Timeline / roadmap

Place bets on a calendar so sequencing and no-go windows are visible.

consulting-exhibit

Related: Numbered process

When to use

Use when dates change the decision. Do not use for process steps with no calendar. Do not use Infographic decoration.

Guidelines

Four ticks fit. Call out the forbidden window in the source line or title.

Example

Harbor waves

Midwest in Oct, South in Jan, West after peak.

Sep
Playbook freeze
Oct
Wave 1 Midwest
Jan
Wave 2 South
Apr
Wave 3 West

Do not go live in November

Waves vs peak. Steal the no-go constraint in the title/source, not a Gantt wallpaper.

Rules

  1. Time flows left to right.
  2. Each tick has a date or month and a two-to-five-word event.
  3. If a blackout window exists, it is on the board.
  4. No more than six ticks.

User recipe

Goal: sequence work on a calendar.

Inputs: events with dates, blackout windows.

Constraints: Timeline / roadmap Rules.

Prompt skeleton: “Make a timeline/roadmap slide in family consulting-exhibit using the Timeline / roadmap rules. Events: [dated list]. Blackout: [window].”

Anti-patterns