufficient Evidence to Justify the Links, or the Value of the Benefits isn’t enough to justify the costs of the Project and Uses.

Next steps

You can use the PRUB-Validate webtool to PRUB-Validate your Projects, to create named SubStrategies and groups of SubStrategies. 

You may like to download and read the papers "PRUB-Validate Public Sector Investments" and "OpenStrategies and Benefits Realisation" (see below)

If you subsequently wish to create larger SubStrategies or OpenStrategies with comprehensive search functionality, you can do so using PRUB-Accumulate (see PRUB-Accumulate). 

For more information on options for creating and managing your strategies, please contact OpenStrategies (UK) Ltd (for UK and Europe) or OpenStrategies Ltd (for the rest of the world) to discuss options (see Contacts).