Using KanBo to Create a Business Roadmap Connecting Vision, Strategy, and Project Execution

A business road map is a widely used tool in enterprises for demonstrating and communicating the organization’s vision, which is then translated into strategy by different departments.

The primary role of an effective business roadmap is to connect corporate vision and strategy with portfolio management and project execution so the business can function optimally ensuring operational and financial efficiencies across a multitude of departments.

A business roadmap is a key element in the structures of most large organizations which doesn’t only show the corporate objectives but also outlines what should be done to achieve those objectives. The burden of executing the strategy falls on the shoulders of the project portfolio sphere where the manager(s) ensure the corporate strategy is implemented in accordance with the business roadmap.

Why Business Roadmap is Important for Large Organizations?

The business roadmap acts as a compass against which you have the ability to measure performance. At any given point in time, you can see and evaluate at which stage of strategy realization the organization is and what could be done to accomplish the remaining tasks. This is only possible when both the mission and vision of the organization are reflected in the current and publicly available roadmap. Moreover, the business roadmap in large organizations helps achieve a diverse variety of objectives including but not limited to the following:

Timely Creation of Organizational Hierarchies

An effective business roadmap helps organizations develop efficient organizational structures at the right time, to satisfy customers’ changing needs and preferences. The presence of organizational hierarchies and well-defined authority scales translate into seamless workflows that are beneficial for all the stakeholders.

Improved Strategical Transparency

With a detailed business roadmap, an organization can enhance its transparency in terms of where strategy and vision currently are, how they work, and where they are headed. Having a clear roadmap defines clear roles for every individual in the organization motivating them to accomplish their assigned tasks in time.

Fostering Creativity & Learning

Putting out a detailed business roadmap allows organizational departments to build consensus on innovation plans and foster learning from innovation as well as experiences across different departments in the organization. This gives every team member an opportunity to contribute to the cause of the organization taking it towards its vision.

Better Collaboration & Coordination

The roadmap also helps organizations and large enterprises coordinating product development activities within the scope of the company’s vision and strategy. It helps you align the resources and capabilities of all stakeholders with external organizations to deliver long-term innovation and project planning.

Improved Internal & External Communication

When everyone knows what their role is in the team and how they are going to achieve it, the sense of certainty fosters an environment of clear communication, collaboration, and knowledge management on projects between internal and external stakeholders. This ensures the timely completion of projects and tasks.

You have to keep in mind that roadmaps are not stand-alone isolated documents that have no connection with real-world organizational activities. They include practically viable solutions that must be integrated into other organizational systems like business processes, organizations, and products. Therefore, a business roadmap should not be considered as a one-time project but an ongoing effort to deliver value to the company’s stakeholders.

KanBo for Connecting Business Roadmap with Mission, Vision, and Project Portfolio Execution

From company vision and long-term strategy to policies and processes, the roadmap helps organizations to achieve everything. Plan and organize business activities including strategies, sales, marketing, operations, and more to push the progress through flawless execution.

Long Term Strategic Decision Making

Relying on KanBo Board, your organization can create the opportunity to plan and track the progress across multiple teams throughout the enterprise. Every manager can access dedicated KanBo Boards that keep them notified about the teams, projects, and initiatives that are currently underway along with their status and progress towards the next milestone. This ensures that productivity never takes a hit and you achieve all the milestones within given time and financial limitations.

Identify and Mitigate Project and Task Dependencies

With KanBo’s Roadmap, every organization has the ability to track and identify dependencies across a range of teams throughout the enterprise and a number of projects to overcome them and eliminate everything that can be a potential roadblock in the way of efficient progress.

Make a Clear Plan for Every Task

Relying on KanBo Cards, managers of each team can add details of what needs to be accomplished to achieve business goals, milestones, and complete the project. All you need to do is add cards to a work order, type in related information, and update the status to let members of the team know who needs to accomplish what to get the job done on time.

Superior Way to Prioritize

KanBo is a tool for businesses who want to create a viable long-term strategy guiding their respective organizations in the direction of growth. KanBo will show you how to align organization goals, initiatives, and priorities to accomplish everything that needs to be accomplished by helping you to create, manage, and update your roadmaps over time.

Conclusion

A business roadmap is an essential tool for large organizations that keeps them on track. It is not an isolated and permanent document but an evolving guidance system that empowers organizations to pivot, adapt, and progress according to their circumstances. Such organizations can use KanBo software to align business strategy with a business roadmap and plan every project. They can deploy KanBo software for the entire organization and set their path to success. KanBo software also helps in innovation planning and selection of product development roadmap along with their strategic implementation.

Furthermore, KanBo can be deployed for strategic planning and connecting projects within your organization, across all departments, and externally, to understand the roadmap in the same way. With KanBo, you can design a solid business strategy and go along with it to make your business roadmap a reality and ensure the process to deliver value to the company’s stakeholders.