How to Use Roadmap
A quick guide to getting the most out of Roadmap — from strategic initiatives and the projects beneath them, to live JIRA progress, async updates, and cross-team visibility.
The Basics
Roadmap is an addition to the PI Planning processes we already have. It's designed to allow async updates across teams and the entire org — giving everyone clarity and transparency into what's happening, without needing to schedule another meeting.
Think of Roadmap as the single source of truth for project status. Instead of asking "where are we on X?" in Slack or waiting for a weekly standup, just open Roadmap and see the latest updates.
The work is organized in a simple hierarchy: Initiatives sit at the top (the strategic view ELT cares about), Projects live beneath them, and each project can link its JIRA epics so delivery progress shows up automatically.
Initiatives
Initiatives are the top level of Roadmap. Each one groups related projects and ties them to the things leadership tracks: an exec sponsor, a business line, budget codes, planning years, and an overall status and health. This gives ELT a clean strategic view of what's being worked on and what it rolls up to.
Browse the Initiatives Page
See every initiative with its health, sponsor, business line, and the projects underneath. Filter by planning year, or check the Unassigned tab to spot projects that still need to be placed under an initiative.
Scope the Whole App to One Initiative
Use the initiative switcher at the top of the sidebar to focus everything — projects, updates, and more — on a single initiative. Pick "All initiatives" to clear the filter.
Create & Manage (Managers)
Managers can add initiatives with an icon, code, dates, sponsor, and budget codes. Use "Manage Lists" to curate the shared business lines and budget codes that initiatives roll up to.
JIRA Epics & Tickets
Any project can link one or more JIRA epics so its delivery progress lives right alongside its status — no copy-pasting. Roadmap pulls each epic's live status, assignee, and child-ticket completion straight from JIRA.
Link an Epic
Open a project's Epics tab (or its edit modal) and paste an epic key like TB-7015 or a full Jira URL. Roadmap resolves it and starts tracking it automatically.
Watch Progress Roll Up
Each epic card shows its status, assignee, and a "X/Y tickets done" progress bar. The project overview aggregates completion across every linked epic, and you can filter or search epics by status.
Click Through to JIRA
Every key and summary links straight to the issue in JIRA, so the detail is always one click away.
Epic keys can be linked even before JIRA credentials are configured — they show as plain chips, and live status & progress fill in once the connection is set up.
Update Cadence
Projects
Projects should be updated at least quarterly — status, percent complete, milestones, and any new risks or decisions. More frequent updates are welcome and encouraged.
Team Updates
Teams are expected to post updates at least every two weeks, but more often is great! Even a quick one-liner keeps everyone in the loop.
These cadences aren't strict deadlines — they're a baseline. The goal is to keep information flowing so no one has to chase updates.
For Viewers
Start with Initiatives, then Projects
The Initiatives page gives you the strategic view; the Projects page shows everything organized by category — Customer Facing, Prototypes, and Team Tools. Scope to an initiative in the sidebar, filter by status, or switch to Roadmap view for a timeline.
Read Updates
Check the Updates feed for the latest posts across all projects. Use it as your async standup — see what shipped, what changed, and what's coming.
Give Kudos
Recognize great work by posting Kudos. You don't even need to pick a project — just write a shoutout and @mention the people or teams you want to celebrate.
Request Manager Access
Need to create projects or post updates? Request manager access during onboarding or ask a manager to upgrade your role in the Teams page.
For Managers & Admins
Create Initiatives & Projects
Set up initiatives with sponsors, business lines, and budget codes, then add projects beneath them — with descriptions, dates, links, contributors, and linked JIRA epics. You'll automatically be the project owner and contributor.
Post Updates Regularly
Use the Updates page or a project's detail page to post releases, milestones, announcements, decisions, and more. Keep your team and the org in the loop.
Manage Teams & People
Create teams, add members, assign roles. Review manager access requests in the Requests tab on the Teams page.
Track Risks & Milestones
Log risks per project to keep a running history. Add milestones with dates to show key deliverables on the timeline.
Tips for Great Updates
Keep updates concise — a few sentences is perfect. Link to detailed docs when needed.
Use @mentions to loop in people and teams. They'll see their name highlighted in the feed.
Don't forget Kudos! Recognizing great work builds team morale and makes everyone's day.
Update percent complete and status regularly. Small increments are better than big jumps.
Slack Integration
Every update posted in Roadmap is automatically shared to #roadmap on Slack. Join the channel to stay up to date without needing to visit the app — you'll see new posts, releases, milestones, kudos, and manager role requests as they happen.