Technology Roadmap Template

Click the image to go directly to the template.

As a Technology leader, I am often asked to create roadmaps. Upon creating my latest roadmap, my first thought was to just find a proper roadmap utility. I came across ProdPod, which seemed promising; however, I didn't want to have to buy a license and have to deal with introducing a new tool to our ecosystem, where information should be easily discoverable and searchable. In addition, the information needs to be secure. I’m sure that ProdPad has tight security, but it’s yet another system that would need to be monitored.

If your Technology department uses Jira, their Roadmap utility looks promising, but it uses a Gantt-style. I don't care for Gantt-style roadmaps because business goals and objectives change so frequently. In addition, there is a grain of truth in every meme (see below). Despite my apprehension towards Gantts, I included one in my template because stakeholders sometimes ask for them.

Asana and Trello have the ability to create Now-Next-Later type of roadmaps, but I like to have roadmaps limited to one page. I find that if I use more than one page, I start adding initiatives that are unrealistic and ones that distract from our primary objectives. In addition, I like to have control of how initiatives fit on a single page.

Similarly, I like to have the ability to include easily-accessible artifacts in subsequent views. Therefore, I chose to use Google Slides for my roadmap.

Once I created my roadmap, I decided to "templatize" it for future use and in the process, why not share it with the world!?  If you ever need to create a roadmap, here is a Google Slides template you can use.