The purpose of the roadmap plan was. Roadmap instructions. Reasons for using roadmaps

Today in our article we will talk about the concept for a long time and well known to everyone and used in various fields of human activity. Only most of us know it as "action plan" or "calendar plan". And today we will talk about such a term as "Roadmap" (road map), which, in general, is the same thing, only it is called not quite familiarly.

Although, in recent years, the phrase "road map" in relation to the development plan of an enterprise has been used by our fellow citizens more and more often. And many of you have heard it more than once. True, this concept in each industry is filled only with its inherent features and subtleties, so it will not be superfluous to get acquainted with its role and meaning once again, but not only in a general sense, but also in relation specifically to the cryptocurrency sphere.

At various times, we paid enough attention to what the development should have, so that the widest possible audience would be interested in it, which, in turn, would ensure the promotion and successful development of the idea. For example, we wrote about such an important component as White paper. The presence of the White Paper not only allows users to get to know the new product better, but also indirectly indicates the serious attitude of the team towards their brainchild (after all, they tried, they spent time).

Roadmap can also be added to the list of attributes necessary for the successful development of a startup. Although road mapping is not always resorted to. Basically, this is done in the event that a new product is being launched, which has not yet been presented on the market, but existed only in the thoughts of the authors or, at best, on paper. Or another case - the product has been successfully presented on the market for a long time, but interest in it begins to fall and it is necessary to revive it or draw the attention of users to some new aspect of development.

In short, Roadmap can be defined as technological map product, although, in our opinion, this concept is still somewhat broader. This is, in fact, a list of key steps that the startup team is going to take to promote and develop it, as well as a description of the ways and tools through which the goals will be achieved. All this is presented with indication of specific terms and dates. Having become acquainted with such a document, the user clearly sees what the company has already done, at what stage it is at the moment and what its plans for the future are.

Unlike WP, which is compiled, as they say, once and for all, the roadmap may undergo changes over time, the need for which arises during the implementation of the project.

Perhaps this aspect will seem to someone not the highest priority, but we would not advise underestimating it. After all, depending on who exactly such an “action plan” is created for, its content largely depends.

Basically, documents of this kind are created for project managers, developers, related structures, and for you and me, that is, for users. Road mapping, in order to be effective, must include goals and technologies for achieving them, from the first steps of the project to its completion.

You are mistaken if you think that every crypto startup has only one such “forward plan”. As a rule, authors create several of them, of different types and for different purposes.

First of all, of course, it is worth noting the main map, which defines the main development goals, displays a large-scale strategy and forms a list of global tasks. But there may be a Roadmap in narrow directions. For example, there may be a "schedule" for people who raise funds for the project, or for those who are responsible for advertising, etc.

In the case of international projects, roadmaps are compiled by country, taking into account various national issues, from local traditions to languages ​​supported by the company's website.

First of all, in order for the team to act in concert, in accordance with clearly defined tasks. The main point here is the concretization of the direction of work and its sequence: we solved one problem, we move on to the next one, or we simultaneously work on several points at once.

Such a document helps in making forecasts for the development of an idea, and also allows you to identify risks in advance and, if possible, avoid them. In addition, in the process of creating a roadmap, new ideas may arise regarding attracting the attention of users, faster development of the international market, effective development strategies, etc. In general, working according to a clear plan is always more effective than chaotic throwing - there is less chance of something miss and make mistakes. And for potential investors, a long-term vision of the project makes it easier to make a decision on investing (or not investing) funds in it.

To develop a roadmap yourself, you do not need to have "seven spans in your forehead", and you do not need to resort to the help of professional web designers either. We will describe the methods and stages of developing such a document below, and you decide which of them is most suitable for you.

Ways to create a roadmap:

1. Using spreadsheets. This is perhaps the easiest and most affordable way. It is enough to be able to use Excel, and you will be able to create a table that displays your idea, initiatives, indicate the deadlines for their implementation. This table will need to be updated from time to time. But this is not its main drawback. The main thing is that you will not achieve the necessary visualization and will not be able to fully present your strategy. And since the table is a static document, its control and synchronization are difficult.
2. Presentation. It's a bit more efficient to visualize the Roadmap using presentation software. Here, the opportunities are wider, and there is more freedom of action. But again, you will have to deal with updates in manual mode and the same problems with control and synchronization.
3. Special services. The ideal option is when each team member updates the “track” synchronously, and this can be achieved only by using special services for managing the product with the appropriate functionality. In this case, you will achieve high-quality visualization, be able to tie processes to a global strategy, establish cooperation with an interested audience, and integrate with other systems.

Of the most popular services of this kind, we can recommend Roadmunk, Hygger, Proofhub, Roadmap planner, etc.

Stages of work on the roadmap:

1. Define strategy. Every global strategy has some key goals at its core. The main thing is that you and your entire team see your idea both as a whole and, so to speak, in a “disassembled” form, without missing the details that are important for the target audience and reflect its needs. All this, in the end, should form a clear picture of what you want to get "output".
2. Release customization. Decide on the features that you want to highlight. Decide whether or not to present certain data (internal and external) in each release.
3. Set your priorities. And various evaluation metrics or your own scorecard, which is easy to create on your own, will help you arrange them correctly. Remember the well-known rules in prioritization.
4. Avoid communication. No strategy has yet worked without feedback and transparency in relationships. Yours won't work either. So strive to share your Roadmap, share it and keep it updated.

1. Do not confuse the "track" with the backlog, they have a slightly different purpose and content. If the backlog reflects specific steps (tasks) that need to be completed by a certain date, then the roadmap determines the direction of work on a larger scale.
2. Your document should be based on the main goals and large tasks, but in the details and small things you can show some flexibility.
3. All changes in the company's strategy and its goals should be tracked by you and reflected in the Roadmap.
4. Priorities may change over time and need to be reviewed with a long-term perspective. It may turn out that some tasks have lost their relevance.

In other words, as we noted at the beginning of the article, Roadmap (roadmap) is not an immutable document. Treat it as an effective assistant in your work on a quality product. You can create "tracks" for both global goals and small tasks. After all, big things are made up of little things and you can’t focus only on global stages. But every detail, every little thing, you must coordinate with the ultimate goal and the main strategy, considering what kind of product you should receive at the end of the work.

