pm-roadmap — Roadmap update

Part of the Personal Corp framework — running a one-person business through AI agents. Aggregate current iteration status, evaluate milestone progress, track priority changes and dependencies, output a roadmap status overview and planning suggestions.

Inputs

| Field | Required | Notes | |---|---|---| | Iteration status | yes | Current Sprint task list and statuses (manual or pulled from PM tool) | | Roadmap horizon | no | Quarter / half / year; default quarter | | Changes | no | Items needing priority or timeline adjustment + reason | | Dependencies | no | Cross-team / tech dependencies and current state |

Step 1 — Get current state

If a PM tool integration is available, pull the current Sprint task list and bucket by status. Otherwise ask the user for the list in any format (table, screenshot, verbal).

Step 2 — Iteration status summary

| Field | Value | |---|---| | Sprint name / period | {Sprint X / date range} | | Planned tasks | {N} | | Done | {X} ({X/N%}) | | In progress | {Y} | | Not started | {Z} | | Blocked / delayed | {W} | | Estimated on-time delivery | {%} |

Delayed-task analysis:

| Task | Original due | New ETA | Reason | Milestone impact | |---|---|---|---|---| | {task} | {date} | {date} | {cause} | yes/no |

Five-cause delay attribution:

| Cause | Pattern | Improvement | |---|---|---| | Scope change | Mid-development requirement edits, scope creep | Strengthen requirement freeze; route changes through approval | | Estimation gap | Actual effort far exceeds estimate | Calibrate from history, add buffer | | Tech risk | Approach proves infeasible, perf wall, tech debt blocking | Pre-development tech-spike phase | | Dependency block | Waiting on another team / third party / approval | 2-week-ahead dependency early-warning | | Headcount change | PTO, attrition, redirected | 20% capacity buffer in planning |

If the same root cause appears 3+ times, escalate to a process-improvement item.

Step 3 — Milestone progress

| Milestone | Target date | Key deliverable | Progress | Status | Risks | |---|---|---|---|---|---| | {M1} | {date} | {deliverable} | {X%} | On-time / at-risk / delayed | {risk} |

Status criteria:

• On-time: progress ≥ time elapsed; no blocking deps
• At-risk: progress slightly behind, or unresolved dependency
• Delayed: progress significantly behind, or critical dependency blocked

Step 4 — Priority change log

| Item | Change | Old priority | New priority | Reason | Impact | |---|---|---|---|---|---| | {item} | Up / down / new / removed | {P0/P1/P2} | {P0/P1/P2} | {reason} | {scope} |

Change-reason categories:

• User-feedback driven (from /pm-feedback)
• Competitor driven (from /pm-competitive)
• Data driven (from /pm-metrics)
• Resource change (team capacity, tech approach change)
• External (compliance, partner ask)

Step 5 — Dependency tracking

| Dependency | Type | Owner / consumer | Need-by | State | Risk | |---|---|---|---|---|---| | {desc} | Tech / team / external | {who depends on whom} | {date} | Resolved / in progress / blocked | High / medium / low |

Dependency types:

• Tech: infrastructure, APIs, services
• Cross-team: other product lines, design, data team
• External: third-party services, partners, approval flows

Step 6 — Forward-looking plan

Recommend the next 2-3 iterations.

Now / Next / Later view:

| Horizon | Items | Priority | Confidence | Dependencies | |---|---|---|---|---| | Now (current iteration) | {in-flight work} | Locked | High | {resolved} | | Next (1-2 iterations out) | {planned work} | Locked / TBD | Medium-high | {to follow up} | | Later (3+ iterations out) | {directional plans} | Directional | Low-medium | {to evaluate} |

Capacity assessment:

• Available capacity next iteration: {X} person-days
• Allocation suggestion: 70% planned features + 20% tech debt + 10% buffer
• Given current delays, prioritize next: {list}

Roadmap health score:

| Dimension | Weight | Scoring | Score | |---|---|---|---| | On-time delivery rate | 30% | > 80% = 5, 60-80% = 3, < 60% = 1 | {X} | | Scope stability | 20% | Change < 10% = 5, 10-30% = 3, > 30% = 1 | {X} | | Dependency resolution | 20% | > 90% = 5, 70-90% = 3, < 70% = 1 | {X} | | OKR alignment | 15% | All work traces to OKR = 5 | {X} | | Team confidence | 15% | Team confident on timely delivery = 5 | {X} |

Composite: weighted total ≥ 4 healthy / 3-4 at-risk / < 3 needs urgent action.

Feature-cut decision framework (when capacity is short):

| Cut first | Reason | Condition | |---|---|---| | Nice-to-have | Doesn't affect core value | Cut directly | | Splittable feature's second half | MVP-first | Confirm MVP standalone usable | | Polish / perfectionism | Functional > perfect | No irreversible tech debt introduced | | Low-confidence requirements | Unvalidated hypotheses | Tag "deferred for validation" |

Principle: cut scope > delay > add people (Brooks's Law: adding people to a late project makes it later).

Step 7 — Output report

markdown
# Roadmap Update

**Date:** {date}
**Horizon:** {quarter / half}
**Current iteration:** {Sprint name / dates}

## 1. Current Iteration Status
Completion rate: {X%} ({done}/{total})
Blockers: {N}

## 2. Milestone Progress
| Milestone | Target | Progress | Status |
|---|---|---|---|

## 3. Priority Changes
| Item | Change | Reason |
|---|---|---|

## 4. Dependencies & Risks
- High-risk dependencies: {desc}
- Coordination needed: {desc}

## 5. Roadmap (Now / Next / Later)
(table)

## 6. Next-Step Recommendations
1. {recommendation 1}
2. {recommendation 2}
3. {recommendation 3}

Quality bar

1. Status info accurate — delayed tasks have specific cause + new ETA
2. Milestone evaluation evidenced — no "almost done" / "soon"
3. Changes traceable — every priority change records reason and decider
4. Risks raised proactively — not waiting for blow-up to report
5. Recommendations actionable — owner-assignable
6. Health score tracked over time to observe improvement trend

Roadmap-communication guide

Different audiences need different granularity:

| Audience | Focus | Format | Cadence | |---|---|---|---| | CEO / VP | Strategy, milestones, risks | Now/Next/Later high-level | Monthly | | Engineering | Sprint tasks, deps, tech detail | Detailed task list + dep graph | Daily / weekly | | Sales / CS | Customer-promised features, ETAs | Feature timeline | Monthly | | External customers | Upcoming capabilities | Quarterly themes (no dates) | Quarterly |

Three rules:

1. Don't promise specific dates externally — promise "Q2", not "April 15"
2. Don't hide delays — early bad news beats late bad news
3. Don't treat the roadmap as a contract — plans change

Red lines

1. No hidden delays — report delays honestly
2. No false promises — don't be over-optimistic on future timelines
3. No ignored dependencies — cross-team dependencies are tracked explicitly

When input is incomplete

• No task list → ask for at least milestones + key deliverables status
• No priority changes recorded → output current state only, tag "recommend logging changes"
• First use, no history → help build the baseline framework

Related skills

• /pm-prioritize — re-rank items in the roadmap
• /pm-metrics — metric review feeds roadmap adjustments
• /pm-brainstorm — explore innovation directions for the Later column