Tag: Project

See this collection of Project formats, articles and templates.

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What is a Project Roadmap? Roadmap Basics for Beginners

What is a project roadmap?

This guide will explain the important parts of a Project Roadmap. It includes workstreams, activities, timelines, risk levels and other elements needed for an effective project roadmap.

What is a Project Roadmap used for?

1. Quickly communicates project plans and goals.
2. Manages stakeholder expectations.
3. Generates a shared understanding across the teams involved.
4. Communicates plans with other important teams/organisations.

What is a Project Roadmap?

It is a simple diagram format, that shows your project plans over time. Step-by-step Keynote Roadmap Template Example
IMPORTANT: A Project Roadmap IS NOT the place for detailed project plans and detailed information.

What does a Project Roadmap include?

1. Must Have: The Project Goals articulated; at least in the deliverables listed.
2. Must Have: A timeline – to show when things will happen.
3. Must Have: The high level titles for the big deliverables (don’t get into the detail!!).
4. Should Have: The workstreams in separate “Swim Lanes”.
5. Should Have: Milestones of key events, when you expect them.
6. Could Have: Areas of high risk.
7. Could Have: Areas where you have dependencies.

What are the Key Characteristics of a Project Roadmap?

It gives a sense of the Project Goals: Either explicitly in plain words: “The goal is …”.
It shows the plans for a project in simple terms: not too detailed – just the high-level titles! (keep to 4 or less in each workstream).
It fits on 1 side of paper (or 1 slide in a presentation) to keep it simple!
It shows project plans alongside a timeline.
You can read it and understand it in 3 minutes or less.
It avoids acronyms and team jargon, so that anyone can understand it!
It has your name on it – so people can contact you with questions.

What’s the best Project Roadmap presentation?

The best project roadmap presentation is one that tells your story simply and quickly. You must give a sense of time, the important project elements, and any key messages you want to highlight.
What is a project roadmap?

Step-by-Step guide to creating a Roadmap

See our Creating a Roadmap guide here.

Creating a Roadmap can have useful side-effects

The process of creating a roadmap, with key project stakeholders and team members, can be a very useful exercise for your team, because it:-

  1. Ensures that the team and stakeholders understand capacity
  2. Forces priority decisions
  3. Promotes a shared understanding in the wider team

Roadmap Examples and Samples

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Define your Product Rollout Plan

The Rollout Plan Template - Powerpoint Presentation
The Rollout plan Powerpoint Presentation

Planning your Product Rollout is crucial. You need to design the workstreams, and put project controls in place to be sure your rollout stays on track.

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You can see our ready-made, tried-and-tested Rollout Plan Template here.

How to Plan your Product Rollout

Define “Success” – Your Rollout Objectives & KPIs

  1. What does success look like? – you must document this with measurable success criteria.
  2. Once you have this, you can identify some points in the rollout when you expect to be able to measure the “Performance” of the rollout.
  3. You can record these as Milestones, and as KPIs to focus the team on.

Understand your Risks, Assumptions, Issues and Dependencies

  1. In order to ensure the best possible rollout, you to understand what might affect your success negatively, and manage each of these factors.
  2. In project management terms, this is your RAID log, and includes documenting and managing your:
    1. Risks
    2. Assumptions
    3. Issues
    4. Dependencies
    5. View RAID templates here
  3. Track, mitigate and manage your RAID items through the Rollout process

Define your Phases & Timeline

  1. With the above points in mind, set your timeline for the Rollout.
  2. Base the timeline on a realistic and achievable timescale, and with your RAID items in mind.
  3. If it makes sense to the whole project, split your timeline into Phases, and name them

Define your Milestones

  1. Along with your KPI points, set milestones so that you can monitor project progress
  2. Be sure to get regular Status Updates, and ensure the wider team and stakeholders get Status Reports

Set out your Workstreams & Project Activities

  1. In Agile projects, and in larger Programmes, your team and activities should be arranged in Workstreams
  2. Each Workstream should represent a team, or a particular area of delivery; e.g. “HR”, “DEV”, “CATERING”, “FINANCE”
  3. Plan the project activities, and the KPIs out into these workstreams, along the timeline
  4. Ensure the Workstream participants have contributed, and helped form each workstream plan

Communicate your Rollout Plan!

  1. Agree the Timeline, Workstream, KPI and Activity plans with your team
  2. Create a Rollout Plan Presentation, with your team
  3. Present to all teams and stakeholders
  4. Give your team and Stakeholders Status Reports frequently throughout the Rollout

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Business Documents UK Rollout Templates

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Project Plan

Powerpoint Project Plan Template

The most effective Project Plan presentations are individually tailored for your audience – one size does not fit all. Browse these plan formats.

Project Plan Template showing a 2 year timeline, workstreams and milestones
An example Project Plan – showing 2 years timeline in a roadmap format; milestones and workstreams

Your Project Plan – Who are you showing it to?