So, Roadmap (road map) is a plan for the development (release) of a particular product in the short or long term. This may be a completely new product, or it may be a new (updated) version of a product already on the market. Such a map, as a rule, reflects the ways and means by which it is possible to achieve the set goals, both intermediate and main.

Organizational planning systems are one of the most important management elements in global business. All over the world, companies, especially international corporations, are facing increasingly intense international competition. Environments, circumstances, customers, products, and prices change, and managers must constantly find their own way to survive and achieve the best results. Corporate roadmapping is part of corporate foresight, it is a special form of strategic planning that helps to find the right decisions in relation to changes in the environment that increasingly increase competition. In this article, we give an explanation and offer our vision of the standard for this type of corporate planning.

This article is based on a thorough analysis of the existing literature on corporate roadmaps and illustrations of the proposed provisions with individual examples from the business sector. It should be noted that the examples we used cannot claim to be the “best” statistics. Moreover, in the current environment, the “best” statistics are not so important, they do not exist due to the unpredictable and often unfavorable business environment. Thus, we cannot say that the general outline of the process of creating a corporate roadmap presented in the article is the best, however, in our opinion, it is quite applicable.

The first companies to use in the late 1970s. roadmap method, were Motorola and Corning. It was during this period that the US economy was in a state of stagflation and was characterized by high inflation, stagnation in business activity, and rising unemployment. During the presidency of John Carter (1977-1981), the weakening economy and unemployment were unsuccessfully fought through increased government spending, the establishment of regulated wages and fixed prices to curb inflation. Perhaps more successful, but less visible, was the deregulation of many industries. One way or another, many of the problems of that period were associated with a change in the vision of the future.

The application of the principles of the "road map" was most noticeable in the practice of corporate governance in the United States. Thus, under the leadership of R. Galvin (R. Galvin), then the CEO of Motorola, the task was to stimulate managers at all levels of the company so that they pay due attention to the future state of technology, and provide them with some tool for organizing the forecasting process. . As a result, an approach was proposed aimed at achieving a balance between short-term and long-term problems, strategic and operational challenges related to technology and other aspects of the company's activities. Motorola has found that embedding such a culture at all levels of the company provides an opportunity to find solutions that convey the vision and goals of management, stimulate research, and control developments.

Technological foresight and its method - the construction of a technological "roadmap" (technology roadmapping - TRM) - have become a mechanism for verifying the reliability of information and the main way to make strategic decisions in international business. But we emphasize that the technological "road map" is just a product of planning, and not an element of the strategic management process. Simplifying somewhat, a roadmap is a learning process through which members of a group identify gaps or new opportunities in particular areas of interest to them.

Let's pay attention to the international coordinate system (Worldwide Reference System - WRS), developed by NASA and which is a global system for identifying data received from satellites. Here, the main point that creates a certain "similarity" with the principle of creating a "road map" is the continuous scanning of the planet's surface, which allows you to collect and use a much larger amount of information compared to static methods. The principle of building a "road map", like the WRS system, should also be the constant search for the right "trajectories". This approach, which is both innovative and evolutionary, makes it possible to solve new complex problems that affect not only technical or technological aspects, but also economic, social, demographic, ethical and other criteria for making strategic decisions.

The creation of a roadmap should be a strategic process aimed at achieving the desired performance at real cost, using the right methods and at the right time. The mechanism for building a corporate roadmap should enable managers to link the vision of the corporation, its mission, strategy and operational plans with the main activities of the company in the long term. The development of a corporate roadmap should be integrated and continuous, but not a unified process, and should also facilitate the alignment of business operations - whether in marketing, finance, human resources, research, technology, products or individual projects - with the strategy of the corporation. A roadmap can be part of the communication process in corporations.

The application of the corporate roadmap should cover a wide range of activities related to planning, including:

1. Scientific planning. It is a multifunctional process that takes into account the requirements arising from various experiments and operating processes. Scientific development planning is based on synergistic approaches used to comprehensively cover scientific areas, based on the main goals of this business.

2. Technological planning. This is one of the most important processes carried out in order to use technology more effectively in an organization. The process planning process helps to minimize technology-related problems and avoid unnecessary equipment costs.

3. Product planning. It is the most common type of roadmap associated with the introduction of new technologies in the production of industrial products, and often covers more than one generation of products.

4. Planning opportunities. A kind of roadmap that is similar to product planning, but more suitable for service businesses and aimed at incorporating know-how into organizational capabilities.

5. Integration planning. In this case, the "road map" is aimed at the integration or development of the organizational structure, analysis of the interaction of various processes to form a new synergistic structure.

6. Program planning. Here the emphasis is on the implementation of the strategy, a closer connection with project planning.

7. Process planning. This type of planning promotes knowledge management by focusing on individual processes.

8. Long term planning. Used to expand planning horizons and anticipate more distant events in a given industry, nationally or globally.

9. Strategic planning. The strategic dimension of this kind of roadmap is to support changes in the company's core business, leading to a variety of opportunities and threats at the corporate level as a whole.

10. Interfunctional analysis. If the road maps are successfully used in several divisions of the company, then with the help of their analysis, common needs, gaps and overlapping programs for these divisions can be identified.

The main feature of using the method of creating a "road map" is that it helps to bring together certain groups of people in a company in order to develop a common vision for the future in areas that affect their business. The use of roadmaps in strategic planning should be based on teamwork and intensive exchange of information and knowledge. A multifunctional approach, a free-thinking environment, a clear understanding of business needs, effective time management, understanding of development prospects and many other factors can influence the creation of the right road map.

Benefits of a corporate roadmap

At the level of both an individual company and the industry as a whole, a corporate roadmap can be used in various ways, with a number of benefits arising from this (Fig. 1). Success depends on how the principles and methods for creating a corporate roadmap can be agreed upon—rather than implemented in isolation. The construction of a roadmap can contribute to strategic processes at all levels, although the way it is applied may differ. The Roadmap sets a uniform framework for all processes and ensures that the best vision of the future that has been formed is articulated and communicated to others.

