Strategic road maps can be visual or verbal. Often they look like a series of goals, or a kind of flow chart with strategies or action steps to accomplish each goal. Some companies will create both a visual map and a detailed verbal map so that each member of the company has easy access to the "quick reference" reminder, often the visual map, as well as the specific plan.
Companies that are restructuring or hoping to expand one area of productivity will employ a strategic road map to plan the course of the expansion. Road maps enable a company to estimate completion times for each segment of a project, totaling up the expected length of the expansion. By projecting a timetable in advance, teams can make mid-course adjustments if one segment begins to take longer than anticipated.
Leadership development plans and management structures can be communicated via strategic road maps. If human resources employees are charged with hiring and promoting new managers, the department can set goals via a strategic road map that all candidates will be able to understand and follow in order to advance.
The best use of a strategic roadmap is long-term planning. Business gurus suggest that for a company or organization to maximize its potential it needs to employ both short-term and long-term goals. A company-wide strategic-planning process helps determine what the goals are for growth, what is necessary to reach those goals and what immediate actions need to happen to begin the process. Utilizing a strategic road map allows executives, managers and service employees to be on the same page, knowing how each role and task fits into the process toward accomplishing the goal. It also becomes an evaluation tool as the organization proceeds---is the group doing the most effective things in the most efficient manner?
Getting your whole organizational staff unified around your goals is a significant benefit to using a strategic road map. Additionally, the maps are very effective in clarifying manageable, measurable goals. If a company can't detail the steps and timelines to accomplish tasks, perhaps the goals need more specificity. Timing out each step of a strategic road map allows you to keep focused and keep projects moving in efficient and, hopefully, cost-effective ways. Finally, a road map can help you count the costs of undertaking your project before you begin, ensuring you can afford to complete your growth goals.
Though it is very beneficial in broad planning, a strategic road map is not a substitute for quality supervision or clear agency-wide communication. Questions will arise as the process gets underway. Making the road map is only one step---if the road map sits in file drawers, or even hangs on the wall, but is never referenced during regular visionary communication meetings, it becomes just another piece of paper.