Be very clear about your audience – you will need different project plan approaches for each scenario:

  1. For executive audiences use a Roadmap format to show project plans: Powerpoint Roadmap Template, Visio Roadmap template.
  2. For Product Manager audiences, you should use a Product format: Powerpoint Product Template, Visio Product Template.
  3. To show your product team workstreams what they are doing, use a Project Plan Template format.
  4. For your developers, you should have a release plan, showing activity per iteration.

Some Agile Release Plan Formats

 

 

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RAID Log – Manage Project Risk

Risk Matrix used in the RAID Log
Risk Matrix used in the RAID Log

A RAID Log is a great tool for managing Project Risk.

RAID stands for Risks, Assumptions, Issues, Dependencies.

BEWARE – it is hard to keep track of these aspects of your project in your head. You can keep track of them using a LOG TEMPLATE for your own safety.

Risks (R in RAID)

Your project risks are the “issues waiting to happen”.

i.e. Ask yourself “What could go wrong?”, and the list of items in answer to that are your risks.

e.g. when planning for a race, an example risk could be “My shoes fail during the race”

RISK SHEET - Excel RAID log & Dashboard Template
RISK SHEET – Excel RAID log & Dashboard Template

Assumptions (A in RAID)

Assumptions are items that you believe to be fine,… but that may not be. Assumptions are aspects of the environment, or of the surroundings to your project that you believe will be in a certain state.

The purpose of tracking assumptions is that you need to be prepared for your assumptions being wrong.

Issues (I in RAID)

Issues are the things which are actually going wrong – i.e. Risks that have been realised, and have turned into issues.

If you were lucky with your Risks identification earlier, you may already be prepared to deal with the issues 🙂

Dependencies (D in RAID)

Dependencies are items being delivered- or supplied-  from elsewhere, and that may not be directly in your control.

i.e. in order for your project to deliver, your dependencies must be present / delivered / supported.

Dependencies are quite frequently what cause project failure – track these carefully!

 

Excel RAID Log & Dashboard Template
Excel RAID Log & Dashboard Template

RAID Log Template

This Excel Template is a handy format which allows you to track your RAID items, their status, and assign them to owners.

Some examples templates in the “Risk” area

 

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Project Dashboard

Powerpoint Project Dashboard with Status Template

The Project Dashboard – the perfect way to deliver Project Status reports to stakeholders.

  1. Summary RAG
  2. KPI Status
  3. RAG by Project Area
  4. RAID – Risks, Assumptions, Issues, Dependencies

You can use this format as a form of regular project communication update.

Project Dashboard Formats

Outline the key Project Status points in minutes, on this Dashboard

Highlight the important messages of your Project

  1. Successes
  2. Upcoming releases
  3. Live risks
  4. Blockages
  5. Caveats

It also includes a Roadmap format to compliment the Dashboard.

Product Roadmap shows Timeline, Workstreams and Dashboard
This Product Roadmap shows Timeline, Workstreams and a Project Dashboard

Outline the Red, Amber, Green Project Statuses with this Dashboard

This Dashboard, part of a Product Roadmap Template, features these Dashboard status updates:-

  1. Delivery (with RAG – Red, Amber, Green)
  2. Budget (with RAG – Red, Amber, Green)
  3. Resource (with RAG – Red, Amber, Green)
  4. Marcom – Marketing and Communications (with RAG – Red, Amber, Green)
  5. Dependencies
  6. Risks
  7. Issues
  8. On Radar (‘heads up’ items)
Picture of The Product Roadmap Template, with Project Dashboard
This template features both the Product Roadmap, and the Project Dashboard

Reduce your Project Update Documentation down to 1 Document

  1. No need to send around an unfathomable Gantt – your stakeholders hate them!
  2. No need to pull out boring spreadsheets
  3. No need for piles of PDF attachments

Project Dashboard Templates

 

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How to create a Transition Plan for your organisation

Visio Transition Plan Template - manage your cultural change

A Transition Plan is used to manage the change from an existing organisational configuration to a new configuration.

So – your organisation may need to go through a Transition to implement the new arrangement.

We have created this Transition Plan Template in response to a series of requests for a Timeline template to assist with Change Management.

A screenshot of the Transition Plan Template
This Transition Plan Template will assist you with your Transition Timeline

We have arranged this template into the following areas.

Team and Personnel Changes

It’s likely that you will have to change how people and teams are arranged.

New processes

There could be some business process re-engineering to be rolled-out.

Relocation

You may have to move locations, or start an off-shore supplier relationship.

How to plan the Transition

In all change situations, there is a gap between the planned new arrangement and where you are right now – a Transition is required.

Our Transition Plan Template will provide a solid communications and planning tool for your transition.

Features of this Template

  1. Timeline with draggable milestones.
  2. Event markers in each workstream.
  3. Management workstream (to show coordination activities in the transition project).
  4. Communications Workstream (announcements, comms).
  5. HR Workstream (transition HR issues management).
  6. Relocation Workstream.
  7. IT Workstream (PC and telecomms).

View the Transition Plan Template.