This area ties the project back to why it was funded. The PMQ separates delivering the outputs (project success) from realising the value (benefits success), and expects you to know success criteria, key performance indicators, and the reviews that check whether the promised benefits actually arrive.
What benefits covers in the PMQ
- Success criteria and success factors, and the difference between them
- Project success (outputs delivered) versus benefits success (value realised)
- Benefits management: identify, define, plan, realise, review
- Key performance indicators and how success is measured
- Post-project and benefits reviews, and capturing lessons learned
Where candidates lose marks
Confusing success criteria (the measures of success) with success factors (what helps achieve it).
Assuming a delivered project is a successful one. If the benefits never land, it failed where it mattered.
Skipping the post-project review — it is where the benefits and the lessons are checked.
Free, timed, exam-style questions across the twelve PMQ topics — with an explanation for every answer and a per-topic breakdown at the end.
Start a free practice testBenefits questions, answered
What is the difference between project success and benefits success?
Project success is delivering the outputs to time, cost and quality. Benefits success is the value those outputs actually realise. A project can be delivered well and still fail where it matters if the benefits never land.
What is the difference between success criteria and success factors?
Success criteria are the measures used to judge whether the project succeeded; success factors are the things that help achieve success. One is the measure, the other is the enabler — the exam expects you to tell them apart.
The other eleven topics
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