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Why do you need a project roadmap?

When you start a project, chances are that you have many variables to keep track of. How do you manage all the content? How is the work divided between your team members? More importantly, how do you keep track of the many tasks, ideas, and resources without getting bogged down by the details? 

A roadmap provides a bird’s eye view of the project without getting into tiny details. This makes it an important tool for project managers tasked with keeping the stakeholders informed of a project's scope and progress. 

In essence, a project roadmap is useful for anyone who requires a macro-level view of the project. It is an important tool of project management as it also aids in the development of a more comprehensive project plan. 

How can a project roadmap help you?

Here are some of the ways a project roadmap can help your project management:

Communicate goals to your team

A project roadmap is a highly visual document that clearly outlines the goals and objectives of your project. Once your team understands its objectives, it makes it easier for them to focus on specific tasks. 

It also gives an overview of the project, which can help you and your team estimate the time required to complete each stage of the project. Additionally, it reminds your staff of the project’s baseline so they do not get side-tracked during the execution stage. 

Recognize priority tasks

A project management roadmap can help you identify the stages of your project that demand the most attention. It can also provide an estimated overview of the complexity and effort involved. Usually, further development of these stages leads to product maps. 

Product roadmaps are similar to project roadmaps, except that they provide an overview of a particular product’s vision and life cycle. 

Communication with stakeholders 

A project management survey conducted by KPMG stated that only one in three organizations develop projects that are likely to satisfy their stakeholders. 

This dissatisfaction is due to stakeholders’ expectations for teams to accommodate minor changes during the execution process. Consequently, this causes projects to deviate from their original goals, which leads to productivity loss. 

A project management roadmap helps avoid miscommunication between stakeholders and your team by ensuring everyone stays on the same track. It can also clarify to stakeholders the steps that were taken during the execution of the project. 

Tips for producing a project roadmap

A project management roadmap helps you streamline your work process. But to get the most out of a robust roadmap tool, here are a few tips you can follow:

• Your project roadmap should have clear and precise information to assist in decision-making  
• Your project roadmap should also outline realistic goals because hard, unachievable deadlines can add to cost overruns and delay the project
• Your team should update each other about the progress of the work to maintain the integrity of the project roadmap
• Make sure to highlight contacts of the stakeholders and people responsible for the project, so it becomes easier to reach them

Challenges of a project roadmap

Despite its benefits, a project roadmap comes with its own set of challenges. 

• Your roadmap should only provide an overview of the project and avoid details that can be difficult to understand at a glance
• Teams often focus heavily on the research and execution of the project in the roadmap and neglect testing and feedback 
• A project roadmap is more likely to be successful when your entire team and stakeholders agree with it 

Your project roadmap should mainly function as a “single source of truth” for your stakeholders and project team to understand goals, objectives, scope, and other high-level details.  

Get started on building your very own roadmap with our Wrike product roadmap template.