Rice. 1. Benefits of a corporate roadmap

The main advantage of a corporate roadmap is that it provides clear visual information, directives for making “best” decisions, and tools for control. It does this by identifying needed processes, new business opportunities, or gaps that need to be filled in order to develop more competitive and more realistic goals and plans for the company's results. The management of the company must identify options for managing risks and investments through the coordination of processes - both within an individual firm and between members of an alliance.

One of the benefits of a roadmap can be that management actually understands the needs of the company and as a result either gets the processes they need to meet those needs or prepares existing processes to do so. At the industry level, the processes of creating a "road map" affect many companies, united in a consortium or simply belonging to the same industry. At this level, through the "roadmap" it is possible to develop new key technologies and products, which makes it possible to avoid excessive funding for the same direction of research. This creates significant benefits, since the development of a certain technology or product can be very expensive for an individual company or take too long to develop. Thus, the roadmap prioritizes investments based on a certain list of key factors (drivers) and seizes emerging opportunities. Also, the roadmap can be used as a strategic marketing tool to analyze which product has a key value for the company. Any roadmap should explain the needs of the company to its employees, management, customers and all stakeholders, allowing them to realize what the company needs to change in order to achieve overall success, and to participate in these changes. In general, the creation of a corporate "road map" is especially important in an environment where the strategic results of the actions taken are not obvious.

The place of the corporate road map in the general taxonomy of road maps

The type of roadmap used should be consistent with the specific needs of the company or industry. For example, a corporate roadmap can be created in close integration with partners, in partial interaction with them, or separately from them, depending on the conditions and form of cooperation. In general, roadmaps can form a taxonomy consisting of scientific or technological, industry, product-technological and product roadmaps, or they can be presented in the form of a multi-level time diagram that includes various levels of knowledge related to goals, resources, etc. . Note that in the literature the general concept of "road map" is often identified with the concept of "technological road map". Usually, three levels of maps are distinguished: a “road map” for the external environment, a “road map” for an industry, and a “road map” for a corporation, although a number of their combinations are known, such as technology-industry, product-technological, product-scientific “road maps”. cards”, etc.

Roadmaps of the environment are designed to answer the following questions: what can we do to protect our environment or stop the deterioration of its quality, implying not only climate change, but also resource depletion, energy scarcity and extinction of species? Can we expect our efforts to be sufficient to change the future? What should be our goals in the field of interaction with the external environment? Industry roadmaps should describe not only a certain “starter” set of actions, but also show how to achieve the desired future. How can we better understand what problems exist in our industry, can we cooperate with our industry partners?

Corporate roadmaps, unlike the previous two types, are a powerful tool for achieving strategic focus that is critical for the company, implementing the necessary processes and, as they develop, integrating technology, product and corporate programs of various departments. These segments and their place in the taxonomy of "road maps" (viewed from within the company) are shown in Fig. 2. The basic taxonomy presented in the graph includes a horizontal level (time period), a vertical level (goal) and a diagonal level (the importance of the roadmap for shareholders and managers) and demonstrates the differences, connections and importance of the processes of creating a roadmap in companies.

Rice. 2. Taxonomy of the "road map" within the company

The main direction of the company's strategy, expressed within the corporate roadmap, is the most important for the company and should usually be clarified first. The key to product, technology or science roadmaps is to set specific goals and understand market needs through trending and accurate forecasting. These private roadmaps should be a valuable source of information for refining the corporate roadmap. There must be strong feedback, however, and the corporate roadmap is meant to provide a strategy on which to build individual roadmaps.

Participants in the process of creating "road maps"

In the process of creating a roadmap, a well-formed team of experts should be involved in systematizing and providing the information necessary for planning. The ultimate goal is to help make sound investment decisions. Both corporate and industry roadmaps require certain information, knowledge and skills. Thus, according to , "road maps" should be created by top management, who is also responsible for updating them. Typically, the process of developing roadmaps brings together various "stakeholders" from both the organization and others. Forming a team is a very important step in the process of creating a roadmap, in particular, support from management is needed in the selection of its members and the allocated budget. The team should be formed with representatives from the R&D department, heads of technology departments, representatives from the finance department, and key people from all other departments. At the same time, the process of creating a roadmap should start with a small team, which includes employees from the marketing, research and development departments, the design department, as well as the department involved in general management, development, production and sale of individual products. And only later should the team be gradually supplemented with managers and shareholders. Note that team members must approach R&D, manufacturing, marketing and finance from both a commercial and a technical perspective.

Individual team members or consultants must be familiar with the principles of implementing the process of creating a "road map", as well as be able to identify the needs and incentives for the development of the company. Some participants in this process, of course, should have knowledge in the area for which the road map is being drawn up. However, while these skills are quite important, having them alone is not enough. Interpersonal communication skills and group work skills are equally important. If a roadmap project is being undertaken at a corporate or industry level, the team either needs a consultant with both roadmap development and interpersonal communication skills, or the team must be highly integrated. Typically, the procedure for the formation of a "road map" involves the participation of key stakeholders representing different levels and departments of the organization (Table 1).

Table 1. The degree of importance of various participants in the process of creating a "road map"

Note: The number of x's indicates the importance of participation.

As follows from Table 1, the creation of a "road map" is a task for the level of strategic management and major shareholders, a task for "lean management", involving representatives of the departments of finance, personnel management, public relations, commodity production management and marketing. Thus, a cross-functional team should be created in the company. Creating a roadmap strategy is not the only element in the overall roadmap process. Other stages are aimed at improving cross-functional communications within the company. Synergies between team members can have a positive impact on this process. This is because in this case, when selecting team members and reaching agreements, the process of creating a “road map” as such is taken into account. At the same time, all participants in the process, the degree of their responsibility and the level of authority should be clearly defined. It is necessary to separately determine who will make the final decision in the event that an agreement between team members cannot be reached. However, in general, if the "road map" is created by the joint efforts of the participants in the process, then they should come to a deeper awareness of the problems and understanding of each other.

The process of creating a "road map" in a corporation

The creation of a roadmap is a needs-driven planning process to identify, select and develop a corporate strategy to meet the interests of shareholders and achieve the best company results in the long term. A corporate roadmap is a kind of complex plan developed using roadmap principles at the corporate level. At this level, good corporate decisions are not about choosing the right strategy for how to spend money or how to produce an intended product, but about finding that master plan that will form the basis of a complex high-level strategy for the future. The classic business strategy, due to its simplicity, can only be used as material for the development of a corporate roadmap. Both approaches require different kind commitments in terms of time, cost, amount of effort and level of detail. It is known that there are a number of approaches that should contribute to strategic planning: asset portfolio management, new product development, competitive analysis, benchmarking, project management. However, the main one, in our opinion, is the process of forming a "road map", which links organizations, functions, processes and time.

