# Now/Next/Later Roadmap Workshop Guide

> **Formats:** Markdown (canonical) | DOCX | PDF | Miro/FigJam
> **Updated:** 2026-03-22
> **License:** CC BY 4.0 -- Kate Makrigiannis / k8mak.com

A facilitation guide for building a Now/Next/Later roadmap with your team -- from blank board to stakeholder-ready artifact in 60-90 minutes.

## When to use this

Your team needs a roadmap that communicates priorities without false precision. Gantt charts and timeline roadmaps promise dates you can't keep. Now/Next/Later communicates intent, confidence, and sequence without locking in deadlines. Use this when kicking off a new quarter, aligning with leadership on priorities, or explaining to stakeholders what's coming and what's not.

> **Companion templates:** See the [NNL Roadmap Template](../../skills/now-next-later-roadmap/reference/roadmap-template.md) for the fill-in-the-blank structural template, and the [Roadmap Slides Template](../../skills/now-next-later-roadmap/reference/roadmap-slides-template.md) for a presentation-ready deck format.

---

## Process

### Step 1: Define the roadmap frame

Before placing a single item, establish what the roadmap is for.

**Capture these four things on the board:**

```
Product/Initiative: (What are we roadmapping?)
Audience: (Who will read this? Team, leadership, client, board?)
Time horizon: (How far out are we looking? One quarter? Two? Six months?)
Outcomes: (What 2-3 outcomes are we optimizing for?)
```

**Why outcomes first?** Every item on the roadmap should connect to an outcome. If it doesn't, it's noise. Starting with outcomes gives the team a filter for what belongs and what doesn't.

**Example:**

```
Product: PatientConnect mobile app
Audience: VP of Product + Engineering leadership
Time horizon: Q2-Q3 2026
Outcomes:
  1. Increase medication adherence rate from 62% to 80%
  2. Reduce support call volume by 30% through self-service
  3. Launch clinician dashboard to 3 pilot clinics
```

---

### Step 2: Generate candidate items (top-down and bottoms-up)

Populate the board with everything that could go on the roadmap. Don't filter yet.

**Top-down items** come from strategy:
- Leadership commitments and board-level goals
- Strategic bets the org has already decided on
- Customer commitments or contractual obligations

**Bottoms-up items** come from the team:
- Features the team has been advocating for
- Tech debt that's slowing delivery
- Discovery learnings that suggest new directions
- User feedback patterns

**How to run it:**
- Silent brainstorm: 8 minutes, one item per sticky note
- Each item needs a short title (3-6 words, action-oriented: "Reduce onboarding friction" not "Onboarding improvements")
- Aim for 15-25 candidate items
- Don't debate or filter during brainstorm -- capture everything

---

### Step 3: Place items in lanes

Now sort everything into Now, Next, or Later. Work through the items one at a time.

**Lane definitions:**

| Lane | What it means | Confidence level |
|---|---|---|
| **Now** | Actively building or starting this sprint/iteration. Committed. | High -- we know what to build and we're doing it |
| **Next** | Intended for the near future. Not started yet. Clear preconditions. | Medium -- we have intent but dependencies or unknowns remain |
| **Later** | On the radar but not planned. Will revisit when conditions change. | Low -- direction, not commitment |

**For each item, ask three questions:**

1. **Does this connect to one of our outcomes?** If not, park it or kill it.
2. **Do we know enough to start?** If yes and it's high priority, it's Now. If we need more discovery, it's Next or Later.
3. **What must be true before we can start?** This defines the precondition that moves an item from Later to Next, or Next to Now.

**Facilitation approach:**
- Start with the obvious Now items. These are usually already in flight or clearly committed.
- Then place the clearest Later items -- things the team agrees are important but not yet.
- Everything in between is the conversation. Spend your time here.
- Timebox to 20-25 minutes. If an item is contested, note the disagreement and place it tentatively. You can revisit after all items are placed.

---

### Step 4: Add context to each lane

Once items are placed, enrich each lane with the details stakeholders need.

**For Now items, add:**
- Outcome link (which outcome does this serve?)
- Why now (rationale for prioritizing this)
- Confidence level (High/Medium/Low)
- Key dependency (what could block this?)

**For Next items, add:**
- Outcome link
- What must be true first (precondition for starting)
- Confidence level

**For Later items, add:**
- Outcome link
- Why later (reason for deferring)
- Trigger to revisit (what event or metric would move this to Next?)

**Also capture:**
- **Not prioritized:** Items the team explicitly chose not to include. List them with a reason. This is just as important as what's on the roadmap.
- **Risks and watchpoints:** Anything that could change the roadmap
- **Decisions needed:** Open decisions with owners and deadlines

---

### Step 5: Review and pressure-test

Before calling the roadmap done, run these checks with the team.

