Use a Roadmap to Reach Your Destination

Imagine traveling somewhere you’ve never been without using a map. Chances are good you’ll be frustrated by uncertainty about your progress. You’ll probably waste time with wrong turns. You might even run out of gas.

Now imagine that same trip, but with a roadmap. More enjoyable and efficient, right? It’s the same way with initiatives. An initiative’s well-defined roadmap is a critical tool to ensure the initiative stays on track and is ultimately successful. 

An initiative roadmap is a critical component of plans, one of six Pack Practices for Successful Initiatives in the framework our team uses with NC State’s implementation plan contacts. The roadmap answers four essential questions.

• What do we need to do? Start by identifying the significant milestones that must be achieved on the way to your initiative’s end goal. Milestones can be broken down even further into the tasks required to meet them.

• By when? Assign a deadline to every milestone and task in the roadmap. Sometimes it helps to start at a final “due date” and work backwards from there.

• How will we know it’s complete? Identify the evidence or deliverable that indicates this milestone or task is done.

• Who’s responsible? Assign a single owner of each milestone or task. This provides clarity and ensures accountability for results.

Recently, our team assisted Integrative Sciences Initiative (ISI) leaders with their roadmap for launching courses in Woodson Hall (Initiative 6.1 in the implementation plan). According to Helen Chen, senior vice provost for academic strategy and innovation, the roadmap “is more than a checklist. It gives us clarity on priorities, accountability through defined roles, and an opportunity to align around our shared goal. With everyone so busy, the roadmap helps us stay focused and move forward together.” 

Rob Dunn, senior vice provost for university interdisciplinary programs, agrees, adding, “At a big university, it’s easy to fill our time reacting to whatever each day brings. At the same time, we have to be able to methodically step through larger team plans. The roadmap is key to pulling busy leaders out of day-to-day reactions and into larger plans and the steps needed to get there.” 

Of course, even with a map, detours or slowdown are bound to happen. An initiative leader who regularly reviews their roadmap will be ready to adjust quickly when needed.

Want to craft the roadmap to your initiative’s end goal?

• Start now by using this worksheet to guide you or your team through the steps to identify initiative milestones and timelines. Determine how and when you’ll review and refresh the roadmap together in the future.

Questions about how to create the roadmap to your initiative goal? Contact Genevieve Rockett, Implementation Specialist, Institutional Effectiveness, at gcrocket@ncsu.edu.