The creation of a roadmap is a bottom-up process that allows different employees to share the vision of long-term planning and to participate in it to the best of their ability. The use of a roadmap is a kind of “response” business process that provides organizations with the ability to respond to changing conditions in real time. One course of action can be chosen and a specific plan developed. If there is a large uncertainty or risk, then several directions can be chosen that can be followed at the same time. A corporate roadmap should be brought to life by a real need, and not by someone's subjective decision. For example, if a company has a need to be first in the market, then creating an optimal marketing strategy is a potential solution to this problem. Therefore, the roadmap team should start with a need, not a predetermined idea of ​​a possible solution. Starting with a solution and only then finding out the need is, in fact, a completely different approach. The roadmap should provide a way to identify, evaluate and select processes that can be implemented to meet the core needs of the business. However, a corporate roadmap is a high-level strategy for the development of any type of activity. Further, more detailed plans are required to concretize actual projects and processes, and it is necessary to coordinate all planning activities.

A roadmap, as a visual representation of a specific sequence of steps over time, depends on the specific methodology used by the company. The main goal of this technique is awareness of the right steps and preparation for the future. For example, the process of creating a "road map" may consist of the stages presented in Table. 2.

Table 2. Different approaches to creating a roadmap

The multilevel vision of the roadmap should include a time level (“know when”), a target level (“know why”), a supply level (“know what”) and a level of resources (“know how”). In accordance with different approaches to the process of creating a "roadmap", in order to manage the presented four levels and achieve its main objectives, the process of creating a "roadmap" should go through three phases: the stage of preliminary actions; the stage of creating a corporate "road map"; stage of implementation and control (Fig. 3).

However, first of all, managers should answer the following questions:

• What is our company doing?
• What are the main advantages of our company?
• What does our company want to do?
• What are the key components of our business?
• What processes can we use to manage corporate strategy in a company?
• What roles do our employees play in this strategy?
• How can we highlight the corporate roadmap and highlight its value to projects?
• How many road maps does our company have and what are the real results of their implementation?
• What are the biggest problems of our company?
• What are the main stakeholders of our company, especially among the customers?

Rice. 3. The process of creating a corporate roadmap

Preliminary actions

The process of creating a corporate roadmap begins with research and analysis of the internal and external environment of the company, which can serve as a source of initial information. For the process to be successful, its participants must have a strong commitment to the organization. Initiating the process requires significant effort, especially in the early stages when the mission, vision, strategic goals, resources, scope, team and frame of reference are defined and aligned with the roadmap process. It notes that "the most important roadmaps emerge in response to perceived threats and link plans for implementing a particular process to the interests of organizations and individuals."

Accordingly, existing concerns are better stimulating the creation of a "road map" than a simple "search for development opportunities."

The research and analysis stage (A1) should include an analysis of the internal environment of the company, an analysis of the immediate environment, and an analysis of the macro environment. One starting point is an analysis of the skills, know-how and core competencies of the company. It includes an analysis of what can be achieved with these skills in the near and distant future. Internal analysis can help identify the company's strengths and weaknesses in order to increase its competitive advantage. A company's strengths are its resources and capabilities, such as patents, goodwill, cost advantage, skills, know-how, natural resources, networks, etc. The absence of these advantages can be considered as a disadvantage. The study of the external environment that accompanies portfolio analysis is extremely important in the process of creating a road map.

Analysis of the immediate environment, or industry analysis, identifies new opportunities and threats. For example, potential opportunities might include an existing vacant market niche, the emergence of a new technology, or the removal of trade restrictions. However, new severe restrictions, the emergence of substitute products or new competitors are threats to the company. To avoid confusion, let's clarify that creating a roadmap is a kind of meta-method. It may include well-developed planning methods borrowed from techniques such as SWOT analysis, the Porter approach, portfolio analysis, the BCG matrix, development of event scenarios, the quality function deployment method, etc.

The analysis should justify why a corporate roadmap is needed. Key decision makers need to find out if they are really facing a problem that can be solved by creating a corporate roadmap. This is done at the problem definition stage (A2). Managers must eliminate problems in order to meet their needs and achieve their goals. At this stage, for example, the following statements can be made: “The information system is not standardized, and its elements are not interconnected, which hides information from employees and makes effective activity impossible” (Daimler); “new legislation requires large pharmaceutical companies to enter into licensing agreements” (GlaKo); “Production costs exceeded those of competitors due to high labor costs, overcapacity, and overly complex manufacturing methods” (General Motors).

As soon as the essence of the problem is clarified and the decision to continue the project is made, the next stage begins - the definition of the mission and vision (A3). The mission statement should describe the purpose of the business. For example: “Our mission is to be the best partner for our customers, suppliers and employees. So far, our work has been extremely successful” (Volvo). To function successfully, a company must develop a good business concept or idea. It is necessary to formally state what business we are in, what we do and what our target market is. For example, Microsoft's vision is "a deep understanding of the challenges our country faces and the complexity of the political, legal and financial challenges that the public sector faces every day." The process of creating a roadmap helps develop a shared mission and vision for the future as the company faces the challenges it must overcome in order to achieve its goals.

A company driven by mission and vision needs to define measurable financial and non-financial strategic goals (A4). Financial goals may include the following targets: achieving a certain amount of revenue growth, increasing profit by x% annually, increasing dividends per share, increasing net profit margin, etc. Non-financial goals are related to innovation, proper internal processes, cost-effective management system, etc. Non-financial goals are now more valuable than they were just a short time ago. More and more companies include non-financial data in their annual reports or in the agenda of shareholders' meetings, and non-financial goals are also taken into account in remuneration systems. "More than a third of respondents said that company performance is more determined by intangible assets and capabilities than by 'real' assets."

All strategic resources and budget (A5) should be related to the future of the company and may also include goodwill. The latter refers to the totality of a company's core resources, along with finance, human resources, know-how, information, technology, processes, culture, real estate, and so on. For the purpose of effective management, all resources must be listed in the corporate resource statement. This application must be accompanied by an annual financial statement.