**The balance check:**
- Are there too many Now items? (More than 3-5 means you're overcommitted)
- Are there zero Later items? (That usually means you're not thinking far enough ahead)
- Does every item connect to an outcome? (Orphan items need a home or the exit)

**The dependency check:**
- Do any Now items depend on other Now items? (Sequence them or flag the risk)
- Are any Next items blocked by decisions that haven't been made? (Add them to "Decisions needed")

**The stakeholder check:**
- Would a VP reading this understand what the team is doing and why?
- Could someone who missed this meeting read the roadmap and know where things stand?

---

## Worked example

**Team:** PatientConnect mobile product team
**Time horizon:** Q2-Q3 2026

### Outcomes we are optimizing for
1. Increase medication adherence rate from 62% to 80%
2. Reduce support call volume by 30% through self-service
3. Launch clinician dashboard to 3 pilot clinics

### Now
| Item | Outcome Link | Why Now | Confidence | Key Dependency |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Medication reminder notifications | Adherence rate | User testing validated -- patients want customizable reminder times | High | Push notification infra (shipped Sprint 6) |
| Care plan PDF export | Support call reduction | Top 3 support request; 3 clinic partners waiting | High | None |
| Clinician dashboard v1 (read-only vitals) | Pilot launch | Pilot clinics onboarding in May | Medium | Device integration API (in progress) |

### Next
| Item | Outcome Link | What Must Be True First | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Smart refill reminders (pharmacy API integration) | Adherence rate | Pharmacy API access confirmed (pending vendor review) | Medium |
| In-app FAQ and troubleshooting | Support call reduction | Top 10 support topics identified and validated | Medium |
| Clinician dashboard v2 (care plan editing) | Pilot launch | v1 launched and feedback collected from pilot clinics | Low |

### Later
| Item | Outcome Link | Why Later | Trigger to Revisit |
|---|---|---|---|
| AI-powered adherence predictions | Adherence rate | Needs ML model and 6 months of adherence data | When we have 10K+ users with 90-day history |
| Family caregiver portal | Support call reduction | User research not yet done on caregiver workflows | After caregiver interview round (planned Q3) |

### Not prioritized
- Dark mode -- cosmetic, no outcome link
- Custom avatars -- low impact, high effort (killed in 2x2 exercise)

### Risks and watchpoints
- Pharmacy API vendor review could delay smart refill reminders by 4-6 weeks
- Pilot clinic onboarding depends on IT setup at each site -- variable timelines

### Decisions needed
- VP of Product: Approve pharmacy vendor contract by Apr 15
- Engineering lead: Confirm device integration API scope by Apr 1

---

## Facilitator tips

- **Outcomes before items.** If the team starts placing items without defining outcomes, stop and go back. Without outcomes, every item seems equally important.
- **"Not prioritized" is the hardest section and the most valuable.** Teams resist explicitly saying no. Make space for it. What's not on the roadmap is a decision, not an omission.
- **Now should be small.** 3-5 items in Now is plenty. If you have 10 items in Now, you're not roadmapping -- you're listing everything you hope to do. That's a wish list, not a roadmap.
- **Preconditions make Next actionable.** "We'll get to it later" is vague. "We start this when the API access is confirmed" is a trigger. Every Next item needs a precondition.
- **Revisit quarterly, not weekly.** A roadmap is a strategic artifact. If you're re-sorting items every sprint, the roadmap isn't stable enough to communicate intent.
- **Top-down and bottoms-up must both be in the room.** A roadmap built only from leadership priorities misses technical reality. A roadmap built only from engineering backlog misses strategic direction. You need both perspectives to land on something honest.

---

## Miro/FigJam board setup

To run this workshop digitally, set up your board with these zones:

1. **Frame zone:** Product name, audience, time horizon, outcomes (top of board)
2. **Brainstorm zone:** Unstructured sticky note area for candidate items
3. **Roadmap zone:** Three columns labeled Now / Next / Later with table headers for context fields
4. **Parking lot:** Not prioritized items with reasons
5. **Risks & decisions zone:** Two-column area at the bottom

Pre-populate the frame zone and column headers before the session starts.

---

## How did it go?

After the workshop, check:

- [ ] Outcomes are defined and every item connects to at least one
- [ ] Now has 3-5 items, not 10+
- [ ] Every Next item has a specific precondition (not "when we're ready")
- [ ] Every Later item has a trigger to revisit
- [ ] "Not prioritized" items are listed with reasons
- [ ] Risks and open decisions have owners and deadlines
- [ ] The roadmap is readable by someone who wasn't in the room

---

*Part of the [k8 Agent Toolkit](https://k8mak.com/agent-toolkit). Download other formats at k8mak.com/resources.*