Investment Management Framework

Designed to shape investments to deliver benefits to your organisation

The investment management Framework (IMF) is a simple, common-sense way to help organisations to direct their resources and achieve the best outcomes from their investments.

The Framework is based on the Victorian Government – Department of Treasury and Finance Investment Management Standard

Diagram of 3 people reviewing charts as part of the Investment Management Framework

The Framework

Graphic with a title of Define the problem. Text reads Investigating and determining what is the actual problem that needs to be solved and/pr business opportunity to take up.

Graphic with title Analyse the benefits from an investment. Text reads Determining the benefits that can come from solving the problem and/or the opportunity.

Graphic with title of Decide on investments. Text reads Determining the benefits that can come from solving the problem and/pr from the opportunity.

Graphic with the title Implement Investments. Text reads Implement the solution by one or more projects and continually reviewing the project to make sure the problem will be solved and benefits realised.

Graphic with heading Realise benefits. Text reads Tracking and making sure that the benefits are being delivered and imbedded in BaU operations.

Graphic with the title of Learn for future business improvements. Text reads Working out how you can do things better next time.

What will it do for you?

Organisations that use the Framework will realise more financial and non-financial benefits. They will be able to demonstrate if problems have been solved, opportunities taken up and benefits delivered for the costs that have been allocated.

Too often a Business Case proposes a solution, yet the question we should ask more often is ‘solution to what’? If we haven’t defined the problem, how can we know that the proposed solution will actually help us? How do we know we all have the same perception of the problem situation?

We risk creating the unenviable situation where we deliver everything that we’re asked for, only to discover that isn’t what was actually needed. This can create distrust between business teams, and can create a very negative feeling towards ‘change’ in organisations.

I suspect many people will empathise with this statement!

Diagram of 4 people unravelling a ball of string and turning it into a tidy loop, going from confusion to clear idea and direction.

Diagram of 3 people standing in front of a clipboard with items being checked off.

The Benefits

Ensures that your organisation is investing in projects that deliver the best cost benefit ratio
Identifies the root cause of problems that need to be addressed – too often projects focus on solving the wrong problem
Monitors benefits to make sure they are delivered – the investment or business cases are not completed until the benefits have been realised
Provides the foundation to align all resources behind the project e.g. change management, project management.

Problems Addressed

Organisations working on projects that do not provide the best value for money
Organisations working on the “wrong” projects because they do not have a way of finding out what are the “right” projects
Benefits are not delivered or tacked
Problems have not been solved and are still causing issues