Content and length over time (A6) are also of great importance. The content, scope of activities to create a "road map" is the total sum of the processes of creating a "road map", their requirements or characteristics. At this stage, all the accumulated characteristics go through the "road map" and are evaluated in order to eliminate uncertainty and resolve emerging problems. The evaluated characteristics are grouped. The purpose of this grouping is to identify synergies or existing gaps in any characteristics. In addition, interdependencies between groups of characteristics must be defined. The groups are then classified based on market impact and business needs. The project scope management plan is one of the most important information documents in a company. The process of executing this plan may include the initiation stage, the project scope definition stage, the scope planning stage, the scope change control stage, the scope confirmation stage (Samsung). The completed document should outline how the project will be defined, managed, monitored, validated and communicated to the roadmap team and all stakeholders. This document includes details of the scope of work required to complete the project. It is also used to control what is in and out of a given project through a change management system. The change management process begins with a change requirement, that is, identifying the characteristics that need to be changed. Therefore, the change is analyzed, its impact and the scope of the change requirements are identified. Once change actions have been identified and decisions have been made, changes can be implemented and documented.

The next aspect of creating a "road map" concerns the problem of the time interval. Roadmaps cover a wide time horizon - from 5 to 10 years - and can be used to describe past events, while choosing the best development path from several existing options. A roadmap can also be used to describe the future path of an industry: for example, the US semiconductor industry's roadmap outlines the next ten years for the industry. If the tasks are limited to a certain time frame, it is possible to coordinate the various development activities. The Roadmap allows you to monitor progress by tracking and evaluating the development of the roadmap process by identifying key success factors in order to assess the impact of the roadmap, assess progress against strategic goals, determine the impact and effectiveness of these actions. Key success factors may include factors such as quality, ability to innovate, technological expertise, manufacturing know-how, customer focus, friendly environment or friendly employees (Wurth).

As a result, not only the obstacles that need to be overcome to implement the strategy are identified, but also the time required for this is estimated.

Management must decide how much of the company's activities will go through the process of creating a roadmap, how long and how the corporate roadmap will be used in the process of making investment decisions. At the preliminary stages, the boundaries of the processes are defined, resources are provided and the team (A7), consisting of participants and sponsors of the process, is approved (see Section 3).

Creating a corporate roadmap

Once the preliminaries are complete, the roadmap team can begin to develop the roadmap. The first stage of creating a corporate roadmap requires the cooperation of the project sponsor and the entire project team in developing a plan that describes the process of creating a roadmap. Since the creation of a roadmap is a group process, this plan also concerns how and when the team will be staffed, what will be the schedule for the entire process. The most important thing is to formulate key questions or create a "main statement". Based on the preliminary results, the team must decide which area the roadmap will focus on and how the process of its formation will contribute to strategic decision making. This stage can be called drafting the main statement (B1), which includes one or two sentences defining what we want to do. However, it is necessary to be extremely precise: if the "basic statement" looks ambiguous and too general, people will not know where to start. Here are some examples:

• What events can Fila sponsor to position itself as a brand of stylish sportswear?
• What are the relatively cheaper offers for customers that will allow them to open a new account with Bank of America?
• How can we emphasize the individuality of the Whizz Mints brand in our advertising?

After the "key statement" is completed, one or more meetings should be held in which the "key statement" will be used as a reminder. Also, the ground rules for the process of forming a corporate road map should be established so that participants are not afraid to express their true opinion.

Further, in order to achieve the set goals (based on the conducted research and analysis stage), the overall opportunities and risks (B2) should be assessed in accordance with the real situation, taking into account the strategic goals of forming a corporate roadmap and stakeholders acting as a factor determining content of this process. The current impact and likelihood of each opportunity or risk is then considered. For this evaluation, a traditional 4×4 matrix can be used, on which impact and probability data can be noted. Benchmarks already in place are then reviewed to identify the need to address a particular opportunity or risk. The level and type of decision on each opportunity or risk may vary depending on the assessment of the impact and likelihood of the remaining opportunity or risk occurring, as well as on the roadmap team or its willingness to pursue a particular opportunity or take a particular risk. Therefore, specific plans must be developed to analyze the opportunity or risk. In order to carefully analyze each opportunity or risk, it is necessary to involve a wide variety of people who are part of the group involved in the creation of the road map. However, for best results, each opportunity (or risk) must be addressed by an individual. In order to clearly capture and understand the opportunities and risks at each stage of the roadmap process, as well as to develop ongoing plans for them, special official lists of risks can be used.

A company must always understand what it can afford with limited resources, what its top priorities are and what options are available. Another important aspect of creating a corporate roadmap is the identification of alternative strategies (B3). In accordance with the various choices, we determine at least three optimal and feasible strategy options. These alternatives, even if they do not meet some functional requirements, may include the best option, the worst option, and the "neutral" option as a certain basis. Understanding the alternatives is the basis for determining which possible solution represents the greatest value, given the combined costs, combined benefits, risks and opportunities. It is necessary to identify, measure and evaluate the costs, benefits, risks and uncertainties associated with each alternative. The preferred solution should be consistent with the relevant time scales and required characteristics. You also need to identify the priority goals of the roadmap to achieve a balance between conflicting requirements. The team must define the criteria and metrics (B4) against which planned options and success will be judged. In all cases, the team must prevent over-detailing of the requirements.

The initial assessment (B5) of the feasibility of the preferred option is based on the estimated financial costs and benefits in such a way as to see how they can be aligned with the overall financial strategy. How much is it? It is possible that the preferred solution requires unrealistic funds, although it is viable. Under these conditions, the team should consider the following the best option, revisit its funding, or explore change within the project. At this stage, it will be difficult to analyze and accurately measure many of the costs and benefits, and therefore competing options need to be explored in detail as the relative costs and benefits may change upon closer examination. As a result, clearly uncompetitive options may be rejected at this stage. Before fully moving on to develop the roadmap, the team must get the approval of the strategic decision makers or their representatives.

