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What is 'best practice'? Should you follow a benchmark?
I'm always being asked by clients and others what is the "best practice" for this or that. Invariably they have some problem they are trying to solve, they know what they've done so far isn't working and they want the "best" solution. They've probably seen a benchmarking number and wonder how to achieve it. There is always a disappointment at the answer.
There is no "best" practice.
"Best" implies that there is no better way, no better solution - and that's simply not the case.
For instance, a nuclear power plant might choose to plan all of its work carefully because there is a substantial risk of making a mistake that could have disastrous results and the liabilities that they could be exposed to are huge. In their case they've decided that the risks are too large so planning ALL the work makes sense.
Another company, let's say it's a pulp and paper mill, can't afford the costs associated with planning everything and indeed they find that planning in many cases is more expensive than simply doing the job. Consequences are usually minor if there's a mistake so the calculated risk is taken. Short duration jobs that can be done in a few minutes, require no parts and nothing more than hand tools are deemed unworthy of planning unless they could have serious consequences when done incorrectly. That company allows discretion on the part of its workforce to assess risks and make a choice.
Who's got the best of those two practices? I suggest that they are both "best" for their particular circumstances. Following a benchmarking target of planning more than x% of your work just doesn't make sense. The nuclear plant would clearly be accepting more risk than it wishes to tolerate and the pulp and paper mill might force itself to plan work that simply isn't cost effective to plan.
What is "best" is always context specific. Benchmarks are merely guidelines that were developed from other contexts. If you choose to use them, be careful to ensure that your context is similar and that the benchmark target makes sense in your situation.
I prefer to consider "successful" practices - those that have proven to work in specific circumstances. They may or may not be transferrable to your environment. What works "best" in your environment will be that which is successful - as you define it. Knowledge of benchmarks and the circumstances they come from together with knowledge of a variety of successful practices and their circumstances is helpful, but the choice of what is best for you is always yours.
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