Roadmapping
Contents |
Abstract
Programs can become very complicated as they evolve. It can be easy for individual projects to lose track of the program goal. A program manager will have to coordinate between multiple projects each focusing on different areas such as stakeholders, technology, material resources, infrastructure etc. A program manager might have all the necessary resources to ensure a successful program but if none of these resources are working together or if projects meant to support further development are not in place when needed the program will fail. As described by the PMI-standard
“Program management is the centralized coordinated management of a program to achieve the program’s strategic objectives and benefits. It involves aligning multiple projects to achieve the program goals and allows for optimized or integrated cost, schedule and, effort.”[1]
Not only does Roadmapping help program managers align projects it also help them plan these projects efficiently. Furthermore Roadmapping helps programs managers handle and coordinate between different factors such as politics, economy, infrastructure, society etc.
This article will examine the following
1. Describe the relevance of Roadmapping in program management.
2. A detailed guide to the use of Roadmapping.
3. A critical reflection of the limitations of Roadmapping.
Roadmapping in Program Management
Roadmapping is the last step in the "Program Strategy Alignment" domain. It visualizes the objectives, opportunities and relations identified by the environmental assessment, business case and program plan. The Roadmap should clarify how the these objectives and opportunities should be implemented through projects and how these projects relate and support each other.
A roadmap is a illustrative way of creating a representation of how projects in the program interact and depend on each other. It should visualize the mentioned dependencies, key objectives/milestones and identify necessary infrastructure.
The Roadmap has several benefits.
1. Depicts key dependencies between major milestones.
2. Clarifies the link between the business plan and prioritized projects.
3. The illustrative nature of the method helps identify and explain gaps in the program plan.
4. Creates an overview of key milestones.
5. Identifies key factors for the program planning including objectives, risks, end points, key infrastructure etc.
6. Helps program managers plan and develop key infrastructure to support the program.
Roadmaps are can initially be difficult to fully exploit as there can be many unknowns in the start of the program and therefore assumptions will have to be made. However the initial roadmaps can help clarify and create a focus on achieving the program goal. The raodmap construction should involve key indviduals from projects making sure that everyone is aware of the program goal and what other projects exist and how they relate to your specific project.
It is also advised to hold multiple raodmap sessions as the programs proceeds. The roadmaps will become more clear as less is unknown and challenges and oppurunities that have arisen can be identfitied and handled. Hopefully this should lead to a convergence of the projects as they strategically align with eachother.
Roadmapping Guide
There exist a number of different roadmaps and the method itself is bieng researched into as there defininetly is room for improvement. A roadmap that could be useful for program managers is the Strategic Landscape roadmap. The Strategic Landscape roadmap works at a higher level than more specific roadmaps like the technological roadmap. It makes sense to use the roadmap to create an overview of the the different projects and how they are connected. Furthermore the roadmap also helps define the projects based on their output and goals.
The Strategic Landscape defines projects as either being based on providing Mobility, Technology or Enablers. It also encourages the user to analyze trends and drivers that could have a potential impact on the program.[3]
Trends and Drivers: This could be political, social, legal, environmental, economical or technological trends that could either hinder or benefit the project. Identifying these trends or drivers and properly preparing to either deflect or harness their impact could be critical to the program success.
The indentification of these trends and drivers could be done using a number of different exploratory tools such as brainwriting/brainstorming or PESTEL. [4]
Mobility: Projects that provide the mobility needed for the program to succeed. This could be infrastructure as seen in the English Olympics case. In that case, the program needed extensive infrastructure in the form of roads, subway systems, sanitation, electrical cables, pipes, etc.
Technological: Projects that either acquire or develop technologies that support the program or in many cases other projects in the later stages of the program.
Enablers: Projects that provide other necessary outputs. You might have to acquire building permits from the government to build on a specific piece of land. It could also be the acquisition of key partnerships.
The Roadmap construction should be done in a workshop enviroment. To facilate the workshop there exist the S-Plan workshop which involves six different steps.
Planning:
The facilitators of the workshop conduct this step, either this is the program managers themselves or someone directly overseen by them. The focus, scope and aim of the roadmap is defined beforehand as well as the workshop agenda. It is also important to identify which participants are vital to the workshop and plan the logistics to make sure that participants are available and can travel to the workshop location. It might also be necessary to prepare other resources such as post-its, charts, pens, food, etc.
Creating figures beforehand on charts can also save time and show that the facilitators are prepared and engaged in the workshop.
Workshop Stage A:
Development of a strategic landscape. This is done through presentation and brainstorming activities as it is important to involve as many participants as possible. The aim of the first stage is to capture as many perspectives and key issues across the scope of the area. Below is an example of a Strategic Landscape Roadmap. The different project have been inserted with their start dates and planned end dates. It can also be benificial to draw lines connecting projects to highlight dependencies and mark key milestones.
Workshop Stage B:
This stage involves the identification of strategic opportunities and challenges. These challenges and oppurtunities It is also important to create some kind of prioritization of the opportunities and challenges.
SWOT Analysis??!
Workshop Stage C:
The most important opportunities and challenges are further explored. Breaking into smaller groups to analyze the topics and presenting after could be beneficial to save time.
Technlogical roadmap
Workshop Stage D:
The presentations are reviewed and further discussed to ensure that all perspectives are incorporated, as well to highlight key learning points.
Udbyg mere måske noget facilitation stuff
Review:
This final step is completed some time after workshop. It is important to follow up on the different projects to make sure that the results of the workshop are implemented but it is also important to make sure that the solutions are working as planned.
Udbyg mere, Fra divergent til convergent "Du mangler at implementere en figur"?!?!!
Follow-Up:
Limitations and Dangers of Roadmapping
Roadmapping is a great method for aligning multiple projects towards the program goal, however there exist several challenges and risks.[5]
1. Not a magic bullet – initially more questions than answers.
The initial roadmap does not gaurantee success. Furthermore many of the benifits of the first roadmap derive from the roadmapping process rather than the roadmap itself. The process brings together peopel from different projects, professions etc. and provides an oppurtunity for sharing information and perspectives. The greatest benifit of the first roadmap is mostly communicating the strategic vision and goals of the program.
2. The process and roadmapping typically need to be customised
The generic roadmap has great benifits for supporting the strategy and planning the program. However its not a template for every situation. It is important to be flexible and modify the roadmap to fit particular circumstances.
3. To simple
The graphical form of the roadmap helps communicate the program efficiently but does condense the individual projects. It is therefore important that the roadmap is supported by the appropriate documentation.