Conducting practice-oriented seminars is the main mechanism for developing and evaluating the road map. However, the team involved in its development does not consist directly of top managers and shareholders. In this case, the seminars are just a series of meetings bringing together the right people for their opinion and, if necessary, peer review. Members of the roadmap team will monitor whether these processes contribute to the expected high-level strategy of the corporate roadmap (B6). You need to make sure that the road maps contain information received from all stakeholders. In this regard, it is necessary to check for inconsistencies in the road map from several points of view. For example, from the point of view of managers - whether the road map can be implemented within the planned time, or shareholders - whether the road map will give the necessary economic results, or from the sales point of view - whether the road map meets the needs and expectations of the market, and etc. The purpose of this evaluation is to obtain results that are consistent with all the characteristics that are necessary for the implementation of the road map.

Investors and decision makers need to be aware of all business situations in order to be consistent with the content of the project. They should not just make final decisions, but know the history of the issue and the surrounding circumstances.

During the decision-making process, managers are required to monitor the relevance of the initial conditions. Therefore, corporate roadmaps should be regularly reviewed and updated to reflect the real circumstances and financial results of the corporation, which will help to avoid wrong decisions.

The roadmap should always have certain goals spaced apart in time and give a comprehensive overview of the selected area. The best form of creating a roadmap (B7) is a timeline that also has multiple goals and helps communicate the result and strategic goals being developed throughout the company. There are several ways to visualize the outcome of the roadmap process. One of them is the format shown in Fig. 4.

The completed roadmap process should answer the following questions:

1. Why? (Strategic goals, business goals, resources, market needs, customer requirements, competitors, environment, industry trends, industry structure, internal business goals).

2. What? (Processes, technologies, products, systems, services, applications, capabilities, performance, characteristics, elements, basic principles).

3. How? (Strategy, culture, programs, competencies, knowledge, skills, equipment, infrastructure, standards, sources, projects).

4. When? (Plans, timetables, schedules, deferral systems, etc.).

Rice. 4. Corporate roadmap model

Following actions

The third stage of creating a corporate roadmap is the implementation of this process. The implementation phase should be an integral part of the overall strategic process for creating a corporate roadmap, and modifications should be made as needed during the change control process.

At this stage, the corporate roadmap is being reviewed, publicly announced and implemented.

This stage should include an analysis of the most important processes and competencies aimed at the successful implementation of the corporate roadmap. The analysis may include a strategic portfolio analysis, review of key processes, and identification of roadmap implementation issues that will be critical to achieving alignment between the roadmap and available budget and resources. The company's existing roadmap implementation team should also have experienced consultants to solve problems. In addition, it would be useful to train all participants, which could provide some synergistic effect.

The preliminary roadmap review stage (C1) usually has two objectives. First, within the framework of the working group, the results of the process of creating a corporate road map are approved. Secondly, the process of promotion and advertising of the recommendations offered within the framework of the "road map" begins. At the same time, in order to analyze the account in the "road map" of problems that are external to the company, it is very useful to receive a kind of review from an independent expert or a group of experts. If this stage is mandatory, then such feedback should be received during the creation of the corporate roadmap. After the working group completes the draft roadmap, it is distributed within the company to a wide range of employees to get feedback from different groups. If the roadmap effort is significant, including in terms of time, then interim press releases or fact sheets should be issued as part of this process.

Therefore, it is desirable to organize a management briefing (C2) on data, issues, scientific expertise obtained during the creation of the roadmap - in order to draw up a final report on the creation of a corporate roadmap (C3). After the release of the overall report, separate implementation plans should be developed, resources should be allocated, and the corporate roadmap should be implemented. The progress of its implementation is monitored and the report is reviewed and updated as necessary. The completed document should be a complex strategic plan. Once the roadmap is approved and published (C4), implementation plans should be prepared (C5). They are focused on individual activities, and also include resource plans for a longer period. When developing an implementation plan, the following issues should be addressed: developing a communication and reporting plan, allocating a budget to various processes and issues, developing a management plan in relation to timing, performance, cost, and change control requirements.

As the roadmap is being implemented, it should be periodically reviewed (C6) and updated (C7), especially if approved programs undergo fundamental changes or are affected by strategic outcomes. The monitoring process allows the strategy to be implemented under changing conditions, which may indicate that it is easier to follow a different strategy. This is the reason why the roadmap is not just a static plan, it will continue to develop until the strategy is implemented or the goals are achieved. Typically, changes to a roadmap stem from changes in the market, changing technology trends, or changing stakeholder needs. It is always necessary to evaluate the results regularly. In a successful business, planning processes define the main criteria for assessing the achievement of individual goals. Implementation plans should include a program for defining goals and responsibilities to assess progress in the creation and implementation of the roadmap and adjust it as necessary to meet internal and external changes. A system for tracking completed and achieved goals in a given time interval should work.

The most important in the process of implementing a corporate roadmap may be the following:

• effective prioritization: “If everything matters, nothing matters”;
• setting the criteria for responsibility defined in the plan for creating a corporate road map;
• defining clear criteria for the implementation of the corporate roadmap to help clarify its objectives and test feasibility;
• establishing reliable continuous communication about the problems and needs of the organization and its members;
• verification of the appropriate level of initiative of employees;
• confirmation that in the process of creating and implementing a corporate roadmap, the efforts of management are used in the best possible way;
• ensuring that people have the opportunity to directly participate in the creation of a strategy and strategic choice;
• confirmation of the presence of an explicit link between the implementation of the "road map" and the performance management system, etc.

Software plays an important role in the process of implementing the corporate roadmap. For example, SAP provides business maps to help companies highlight key processes and functions that can improve company results. SAP offers two types of business maps that represent different perspectives on processes: Solution Maps and Collaborative Business Maps. These maps can detail scenarios for a single industry or cross-industry scenarios within a single corporation or in terms of links between them. They also define activities, roles, system interactions, and business documents for enterprise collaboration. Another example is IBM, which offers a service methodology to support companies investing in Service Oriented Architecture (SOA). This methodology, which can be seen as a roadmap for SOA success, has many elements. One of these, IBM Business Enablement Services for SOA, defines how SOA can help meet customer needs or achieve business goals and helps align a company's business and information technologies. IBM Design Services for SOA helps clients create an architecture and a specific implementation plan for SOA. Implementation Services for SOA implement the goals that stem from the SOA vision and roadmap that the customer has. Management Services for SOA provides ongoing monitoring, maintenance, and compliance testing. The company refers to these services as a combination of programming code, intellectual property, and "best practices" derived from collaborations with many clients in many industries. Converting “best practices” and code learned from experience with hundreds of customers into service offerings based on company assets helps reduce risk faster and add value to customers on a tight budget.

