Our Enterprise Destination Mapping (EDM) methodology is a framework that articulates an organization’s ambition using strategic imperatives, supporting pillars, and specific steps to drive a transformation. As part of our four-part series on EDM, we have shared how to develop a vision statement, define guiding principles to establish the “why” for your organization’s strategic change, and establish strategic goals, metrics, and tactics to help determine the “what” behind this change. In this final piece in the series, we will focus on the benefits of building an organizational roadmap, which will help lay out the ”how.”

Once the goals, metrics, and tactics have been aligned to the vision, it’s time to build a roadmap to allow the organization to visualize how to achieve its plan and strategic goals. The roadmap should be detailed enough to cover the timeline, key milestones, stakeholders that own each step, and any known risks.  

There could be several flavors of a roadmap developed, ranging from short-term (30-, 60-, 90-days) to a longer-term (one-, three-, five-year) time frame. A strategic roadmap should be flexible depending on the business maturity, size, and scope of strategic vision. Strategic questions to consider when developing goals include: 

• What is the specific timeline required to achieve each element of the EDM framework? 
• What are the critical milestones required? What does the critical path look like? 
• Who are the owners of each activity? 
• What are the potential risks and mitigation strategies for each activity? 

Critical Components to Building an Organizational Roadmap 

1. High-Level Roadmap: When drafting a high-level roadmap, it’s important to think about the top priority workstreams required to execute the stated goals and tactics developed previously. This roadmap is influenced by initial project planning stages with input from key stakeholders, typically those involved in the goal development process. Tasks and timelines should be associated with each workstream, with orientation around the sequencing and dependencies of each activity.
2. Stakeholder Analysis: Completing a stakeholder analysis that identifies roles and responsibilities for impacted teams serves as the foundation for delivering a successful project. Examples of roles that should be defined in this process include the executive sponsor, workstream lead, core team executing each activity, and project manager to organize each of the workstreams. The outcome of a stakeholder analysis is to involve key stakeholders early in the process for buy-in and commitment to their role along the project roadmap. Depending on the scope of the project, change impact assessments may be needed to ensure a smooth transition throughout execution.
3. Risk and Mitigation Strategies: To deliver on all identified tactics, it’s recommended to identify, analyze, and plan for ways to address any potential risks that may interfere with execution. A helpful way to brainstorm potential risks is to consider what kind of reactions and effects the anticipated activities will have on internal and external stakeholders. Will these changes impact the competition or critical customers? It’s also worthwhile to review any known constraints that will present challenges along the way. Are there constraints on available people (skills or number of capabilities), resources (budget for investment), current processes, or technology needed to change? Reflecting on how these constraints may be mitigated will help get ahead of challenges before they arise. 

Sample Roadmap Visual: 

Learn More About Clarkston’s EDM Methodology 

As we wrap the series on our Enterprise Destination Mapping methodology, we’d like to close with a couple of recent case studies where we’ve helped our clients across the consumer products, retail, and life sciences industries articulate their strategy and prepare for execution intentionally and collaboratively to ensure greater adoption of strategic change throughout the organization. Our Strategy and Innovation experts would welcome a conversation to discuss further how we can help your organization make a strategic shift for the future. 

• Business Transformation for a Leading North American Food Brand 
• Patient Centricity Assessment and Strategy 
• Strategy and Operational Review for a Medical Device Organization 

Contributions from Hugo Rincon