Use the Roadmap view to get a long-term view of your projects, better align management and teams on the path forward and communicate decisions to the organization.
- Where to Find
- How to Configure
- How to Filter Your Projects
- How to Select the Grouping
- How to Sort the Projects
- How to Configure Colors and KPIs
- How to Display Milestones
- Save Your Configuration as a Custom View
- How to Use
Where to Find
In the left-hand sidebar, click Roadmap to open the view:
To define which projects are displayed, select Date Range, Portfolio or Scenario in the header at the top of your screen. The Roadmap shows only projects above the Cut-Off line.
To see the individual projects, click the bar in the timeline or the arrow next to the respective value:
The list displays all projects and their details that correspond to the selected custom view. To view a project or project group's milestones and dependencies, hover over the bar. Unfulfilled dependencies are displayed in red. To expand a specific milestone to view names and dates, click on a project bar.
To open the project detail view, move your cursor over the bar it is associated with in the timeline and click the square icon at the end of the bar.
Toolbar
In the toolbar, you can search for project names or project keys, create filters, select the grouping and Zoom Level, sort projects within groups, configure the colors in the view as well as display Milestones.
Save as Image
Click Save Image (png) > Download Image to download your customized Roadmap as an image file and share it with your colleagues. You can also select Save Image (png) > Copy to Clipboard to easily paste the file in a document, if this is preferred.
The image will show the Roadmap as it is currently displayed and the color legend for the colors displayed, as well as the KPI displayed (if one is displayed).
Supported Browsers for Copy to Clipboard
In order to be able to copy an image of your Roadmap to the clipboard, you need to be using a supported browser. To use Firefox, you must have activated the API ClipboardItem (about:config → dom.events.asyncClipboard.clipboardItem → true). Safari is unsupported.
Information Panel
Click one of the icons in the right sidebar to open the Information Panel. When you select a project, you can find its Overview, Change Log and Comments there.
If you've configured a color scheme, a guide to these colors is displayed n the Information Panel.
How to Configure
You can adjust the view for the desired level of detail by selecting the Zoom Level.
How to Filter Your Projects
To filter the Project List for projects with certain attributes, click Filter:
You can select from the following fields:
- All custom fields of the single-select type, e.g., Status
- All custom fields of the checkbox type, e.g., Need for Decision
- All custom fields of the resource type, e.g., Deputy Project Manager
- Top level OBS units, e.g., department
- Project Manager
- Business Goal
- Rank Category
- Project Type
Additionally, you can filter the milestones displayed in the Roadmap. You can filter milestones based on the following criteria:
- At-Risk Dependency
- Project Phase
- Date Range
In order to filter these, you must be displaying milestones. In the toolbar under Display Milestones, select either All or All, Detailed.
You can use several filters at the same time to further limit the results. Learn more in the Ad-Hoc Project Filter article.
How to Select the Grouping
You can choose how projects are grouped on the timeline by clicking Group By and selecting an option. You can select from the following project fields:
- All custom fields of the single-select type
- All custom fields of the resource type
- Top level OBS units (such as Office or Department)
- Program Name
- Status
- Cost Type
- Business Goal
- Project Manager
- Project Type
Within the groups, the projects are sorted by their start date and, if necessary, by their length.
How to Sort the Projects
You can define how projects within the configured groups are sorted. Click Sort Projects By and select your preferred setting:
- Rank: The projects will be sorted, top down according to their rank.
- Timing: Within the groups, the projects are sorted by their start date and, if necessary, by their length.
How to Configure Colors and KPIs
When you click Configure Roadmap in the toolbar, you can display further information in the Roadmap:
Under Display KPI, you can select a KPI to be displayed per project above each project's bar. The sum of the KPI will be displayed per group in the left column. You can choose from all financial KPIs and project fields of the Number type, except fields with percentages.
Under Gantt Color Scheme, you can color projects on the Gantt chart based on a second grouping. The following color schemes are available:
- The current grouping selected under Group by
- Any project field of the single-select type
- Business Goal
- Project Phase
- Project type
You can find an overview of the colors displayed in the Gantt chart in the color legend in the Information Panel by clicking the palette icon.
When you check the Show Percentage of Completion box, the project bars will appear as progress bars with a darker color representing the percentage of completion. The percentage of completion is calculated as follows:
- (Actual Time Worked + Allocations until Today)/Allocation Estimate at Completion * 100; if there is no actual time worked, the planned allocations to date are compared with the Allocation Estimate at Completion;
The progress displayed in the bar is relative to the sum of the planned allocations.
If the planned allocations in the project are unevenly distributed over the project duration, the coloring is not always meaningful. For example, if you have planned 90 days in the first month and 10 days in the second, the bar with not actual time worked will be 90% dark at the end of the first month because 90% of the total allocations have already been completed:
How to Display Milestones
You can view a project's milestones and dependencies by hovering over the corresponding project bar. For a more detailed view, including milestone dates and names, click on the project bar.
You can see the milestones of all projects without any extra details by selecting Display Milestones > All. To display the name and date of all milestones, select Display Milestones > All, Detailed.
Future milestones will be displayed in black, past milestones in gray, and milestones with unmet dependencies in red. Select Display Milestones > None to return to a broader overview.
All milestone display configurations can be saved in a custom view.
Save Your Configuration as a Custom View
You can save every configuration of the Project List as a Custom View. Click the custom view name next to the title Project List to select a different view or add a new view. To edit the view name or delete the view, click the three dots next to the view name. Depending on your user rights, you can also define access rights to the view for users and user groups.
Learn more in the Custom Views article.
How to Use
The Roadmap is a great way of providing a high-level view of the company's path forward with the entire organization. It also allows you to view all milestones for a more detailed view. Here's a few ideas on how you can leverage it.
Monitor Progress Through Milestones
In a weekly Execution Steering meeting, you can check upcoming milestones with your project managers and discuss their statuses. Where necessary, postpone milestones to a later date. This keeps you up to date and allows you to react quickly if dependent projects are at risk.
Group the Roadmap by department or product line and filter by date range to focus on what's relevant. In the toolbar under Display Milestones, select All, Detailed. To view a projects' dependencies, click the project bar or hover over it.
Present Your Plan to Management
Whether it's the current status or next steps, management wants the big picture and Meisterplan's Roadmap helps you provide just that. Show at a glance what progress has been made towards achieving your company's strategic goals and what you propose as the way forward.
Group the view by Business Goal to show which projects contribute to reaching your goals, and when the goals can be reached. Under Configure Roadmap, select Status as the Color Scheme to see at a glance which projects need attention.
If you won't have access to Meisterplan during your presentation to management, simply save the roadmap as an image file or copy the image to your presentation.
Communicate Decisions
Once the plan has been agreed on, it's time to share it with the organization. Use the Roadmap to show teams how their projects contribute to the company's goals, or show project managers which projects they need to deliver this quarter.
Group the Roadmap by project manager or target group. Under Configure Roadmap, select Business Goal as Color Scheme and check the Show Percentage of Completion box. This allows your colleagues to quickly see not just the Business Goals to which they contribute but also the progress of each project.
If you provide colleagues access to the respective portfolios, they will be able to see all approved projects and group them the way they want. You can also save the Roadmap as an image file for your teams and project managers.