A very common tool is The Learning Trust, which provides support for strategic roadmapping processes such as the Geneva Active Digital Library (ADL), Vision Strategist, and Web Viewer. ADL is used to disseminate information among users and educate them in the process of creating a "road map". Vision Strategist provides read-only access to road maps. Geneva Vision Strategist is a powerful web-based software that performs all the functions of Vision Map and more. Improving the software architecture is the main direction of development of the creation of "road maps".

Conclusion

In recent years, the business has moved from stand-alone, tailor-made solutions to complete, planned and global solutions. And most managers are trying to change their mindset about innovation and the future. This is becoming an extremely pressing issue. The main issue in this regard is not ignoring the changing environment, but the fact that managers do not use all the necessary approaches and methods, even if they are already available, especially information, skills, knowledge and know-how. Companies do not fully exploit what they have already achieved and do not really think about the uncertainty of the future.

The roadmap process has become one of the most common approaches to support decision making, corporate strategy and innovation in many areas of activity around the world. For example, The United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) helps companies and countries fight marginalization trends in a globalizing world. UNIDO mobilizes knowledge, skills, information and technology to create efficient employment, a competitive economy and a sustainable environment. UNIDO's Foresight Programs promote strategic planning aimed at developing a diverse infrastructure and innovative capabilities, especially in developing countries and countries with economies in transition.

The issue we have touched upon is also important because in many cases the results of studies on the use of road maps have turned out to be rather vague, especially when considering problems from a technology or product point of view. Again, roadmaps are also used in areas of activity that are in no way related to technology. Every company is different, with the magnitude, complexity, and speed of change highly unpredictable, and with competition and business resources increasingly global. Consequently, it is expected that organizations will be forced to respond faster to global changes and make more complex decisions. Top managers and shareholders must systematically prepare their business for future events, and the so-called old know-how must be the main material for their decisions. In our opinion, such a strategy for future global changes can be called "corporate knowledge strategy".

Literature

Bates S. O., Dixon W. B., Haley D. J., McCarthy J. J., Stine C. E. 2000. Voluntary Consent Order Tank and Equipment Characterization Technology Roadmap. Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory, Working Paper No. INEEL/ EXT-2000-01218.

Bray O. H., Garcia M. L. 1997. Technology Roadmapping: The Integration of Strategic and Technology Planning for Competitiveness. Proceedings of the Portland International Conference on Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), Oregon.

Bruce E. J., Fine C. H. 2004. Technology Roadmapping: Mapping a Future for Integrated Photonics. Invited Tutorial. http://www.hbs.edu/units/tom/seminars/2004/fine-5-Tech_Rdmap.pdf

Duckles J. M., Coyle E. J. 2003. Purdue's Center for Technology Roadmapping: A Resource for Research and Education in Technology Roadmapping. Proceedings of the IEEE International Engineering Management Conference, Cambridge.

Garcia M. L., Bray O. H. 1997. Fundamentals of Technology Roadmapping. Sandia National Laboratories, Working Paper. http://www.sandia.gov

Gindy N. Z. N., Cerit B., Hodgson A. 2006. Technology roadmapping for the next generation manufacturing enterprise. Journal of Manufacturing Technology Management 17(4): 404-416.

Groenveld P. 1997. Roadmapping integrates business and technology. Research Technology Management 50(6): 48-55.

Hargadon A., Sutton R. I. 2000. Building innovation factory. Harvard Business Review 78(3): 157-166.

Harrison M. 2007. Porsche's Piech slips into VW driving seat. The Independent (March 27).

Kappel T. A. 2001. Perspectives on roadmaps: How organizations talk about the future. Journal of Product Innovation Management 18(1): 39-50.

Kynkaanniemi T. 2007. Product Roadmapping in Collaboration. VTT Publications 625. VTT Technical Research Center of Finland. http://www.vtt.fi

Lee S., Park Y. 2005. Customization of technology roadmaps according to roadmapping purposes: Overall process and detailed modules. Technology Forecasting & Social Change 72(5): 567-583.

Lehtola L., Kauppinen M., Kujala S. 2005. Linking the Business View to Requirements Engineering: Long-Term Product Planning by Roadmapping. Proceedings of the 13th IEEE Conference.

Li M., Kameoka A. 2003. Creating Added Value from Roadmapping Process: A Knowledge-Creating Perspective. Proceedings of the International Engineering Management Conference (IEMC), Albany, N. Y.

McCarthy R. C. 2003. Linking technological change to business needs. Research Technology Management 46(2): 47-52.

McDonnell E. J. 2001. Administracio Estrategica de Mercado. Bookman.

Parrett W. G. 2007. CEOs in the Dark About Overall Health of their Companies: Deloitte Surveynews. Deloitte. http://www.deloitte.com

Phaal R. 2006. Technology Roadmapping. IET Management Key, University of Cambridge, UK.

Phaal R., Farrukh C. 2000. Technology Planning Survey - Results. project report. Center for Technology Management, Institute for Manufacturing, University of Cambridge, UK.

Phaal R., Farrukh C., Probert D. 2005. Developing a Technology Roadmapping System. Proceedings of the Portland International Conference on Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), Oregon.

Radnor M. 2003. Frontier experiences from industry-academia consortia: Corporate roadmappers create value with product and technology roadmaps. Research Technology Management 46(2): 27-30.

Svaty F., Jemala M. 2006. Innovative Activity of Technologies and its Evaluation in Knowledge Economics. Economy: Bratislava.

Tabrizi B., Walleigh R. 1997. Defining next generation products: An inside look. Harvard Business Review 75(6): 116-124.

Wimmer M. A. Codagnone C., Xiaofeng Ma. 2007. Developing an E-Government Research Roadmap - Method and Example from E-GovRTD2020. Lecture Notes in Computer Science.

Road map

Road map

Road map

10. Tactical plan for project implementation

11. General view of the tactical work plan (TPR)

12. TPR example: HEADING section

allows
define
priority (problem) areas.
The survey is a rather laborious process, but
it allows you to better identify the problem.
When compiling questionnaires, it is necessary to determine
specific questions, the answers to which would allow
identify "bottlenecks" of one problem, not the whole
directions.
For example: the direction "registration
bad." But what specifically does not suit: the duration
communication with the registrar, informativeness, queue?
Necessary
understand
essence
problems,
specify goals.
At
drawn up
processing
results
questioning
rating
problematic
processes
depending on the number of mentions in the questionnaires.
in
Thank you for attention!

Project roadmap

To achieve the result, each person plans his activity and draws it up using the plan. To implement any idea, a project is used that allows you to realize the author's intention. The project is carried out in stages, a roadmap is used for its successful implementation.

A roadmap is a step-by-step implementation of project implementation activities that allows you to predict the result of each stage and the project as a whole. The project roadmap specifies the exact start and end dates for each implementation activity in a specific order.

Algorithm for compiling and designing a project roadmap

In order to create a project roadmap, you need to:

1. Determine the scope of work and activities.

2. Determine the order in which each activity in the project will be performed.

3. Determine the start and end dates for each activity.

4. Determine the performers of each type of activity.

5. Indicate in the roadmap the sequence of each type of activity and the exact dates for the start and end of work.

For example: Roadmap for the Health Rainbow mini-project

* Responsible can be not only micro-collectives, but also a person

Sample:

1. Draw up a roadmap for the project "Nature is our home" using a well-known algorithm:

2. Determine the total number of days and months that will be needed to complete the project "Nature is our home"

Option to perform an informative task:

The problem we are considering here can be formulated in different ways. We can say that we are striving to bring order to the company's business processes, to make them transparent and manageable. We can say that we are creating a process management system, or in other words: we are introducing a process-oriented approach to managing a company.

Whatever you call it, the bottom line is that we want to create working process controls that allow for continuous improvement. We are building an organizational system, and this building must be carried out on the basis of a certain methodology and technology. No one will undertake to build a house or a ship without owning the technology for building the object that needs to be created. “Organization building” is no simpler than engineering. It also has its own laws and rules, the violation of which never goes unpunished. A huge number of unsuccessful projects in the field of “institutional building” is explained precisely by the fact that the work was carried out without an “architectural project” in violation of SNIP (building codes and rules). Therefore, in our work on the implementation of a process approach to management in a company, we will be guided by a strictly defined technology, which is presented in the diagram in the form of a project roadmap. We will follow this map step by step, consistently approaching our goal - the creation of a process management system.

The first point of our "road map" is the identification of the company's strategy. It is necessary to clearly articulate the main principles of the company's activities in its target market, identifying its customers, key values ​​that are significant to consumers and the main differences from competitors. This is important because from these principles follow the requirements for the internal organization of the company, for its processes and structure. It makes no sense to engage in processes without defining who they should serve and what they should be in order to satisfy customers and provide superiority over competitors. All this follows from the market strategy.

The next step is the development of an organizational concept. This is a kind of "architectural blueprint" of our organizational system. It defines the structure and relationship of processes, as well as the main responsibility centers and their functions for maintaining processes.

The organizational concept serves as a basis for identifying processes and developing an organizational structure. These two tasks are solved in close cooperation. In the process of identifying processes, their characteristics are determined: inputs, outputs, clients. suppliers, performers, goals and targets. The executors of the processes are determined in relation to the organizational structure, while the structure itself is specified and detailed.

Using the results of process identification, we can determine performance indicators for performers and form job responsibilities for them. Further, requirements for the positions of performers, remuneration rules related to performance indicators, process regulations and instructions for performers are developed.

This is the sequence of “building” the company's process management system. Violation of this order inevitably leads to the failure of the project and the frustration of both managers and employees.

Each stage of this “road map” will be discussed in detail in our next articles.

It is also important that all this “construction activity” be carried out in the form of a project. That is, according to a clearly defined plan with specific deadlines, responsible executors, control and evaluation of results. The project may cover the processes of the entire company or one of its divisions; this must be determined first. The objectives of the project should be formulated in such a way that measurable criteria for success are defined. It is necessary to answer the question: “What business indicators should be improved as a result of the implementation of the process approach?”. This can be inventory turnover, reduced logistics costs, increased production volumes, or other indicators.

Then, a project team should be formed, which should include representatives of all parties interested in the process: process clients, suppliers, performers and, of course, the process owner. Customer representatives in the company are marketing specialists, suppliers representatives are procurement specialists. If the project covers all the company's processes, the project team should include all top managers.

To prepare a project plan, you must use our "road map", which contains all the main stages of work.

It is important that the official status of the project be established by order of the general director, which defines:

• Project Manager,
• The composition of the project team
• Goals and criteria for the success of the project,
• project results,
• Project plan.

In the course of the work, it is necessary to conduct weekly reviews of the results obtained and the problems identified, to develop solutions that ensure further progress.

Many projects die due to poor management. The reasons for the high "mortality" of organizational change are well known. I will name three of the most common.

1. Lack of attention to the project from the head of the company . When the leader believes that it is enough to assign responsibility and not think about it anymore, then the project uncontrollably "goes to the bottom." No change in an organization can take place without the strong support of management. The leader of the company must demonstrate a relentless will to change, constantly monitor the progress of the project and remove all obstacles in its path.
2. Low employee engagement . A highly counterproductive approach to process implementation is when business analysts or external consultants develop process regulations and then managers force employees to work according to these regulations. People resist changes that are imposed on them from the outside. The energy of resistance can be transformed into a force for change by getting people involved in process development early on and working with them all the way to the end results. In this case, people consciously and responsibly relate to the implementation of decisions that were developed with their participation.
3. Wrong methodology for organizational change . Carrying out organizational changes requires special competencies, knowledge of the methods of carrying out changes and the ability to apply them. The methodology for implementing the process approach, outlined in our articles, makes it possible to reduce the risks of this project. To do this, you need to follow the “road map” and our recommendations.

In the following articles of this series, we will discuss in detail each stage of the implementation of a process-oriented approach to managing a company.

Practical guidance on implementing a process approach is provided in the e-learning course How to Build a Process Management System in Your Company.